Critical Things That Happened In the 2022 Austin Market

Here’s a rundown of the market trends that emerged last year.

2022 was a record market for so many reasons! With home prices peaking at an all-time high in May at $555,000 across the five counties, and the market almost grinding to a halt for the second time in two years, it was definitely one for the books. 

Despite our best efforts to predict the future, we all felt a little caught off guard by the massive market shift. Right now, the median home price is at $457,426, which is only down 3% year over year but down about 20% from the peak in May 2022.

In May last year, the median mortgage interest rate had already jumped to around 5%, up by around 3.5% at the beginning of 2022. If you are buying the median house then at $555,000 with an interest rate of 3.5%, the principal and interest payment would be around $2,243 with a 10% down payment. 

“We will remain one of the strongest real estate markets in the Country.”

Today’s median price of $457,426 with an interest rate of 6.125% will bring your payment to around $2,499—a difference of only $250 from last year. Combine that with sellers willing to pay closing costs and give credits to buy down the interest rates and negotiate, it’s still a great time to buy a home. 

Overall, the median price for 2022 was just over $500,000—and that’s a record for Austin. Sales declined by almost 20% at 33,500 homes sold, and days on market went from 11 days to around 30 days on average. 

The real tale of the tape is housing inventory, which is how many homes are on the market versus how many are actually selling. At the lowest, Austin had about two weeks of housing inventory. Right now, we have around three months of housing supply. While this is a 230% increase in supply and feels like a buyer’s market, it is still a very stable and strong seller’s market.

So what does all this mean? I tend to look at the big picture and tell my clients that typically if you own a home for three to five years, you will have a safe investment. In the last three years, our market has gone up 65% and in the last five years almost 80%. Even if we give back 20% of those gains, Austin is still up 45% to 60%. That is still huge! 

As interest rates settle down, fear of a recession calms, and consumer confidence comes back, we will remain one of the strongest real estate markets in the country. If you have questions about our local market or anything that’s real estate related, call or email us. We’re always happy to help!