The Austin housing market is outperforming national trends, latest report shows

REAL ESTATE REPORT

Photo courtesy of West U Home Tour

Housing inventory is on the rise, as is the number of days houses spend on the market, while prices are steadily falling. That spells another month of a balancing act in the Austin-Round Rock housing market, according to the latest report from the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR).

“This is still a market that is seeing lots of activity, just not at a record-setting pace, and that is to be expected given broader economic trends,” said 2023 ABoR president Ashley Jackson. “Home prices are moderating, pending sales are holding strong, and homes on the market last month are selling closer to list price. These are all signs of a market that is still balancing and doing so in a healthy way.”

Housing inventory has continued to increase from March to April, now at 3.2 months (active listings for the month divided by sales), and homes are spending 53 days longer on the market now than they were in April of 2022.

An additional sign of a stabilizing market in Austin comes from a recent comparison to declining home sales across the country. The National Association of Realtors' latest data from March of 2023 showed nationwide home sales falling 22.7 percent, but that was not the case in Central Texas, where home sales only fell 14 percent over the same period. The report said these findings demonstrate the “resilience of the region’s economy.”

In Austin proper, April home sales fell by 31 percent, and median home prices fell 11 percent to $565,000. Though pending sales also declined last month, active listings spiked to 2,357.

Active listings in all five Central Texas counties continued to skyrocket from last month’s report. While home sales dropped in most counties, Hays County saw a 1.1 percent increase in April.

Median house prices are still dropping across the Central Texas region, though houses in Travis County remain the most expensive at $537,500. Hays saw the largest year-over-year price drop at 16.9 percent, with homes priced around $416,500. Median home prices in Caldwell County dropped 15.1 percent year-over-year and are the lowest in the region at $297,000.

ABoR housing economist Clare Losey cited inflation and mortgage rate woes, recession fears, and banking stress as major contributors to falling housing prices.

“In Austin, robust job and population growth have mitigated these effects on homebuyer demand, favorably indicating that our region’s economy and housing market continue to outperform national economic trends,” Losey said. “Austin remains resilient and able to withstand broader economic turbulence more effectively.”

Photo by Chase Yi on Unsplash

More inventory signals stabilizing Austin housing market, says latest report

real estate report

In what looks like signs of normalizing for both homebuyers and sellers, the Austin-Round Rock metro area now has three months’ worth of housing inventory with active listings soaring to over 8,000.

The latest housing market report from the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) stated nearly 4,400 homes hit the market in March, which is a 6.6 percent year-over-year increase from last year. While pending and completed home sales in Austin decreased by about 19 and 25 percent, respectively, there was a spike in both new and active listings.

2023 ABoR president Ashley Jackson said in a press release that the past quarter has “ushered in a sweet spot for both buyers and sellers” exploring the current market.

“There are three times the number of homes on the market than a year ago, bringing more choice and opportunity to homebuyers in over a decade,” she said. “REALTORS® are reporting that they are busy and the market is moving at a much healthier pace than it has in years.”

Home prices continue to drop in all five Central Texas counties, which is a continuation from last month’s report. Median home prices fell the most in Bastrop County, by 17.5 percent, to $329,990. Active listings skyrocketed in all counties, with completed sales increasing slightly in Hays and Bastrop counties, but home sales decreased in Travis, Williamson, and Caldwell counties.

ABoR’s first housing economist Dr. Clare Losey said in the release that the housing market is seeing stabilization in line with the current demand.

"Austin’s housing market is still demand driven, contributing over $1.5 [billion] to our region’s economy last month even as the pace of home sales and price growth adjusts from the extreme anomaly of the last two years,” said Losey. “The increase of new listings in March, specifically month over month, indicates rising seller confidence, and the recent decline in mortgage rates provided momentum for homebuyers”

Dr. Losey recommended this spring as the best time for Central Texans to move, taking into consideration the expected consistency of mortgage rates for the remainder of 2023. She also dismissed rising concerns for the housing market after recent layoffs nationwide.

“Recently announced layoffs have not been enough to indicate a downturn in Austin’s job market or impact housing demand,” she said. “In fact, Travis County’s job market is projected to grow at nearly double the pace of job growth statewide over the next decade, with the leisure and hospitality sector leading that growth.”

Photo courtesy of Realty Austin

Austin home buyers have more power when it comes to inventory, report says

REAL ESTATE REPORT

Confidence in the real estate market has grown since February, with buyers gaining more leverage through inventory increases across the Austin-Round Rock metro area, according to the latest monthly report from the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR).

The report shows that housing inventory in February spent an average of 84 days on the market, a massive 55-day jump from February of 2022. The current median home price for the metro area is $436,419, a 12 percent drop from the previous year.

“Austin’s housing market is trending in the right direction. Buyers have more options and negotiating power with each passing month, and sellers have more time to make their next move,” said 2023 ABoR president Ashley Jackson in a press release. “Remember, a healthy housing market isn’t defined by breaking records every month, but by market activity that’s steady-paced and sustainable.”

