Austin-area home sales and the median price of those homes both hit all-time highs last month for any July on record, the Austin Board of Realtors said.
Inside Austin's city limits, the number of sales and the median home-sales price also set records for the month of July, the board said.
Across the five-county Austin-Round Rock region, a total of 3,439 homes were sold in July. That was an 11.7% increase over July 2018's sales volume, the board said in its latest monthly housing market report. Half those houses sold for less than $325,000 and half sold for more than that amount, for a 3.2% increase in the median price — also a record for July.
The board said that home sales within the city of Austin were flat due to limited housing inventory, rising by only 0.5%. Still, the 943 sales were the most for any July on record, five more than July 2018's number.
July's median home-sales price in the city of Austin reached $410,000, a July record and an increase of 6.9% over July 2018's median price, the board said.
"Regional single-family home sales posted strong gains this July, indicating the summer selling season is likely to remain active and steady throughout August," Kevin Scanlan, the board's president, said in a written statement. "It's a sellers' market right now. Even though we saw an increase in new listings, inventory remains low. Homes located inside (Austin's) city limits are spending less than one month on the market, on average."
Jim Gaines, chief economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, said despite stagnant sales in Austin, the overall market "is still very strong."
"Due to the lack of affordable options and tight inventory in the city of Austin, home sales are declining within the city limits but increasing in the surrounding areas," Gaines said. "The good news is, we're seeing home prices begin to stabilize."
Bastrop County saw single-family home sales spike 41.1% in July, and the median sales price rose 11.3% to $256,868.
In Hays County, sales jumped 22.4% while the median price inched up slightly, rising 1.5% to $265,000.
In Williamson County, home sales increased 15.4%. The median price was up 3.8%, to $292,000.
