Central Texas home sales climbed 6% last month, as sales volume reached its highest level on record for any February, the Austin Board of Realtors said. The board said the activity indicates the spring selling season may be off to an early start.
The board said 2,101 homes changed hands in the Austin region, which stretches from Georgetown to San Marcos, a 6.1% gain over February 2018.
"We've been hearing from our members that buying and selling activity has really picked up over the past month," Kevin Scanlan, president of Austin Board of Realtors, said in a written statement.
The month also saw an increase in listings and housing inventory, signs that the Austin-area housing market "continues to move toward greater balance," according to the board.
Half the homes in February sold for more than $295,000 and half sold for less, for a 0.3% decline in the median price year-over-year.
"While demand remains strong due to population growth, this is no longer a market where homes sell significantly above listing price," Scanlan said. "Housing affordability challenges might be limiting what consumers are able to pay for a home."
In a statement included in the board's news release, economist Angelos Angelou said that Austin has 150,000 employees in the technology industry, "and that number is only going to increase as major employers expand their presence in Austin."
"We have to be aggressive in how we address this growth and ensure Austin doesn't become unaffordable for our workforce," said Angelou, founder and principal executive officer of Angelou Economics.
The board said the dollar volume of home sales in the five-county Austin metro increased year-over-year by 4.8% to $773.9 million. During the same period, new listings rose 7.3% to 3,015 listings; active listings increased 18.9% to 5,858 listings; and pending sales increased 16.6%, with 2,715 sales in the closings pipeline. Monthly housing inventory increased by 0.3 months to 2.3 months of supply.
Within Austin's city limits, there were 649 home sales in February, up 7.3% from February 2018. The median price saw a decline of 1.6%, with half the homes within Austin selling for more than $360,000 and half for less than that amount.