Though Austin and Travis County's completed home sales decreased by less than 30 percent during February, active home listings skyrocketed in both areas. New home listings in Austin decreased less than one percent, while pending sales declined nearly 20 percent. Travis County's pending sales also saw a 16 percent decrease, while new home listings increased 5.7 percent.

Outside Austin, median prices continued to fall in Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, and Caldwell counties. The price decreases led to more completed home sales in Bastrop and Hays, while Caldwell's home sales stayed flat, and Williamson County's home sales decreased.

“Looking at the month-to-month data, we see that pending sales are consistent or rising in neighborhoods that are typically more affordable in areas outside Austin city limits," said Ashley Jackson. "Along with rising inventory, that’s a good sign for housing market activity this spring.”

Taylor Jackson, CEO of the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin, encourages home buyers and sellers to have a wider outlook when trying to understand the housing market. She says homebuilders are “gaining more confidence” in the market’s stability every month.

“This is evidenced by fewer cancellations and minimized supply shortages,” she said in the release. “Additionally, first quarter sales incentives have remained strong and for the first time in a long time, builders have a renewed sense of optimism in the direction the market is heading.”

Jackson also stressed the importance of any incentive that increases housing accessibility for buyers, since many still struggle to afford living in Austin proper.

“There is still plenty of work to do to address systemic issues in affordability, accessibility, and missing middle construction, and those should remain our community’s number one concern,” she explained.

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8 Austin entrepreneurs rank among Forbes' richest self-made women for 2023

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Twelve of the country's 100 most successful female entrepreneurs live in Texas this year, and eight of them call Austin home. So says Forbes in its 2023 list of America's Richest Self-Made Women, released June 1.

"Bolstered in part by a rebound in the stock market, [the richest 100 female entrepreneurs] are cumulatively worth a record $124 billion, up nearly 12 percent from a year ago," says Forbes.

To make the Forbes list, women had to garner wealth on their own, rather than by inheriting or winning it.Texas' wealthiest women have made their fortunes in fields ranging from home health care, insurance, and aviation logistics to jewelry design, dating apps, and running the show at SpaceX.

With an estimated net worth at $4.8 billion, Thai Lee, of Austin, remains at the top of the list in Texas, and ranks No. 5 nationally.

She falls behind only No. 1 Diane Hendricks of Wisconsin (co-founder of ABC Supply, $15 billion net worth); No. 2 Judy Loveof Oklahoma (chairman and CEO, Love's Travel Stops And Country Stores, $10.2 billion); No. 3 Judy Faulkner of Wisconsin (founder and CEO, Epic Systems, $7.4 billion); and No. 4 Lynda Resnick of California (co-founder and co-owner of Wonderful Company, $5.3 billion) among America's richest self-made women.

For some additional perspective, Oprah Winfrey lands at No. 13 on the list for 2023. The TV titan (and most famous woman on the planet) has an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion, Forbes says.

Austin's Lee, a native of Bangkok who holds an MBA from Harvard University, is founder, president, and CEO of SHI International Corp., a provider of IT products and services with a projected revenue of $14 billion in 2023. Fun fact: "Lee majored in both biology and economics," Forbes says, "in part because her English was less than perfect and she wanted to avoid writing and speaking in class."

The other seven Austin women on the list are:

Lisa Su, No. 34, Austin. Forbes pegs Su’s net worth at $740 million, tying her with April Anthony of Dallas. The native of Taiwan is president and CEO of Santa Clara, California-based semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices.
Kendra Scott, No. 47, of Austin.Forbes says she has amassed a net worth of $550 million as founder of Kendra Scott LLC, which designs and sells jewelry in more than 100 stores (and is worth $360 million). The celebrity entrepreneur is also a judge on TV's Shark Tank.
Whitney Wolfe Herd, No. 52, of Austin. She is worth an estimated $510 million. Herd is co-founder and CEO of Bumble Inc., which operates two online dating apps: Bumble and Badoo. She owns a 17% stake in Bumble and became the youngest self-made woman billionaire after it went public in February 2021.
Paige Mycoskie, No. 73, of Austin. She is worth an estimated $380 million. Mycoskie created founded her 1970s-inspired California lifestyle brand, Aviator Nation, which took off during the pandemic and now has 16 retail locations across the U.S. If the name sounds familiar, that's because she's the sister of TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie, with whom she competed on TV's The Amazing Race.
Imam Abuzeid, No. 77, of Austin. Her net worth is estimated at $350 million. Abuzeid is the co-founder and CEO of Incredible Health, which she started in 2017 to help alleviate America's nursing shortage. Forbes describes it as "a souped-up version of LinkedIn for nurses." Abuzeid is one of only a handful of Black female founders to run a company valued at more than $1 billion, Forbes notes.
Julia Cheek, No. 92, of Austin. Her net worth is estimated at $260 million. Cheek founded at-home testing company Everly Health in 2015 "out of frustration at having to pay thousands for lab testing to diagnose issues related to vitamin imbalance," Forbes says. It got a Shark Tank deal with Lori Greiner and is now worth roughly $1.8 billion.
Belinda Johnson, No. 96, of Austin. She is worth an estimated $250 million. Johnson was Airbnb's first chief operating officer and led many of its legal disputes. She stepped down from that role in March 2020, Forbes says, and left the company's board in June 2023.

