Post-pandemic Payout

Nearly half of Austin homes bought after July 2022 risk selling at loss

Houses bought in the past two years haven't had time to recover their value, says one realtor. But Austin's recovery has been notably worse than the national average.

Photo courtesy of KVUE

A new report shows nearly half of for-sale homes in Austin bought after July 2022 (47.5 percent) are at risk of selling at a loss – the highest share among major U.S. metros and nearly three times the national average of 16 percent.

The data from real estate company Redfin also shows that 32 percent of homes in Austin purchased during the pandemic (July 2020-July 2022) are at risk of selling at a loss — the second highest share among major metros and more than triple the national average of 9 percent.

Overall, for all homes on the market, 13 percent of for-sale single-family homes in Austin are at risk of selling at a loss — also the highest share among major metros, followed by San Antonio at 10 percent.

James Leal has lived in his Central Austin home for more than 30 years. Now, he is trying to sell it and it has been on the market for at least five months. For him, it's been tough.

"Going to probably have to sell it at a loss," Leal said. "For me, it's devastating because I'm a disabled veteran and I'm in a set income. I can't make anymore than what I get every month."

Meanwhile, for homes bought before the pandemic, just under 1 percent in Austin are at risk, compared to 2 percent nationally.

During the pandemic, home prices surged in Austin amid record low rates, intense competition and more remote work opportunities. But since then, elevated mortgage rates and cooling demand has softened prices in Sun Belt markets, meaning recent buyers looking to sell in today’s market could be left in the red.

Nick Quijano, a realtor and the owner of Southerly Homes, said there is more to the story since median sale prices of homes jumped 22 percent in 2022.

"You're going to try to turn around and sell a home within a 36-month period depending on the area, I think it's possible it hasn't regained its growth since then. And I think that's like any investment," Quijano said.

For Quijano, who has seen multiple real estate cycles, this latest report does not worry him.

Read the full story at KVUE.com.

Rent report

Kyle's apartment rent prices rivaled Austin's, surpassed suburbs in June

The City of Kyle, TX - Local Government/Facebook

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Apartment rent prices in June were more expensive in Austin and Kyle than they were anywhere else in the metro, according to the latest monthly rental report from Zumper.

The rent report, which analyzed active listings from the previous month across all cities in the Austin area, tracks the most and least expensive rent prices for one- and two-bedroom apartments, and determines the cities with the fastest growing rents. Listings were aggregated by city to calculate median asking rents.

Despite being the most expensive rent in the region last month, the asking rent for one-bedroom apartments in both Austin and Kyle technically hasn't risen or decreased since this time last year. The asking rent for one-bedrooms in both cities remained flat year-over-year at $1,500. For two-bedroom units, asking prices in Austin grew 0.5 percent to $1,910, and prices came out to $1,780 in Kyle.

Zumper's report revealed that the median asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Texas came out to $1,134 last month, but there was no figure given for two-bedroom units. All eight Austin-area cities had higher asking prices than the statewide median.

Round Rock had the third most expensive rent for one-bedroom apartments in June, with asking rent for single-bedroom units at $1,320, and $1,630 for two-bedroom units.

Rent prices in Pflugerville were the cheapest in the Austin area last month, as prices for one-bedroom apartments fell to to $1,190. That's 6.3 percent lower than they were a year ago, and it was the most dramatic year-over-year decrease out of all Austin-area cities. Two-bedroom apartment prices also plunged 6.5 percent from last June to $1,730.

These were the prices for one-bedroom apartments in the remaining four Austin-area cities in June:

Georgetown – $1,290
Cedar Park – $1,280
Leander – $1,270
San Marcos – $1,210

June asking prices for two-bedroom units in the four suburbs were:

Georgetown and Cedar Park– $1,720
Leander – $1,590
San Marcos – $1,530

rent report rent real estate austin kyle pflugerville round rock georgetown

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Rent report

Kyle's apartment rent prices rivaled Austin's, surpassed suburbs in June