Author: Britny Eubank
Residential home sales rose 2.5% year-over-year.
AUSTIN, Texas — More homes were sold in the Austin-Round Rock area in 2021 than ever before, according to a new report from the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR).
ABoR’s report shows that residential home sales rose 2.5% year-over-year to 41,316 homes sold in 2021. The median price for a home across the area also set a record last year, rising 30.8% over 2020 to $450,000. Additionally, more homes hit the market in 2021 than ever before, with new listings increasing 5.9% to 46,449 homes and pending listings increasing 1.1% to 42,592 homes.
In the City of Austin alone, residential home sales increased 4.6% to 13,351 sales, an annual record. The median sales price for residential homes in Austin rose 27.7% year-over-year to $536,331 in 2021, also an annual record. New listings slightly increased 1.4% to 14,937 listings while active listings dropped 41% to 782 listings, and pending sales increased 4.7% to 13,595 pending sales.
Cord Shiflet, the 2022 ABoR president, called 2021’s housing market the “most exciting, complicated, fast-paced and record-setting” market in Austin’s history.
“With all the new jobs across the region from exciting companies like Tesla and Samsung, Austin was put on the world’s stage and captured the hearts and attention of so many,” Shiflet said. “We are lucky to call Austin our home when it has so much to offer from a great quality of life to a wonderful destination for innovation and opportunity.”
One number did show a notable decline for the area: the average number of active listings on the market dropped 48.2% to 2,348 homes last year. ABoR said homes spent an average of 20 days on the market, 25 days fewer or 55.6% less than in 2020. The 5-county MSA ended 2021 with 0.6 months of housing inventory.
Mark Sprague, the state director of information capital at Independence Title, said that 2021’s housing records were set due to high demand combined with limited supply. Lack of inventory and supply chain disruptions could continue to affect the housing market this year.
“Lack of inventory and global supply chain issues may lead to a 5-7% decline in closed sales across the region in 2022, but rising home values will ensure the housing market’s economic impact remains steady,” Sprauge said. “In short, 2022 will see a robust market for home sales and property values, but the region must do more to address inventory.”
To read more about December’s numbers and dig into the 2021 numbers for Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell counties, check out ABoR’s full report.