The remaining Texas women on the list include:

Gwynne Shotwell, No. 27, of Jonesboro (Coryell-Hamilton counties). Her net worth is estimated at $860 million. Shotwell is president and COO of Elon Musk's SpaceX. She manages the operations of the commercial space exploration company and owns an estimated stake of 1 percent, Forbes says.
Robyn Jones, No. 29, of Fort Worth. Her net worth is estimated at $830 million. Jones is founder of Westlake-based Goosehead Insurance Agency LLC. She started the property and casualty insurance agency in 2003 after being frustrated with her truck-driver husband's "road warrior lifestyle," Forbes says. He joined her in 2004 and they took the company public in 2018. It has nearly 1,000 franchised offices.
April Anthony, No. 34, of Dallas. Forbes puts her net worth at $740 million. She founded the Dallas-based home health and hospice division of Encompass Health Corp and sold it for $750 million to HealthSouth. In 2022, she was named CEO of VitalCaring, a home health and hospice care firm.
Kathleen Hildreth, No. 44, of Aubrey. Her net worth is estimated at $590 million. Hildreth is co-founder of M1 Support Services LP, an aviation logistics company based in Denton. A service-disabled Army veteran, she graduated from West Point in 1983 and was deployed all around the world as a helicopter pilot.

Endless creativity of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse keeps superhero story in overdrive

Movie Review

The blast of pure fun that was 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse accomplished several goals, but none more important than reclaiming the character from being part of just the Marvel Cinematic Universe. By not participating in the never-ending connecting stories of the MCU, the filmmakers could do whatever they wanted, first and foremost using Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) instead of Peter Parker as its main character.

It was also at the forefront of multiversal storytelling that has become the rage in the MCU and elsewhere. Given the multitude of Spider characters that have existed in the comics over the years, it was uniquely suited to telling a story with people from multiple universes. That concept is taken to the nth degree with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, a film that has seemingly limitless levels of creativity.

Miles, having separated from Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), and other Spider-people at the end of the first film, is doing well as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, casually protecting people from threats big and small. But when a highly unusual villain named The Spot (Jason Schwartzman) proves especially tricky, a series of events has Miles follow Gwen into a portal where he encounters every other Spider character in existence.

Lest you think that’s hyperbole, among the people he meets are Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac), Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider (Andy Samberg), and Spider-Man India (Karan Soni), and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Revelations made while meeting all of them lead Miles to a whole new understanding of himself and the multiverse in general, with far-reaching consequences.

The filmmakers, once again led by writers/producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, fill the screen with so many visual elements that at times it can be overwhelming, but in the best possible way. Unlike most animated films, there are multiple different styles employed throughout, and never knowing what to expect gives the film a kineticism that borders on manic, although it always stops short of being incomprehensible.

The storytelling is much more complex this time around, no surprise since it involves so many more characters. But the personal stories of each of the Spider characters, especially Miles and Gwen, maintain a grounded nature that keeps the plot anchored even while delving into increasingly fantastical territory.

Although this film deals with some darker themes, there is still plenty of humor to be had. The intersection of so many Spider characters highlights their differences, and the way they interact can’t help but be entertaining. Miles is still a 15-year-old kid, and the way he navigates the world(s) has a lightness to it that is a sharp contrast to the various adults in his life.

Moore, who’s not as well-known as some of his co-stars, has proven to be the perfect voice for Miles, making him relatable and powerful at the same time. Everyone else gives similarly great performances, although the fact that many of them are famous for their non-voicework doesn’t really play a factor in how well they come across here.

A third film, Beyond the Spider-Verse, is teased with a cliffhanger, and unlike other franchises where multiple films are unnecessary, there are no such reservations here. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse equals the success of the first film, and there is no doubt that the filmmakers will bring the same level of attention to detail to the end of the trilogy.

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse opens in theaters on June 2.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Animation

Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Dip your toes into these 7 Austin pools with passes, snacks, and summer events; plus more top stories

hot headlines

Editor’s note: It’s that time again — time to check in with our top stories. From hotel pools, to museums, to a show-stopping Hill Country rental, here are five articles that captured our collective attention over the past seven days.

1. Dip your toes into these 7 Austin pools with passes, snacks, and summer events. The city is getting unreasonably hot again; It's time to start planning poolside hangs, which are even better with a cocktail.

2. Breathtaking Hill Country hideaway is one of Vrbo's top 10 vacation homes in the country. The retractable floor-to-ceiling glass windows are a nice touch in this $400-a-night house.

3. 6 Austin museums are offering free admission for military families all summer long. These organizations want to help military families spend more time together without breaking the bank.

4. Space-inspired screenings invade Austin Film Society ahead of Wes Anderson's upcoming release. Austinites looking forward to the June 16 release of Asteroid City can soak up the inspirations and watch a sneak peek screening.

5. Texas ranks No. 2 best state to start a small business in new report. The state's tax framework makes the finance side of running a business relatively easy.

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