Austin housing market levels up to ‘new normal’ after pandemic price surge

By  Emma Freer – Austonia

The local housing market remains on fire. The median home sales price in the city of Austin has broken records five months in a row, according to the Austin Board of Realtors.

The median Austin home sales price increased 42% year-over-year to $575,000 in June, setting a new all-time record for the fifth month in a row, according to the latest market report from the Austin Board of Realtors, which was released Thursday.

Median home price by month

The median home price in the city of Austin and in the five-county Austin metro continue to rise, breaking new records seemingly every month and raising concerns about the city’s entrenched affordability crisis.

The skyrocketing prices reflect increasing demand as well as low supply. “Our market has established its own new normal, as median prices club while inventory remains low,” ABoR President Susan Horton said in a statement. “With the unprecedented growth our region continues to experience, we can expect these trends to continue.”

The nature of housing demand has evolved since the advent of the pandemic, with buyers looking for more space and recent transplants drawn in by Austin’s relative affordability compared to coastal markets, according to Dr. Jessica Lautz, vice president of demographics and behavioral insights for the National Association of Realtors.