After a whirlwind of rising costs and sharply spiking demand for housing in smaller cities, the housing market is cooling down to pre-pandemic levels.
With mortgage rates rising sharply and pandemic migration potentially settling down, the hot housing market in Austin, Texas finally shows signs of slowing and returning to “pre-COVID normalcy,” reports Hannah Ortega for KVUE. “The Austin-Round Rock MSA saw a 20.3% year-over-year decrease in residential home sales last month for a total of 3,441 closed sales.” Housing inventory grew by 217.8 percent in June.
However, “Median price experienced a 13% increase, "setting a record of $537,475 for the month of June," according to [the Austin Board of REALTORS (ABoR)].” This is partly due to the growth of luxury home sales in the region, which rose “significantly” since before the pandemic, according to the Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center.
“The shift signals welcome news for more buyers who may be ready to embrace a post-pandemic reality and take advantage of more inventory. This increase in supply combined with cooling demand indicates the beginning of a more sustainable housing market,” says George Ratiu, economic research manager for Realtor.com.
Similar trends are happening around the country as housing prices have apparently peaked in many cities.
Read the full story: Austin-Round Rock housing market returning to pre-COVID normalcy
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