The real estate environment in Austin is continuing to normalize and become more favorable, leading to greater opportunities for both buyers and sellers.

Faith in the housing market can be seen through May's active listings, climbing up to 8,960 homes, which is nearly 1,000 more than in March 2023.

"Last month’s housing market activity demonstrates not only a stable market, but one where optimism for the months ahead continues to grow," said 2023 ABoR president Ashley Jackson in a release. "Real estate remains the most powerful long-term investment and having a trusted expert in your corner is crucial."

Pending sales slid ever so slightly by half a percentage point, to 3,243 pending sales. Housing inventory has grown to 3.4 months, a slight increase from April. Homes are spending about 65 days on average on the market, up 49 days year-over-year from May 2022.

Median home prices continued to fall an even 15 percent across the board to $467,500. Completed home sales year-over-year only dropped by 4.2 percent to 3,411.

ABoR's in-house economist Dr. Clare Losey shared her input on Austin homebuyers' purchasing power in May in comparison to the rest of the United States.

"Nationally, from May 2022 to May 2023, homebuyers’ purchasing power declined by an estimated eight to nine percent due to the rise in mortgage rates–May’s mortgage rates, averaging 6.4 percent, were among the highest they’ve been all year," Dr. Losey said. "However, in Austin, the moderation in home prices has helped to mitigate the decline in purchasing power. In fact, from May 2022 to May 2023, the monthly mortgage payment declined an estimated three to four percent."

Dr. Losey added that 94 percent of Austin homes on the market in May sold for their list price, demonstrating that sellers are not unreliably pricing their homes. This has led to buyers becoming "more responsive" to current prices now than in early 2023. But it's not all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to seeing those price tags.

"Context matters, and May’s 2022 median home price, $550,000, was the highest median home price the Austin region has ever seen," Dr. Losey said. "Relative to pre-pandemic levels, last month’s median home price is up 44 percent.”

Home sales and median prices fell slightly in every Central Texas county except for Hays, where prices fell 16.1 percent to $400,000, but home sales jumped by 9.6 percent. Median home prices in May for Travis County were $537,000, and $439,990 in Williamson County. In the outlying counties of Bastrop and Caldwell, home prices fell to $369,900 and $312,000, respectively.