Happy Thursday!

In this week's update, we have the official stats from June, showing continued month-over-month price increases, a positive trajectory, and lots of contract activity despite low inventory and high-interest rates.

We also look at the top rental markets for Investors looking to acquire cash-flowing rentals, as well as COTA's new amusement park COTALAND, the 9th Top US zip code for Buyers, hint (it's an Austin Suburb), and TNTs Calendar of Events for August.

As always, we are here to navigate the complexities of the market and greatly appreciate your referrals. We hope you find this update informative and feel free to share it with others!

Austin-Round Rock Housing Market Roars Back into a Normalization in First Half of 2023!

Let's dive into it, now that the Official ABOR stats have been released for June, here's the scoop!

Despite a slight uptick in mortgage rates, we've seen a sizable increase in the median sales price from May 2.7% in one month. In May we were down 15% vs the previous year's Median Sales price, and in June that number is only -7% that's a good trajectory in the right direction, which is good news to see the market is in fact stabilizing, and getting back into more normal ranges. I know I showed this chart last week but it's still a great visualization of City of Austin Price trends over the last year in case you missed it. NOTE *** This is weekly Data provided by Redfin DataCenter which is why the numbers don't line up exactly with ABOR's monthly stats.

The decline in home prices throughout our region over the past year has been a relief, making it easier to handle the affordability challenge posed by higher rates. Central Texas still needs more inventory, especially at price points that are affordable to first-time buyers.

Home prices are still higher compared to incomes, It's tough for New Homebuyers trying to enter the Market, however the market remains active, right now pending sales are up by 19% Year over Year, while last month they were down by -1% so that's a nice 20% swing in activity even though New listings are down -23%.

The total active listings are still up over last June by 38%. The days on the Market also point to more activity at 61 days vs 65 last month, but still 3 weeks longer than last June.

All in all, prices are continuing to rise since bottoming out in February, and days on the Market are falling every month, with high-interest rates indicating there is so much demand out there that when rates do start coming down the Market will be flooded with Buyers, and with little inventory that will mean prices will feel extra upwards pressure.

The City of Austin, Travis County, Williamson County, and Hays County all saw a nice bump in median sales price over May. Over the next two months, these 3 counties should all be back in the positive appreciation Year Over Year. These counties are also seeing a Days on Market fall and an increase in pending sales month over month, however closed sales is still way behind last year and have fallen since last month. We expect this to change in July due to the increase in pending contracts this month.

The Outlyer Counties of Bastrop and Caldwell were seeing the most activity and prices were still increasing last year when the rest of Austin was starting its downturn, which is why it makes sense that these two counties are the only two that have a negative price trajectory when you look at the year over year pricing stats.

These two counties are the ones that rarely follow what the rest of the Austin Market is seeing in terms of trends due to the much lower price points, and availability of land and housing, so If you looking to invest or Buy in these areas make sure to really look at the dynamics going on behind the scene.