Real Estate Report
Hot Austin housing market could be cooling down, says new report

Following a scorching start to the new year, the Austin housing market is beginning to cool down. The latest report from the Austin Board of Realtors shows that single-family home sales growth slowed in February.
ABoR president Brandy Guthrie believes this is a sign that the market is "beginning to catch up to itself after years of unprecedented sales growth."
"Low inventory levels, high home prices, and slowing job growth across the region are preventing a resurgence of the record-breaking numbers experienced the last two years, but overall the region's housing market remains very strong. The Central Texas housing market is normalizing into a more stable market," says Mark Sprague, state director of information capital for Independence Title, in a release.
There was still a slight, 0.9 percent uptick in sales in February 2017 compared to 2016. Overall, 1,829 homes were sold in the Austin-Round Rock metro. The median cost for a single-family abode rose 6.5 percent to $287,000, and experts urge potential homebuyers to act fast, because price tags will only get higher from here.
"The Federal Reserve's decision to raise U.S. interest rates [in March] could dissuade some local homeowners from listing their homes on the market, or potential homeowners from buying a home," says Sprague.
"Even with this increase, however, there's still no better time to buy than now. Interest rates are likely only to increase over the next few years. Central Texans will not be able to buy a home for as low of a price and as low of an interest rate as they can today."