July Sales: Central Austin Demand & Appreciation Remain Strong

July sales numbers are out and the news is very positive for central Austin. While the number of sales in July decreased for the city as a whole by 2% (even as prices increased 7% citywide) when compared to last year, the story is truly a tale of two cities: inventory is growing in the outskirts of Austin while demand remains very hot for central Austin. In central Austin, sales volumes are increasing, prices are going up, and inventory has been shrinking, It is a very strong market.

The best analysis of the market comes from Ki Gray and his blog:

If we look at the numbers, we saw a total increase in inventory of 1083 homes. If we break this down, we saw an increase of 1050 in outer Austin and an increase in inventory of 33 homes in central Austin. So this is an increase of inventory in the suburbs of 15 percent compared to an increase of 2 percent for central Austin.Another way to look at this is to look at months of inventory on the market:

All………Outer Austin…….Inner Austin
3.57……3.91………………2.48

So in summary, the numbers for the Austin market are better than what we see in an average market (6 months of inventory) but we have slowed down a bit from the fasted pasted market that we saw last year. Also we are seeing central Austin again outperform the suburbs.

When analyzing these numbers, there are a few things to note. First, prices are increasing sharply in downtown neighborhoods: as much as 20-30% in the prime neighborhoods over the last year. Second, these statistics do not include the strong sales of downtown condos which are not listed in MLS. In fact, when these units are considered, it is possible that citywide sales actually grew in July. Finally, it is very important to note that these numbers do not reflect the dramatic changes in mortgage lending which occurred in mid- August. While iy will will take a few months to see the full effect of the current lending environment, it will be strong and negative. The good news is that Austin is better prepared than almost any other metro area: with a strong market and low inventories, Austin should ride the down market quite well.