Austin homes selling for substantially higher than asking price
AUSTIN, Texas - Austin houses continue to be sold well over asking price.
Real estate corporation Redfin, which tracks homes bought and sold across the country, reports that in Austin, the price of homes have gone up 43% since 2020. The average price for a house is around $485,000, about $100,000 more than the national average.
"The people coming into the city really have the money to spend to pick whichever neighborhood they want no matter what the price point is," said chief economist Daryl Fairweather.
Fairweather said the COVID-19 pandemic played a huge factor in the housing boom. "When the pandemic hit, the feds dropped the interest rates down to zero and mortgage rates fell to historic lows, which caused a nationwide housing boom," she said.
The city of Austin has become the destination for many people looking to buy homes, leading to costly bidding wars
To give an example, Redfin said one of their agents recently had a house listed in Austin for $565,000 that ended up closing at around $715,000.
"That house received a dozen offers and a bidding war ensued which is why the price got jacked up so high," said Fairweather.
According to Fairweather, a lot of the people buying these homes in Austin are from out of state, like California and New York. "All those migrants are bringing with them high-paying jobs who are used to much more expensive housing and they’re willing to pull out all the stops to win these homes and move to Austin," she said.
Austin locals looking to buy a home are moving to the suburbs where prices are cheaper. Overall the housing market is booming in Central Texas not just in Austin. Travis County is seeing a 35% increase in home values from last year and Williamson County is seeing a 41% increase.
As for homes being bought well over the asking price, Redfin doesn’t expect this to last too long. "We’ve already begun to see the markets equiliberate around June but it’s still a very hot housing market and there’s still gonna be more prized appreciation and more homes selling for above asking price for at least into next year," Fairweather said.
For those looking to buy, Redfin reports overall they are noticing more houses on the market in the area than there were last year.
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