Austin Real Estate Report | April 2020

Now that Austin is reopening and the weather is improving, you may be wondering if you can start or restart your home search process. While many key real estate metrics (such as the number of homes sold) were down significantly in April compared with the same time last year, there are signs of improvement in the air…

The number of new listings in Austin has increased each week since April 13, indicating that sellers are beginning to list their homes for sale as the state reopens. Of the homes that Orchard owns, the average number of showings per week has also started to climb, indicating buyer interest is present and starting to pick back up.

There are some caveats though:

For buyers, there are fewer homes on the market heading into May, as many sellers took their homes off the market in March and April or did not list them. It’s likely that more relaxed stay-at-home requirements will continue to encourage more sellers to enter the market, but you may have fewer options to choose from as would be typical heading into the summer home-buying season.

On the flip side, there have also been fewer buyers overall, which may mean reduced competition when putting in a bid on your dream home. This slight cooling of Austin’s red hot real estate market may make it a bit easier to win the home you love.

For sellers, the good news is that median home prices have remained stable during the pandemic. The average number of days a home is listed on the market before selling (DOM) is up just a bit, from 15 days in April 2019 to 19 days in April 2020. This suggests that most sellers don’t have to wait too much longer to receive an offer. Another piece of good news: offers continue to be strong, with the median home sale price close to 99% of list price.

However, social distancing measures (six-foot distance, gloves, masks, thorough cleaning between showings, etc.) will still need to be implemented when anyone visits your home. With Orchard’s Buy & Sell service, we’ll take care of deep cleaning and listing your home after you move, so you can skip the stress of home showings.

For a deeper dive into Austin’s real estate recap for April 2020, read on.

April Market Snapshot

2,732

New listings in April. Although down 22% from this month last year, listings have started to pick back up. We saw over 800 new listings added the week of April 27, roughly the same volume as the week of March 2 (before shelter-in-place orders went into effect).

98.7%

The median percentage of a home’s original list price that it ended up selling for. In Austin, this typically ranges from 96-98%. This is higher than April of last year (98.0%) suggesting that sellers haven’t had to make big price cuts in order to get their home sold.

-23.5%

Decrease in homes that went under contract this April vs. last year. With fewer homes on the market and shelter-in-place orders in effect for most of the month, April was a slower month for home sales. However, activity picked up in the last two weeks of the month, recovering to early March (pre-coronavirus) levels.

Our Perspective

“While activity has slowed, it’s never stopped. We put several clients’ new homes under contract in April and are meeting with new buyers and sellers more and more each day. There’s continued to be strong buyer interest, which has resulted in sellers getting their full asking price or close to it.”

— Rachel Bennett, Orchard Home Advisor

Listings Spotlight

-- 152 Crooked Crk, Buda

Received an offer in less than 3 days at nearly 98% of list price

-- 306 Crooked Crk, Buda

Available down the street!

Know which features are most important to you in your new home?

You can now enhance your search by selecting the kitchen, backyard, living room, or front yard image as the default image when reviewing Orchard listings.