Austin Home Prices Rises, But Total New Home Sales Drop: Report

AUSTIN, TEXAS — The average new home price in Austin rose last month, but total new home sales and pending sales dropped, according to new data released by HomesUSA.com for January.

The latest new homes sales data for Austin show mixed signs of slowing, according to HomesUSA.com. The assessment is based on data from local Multiple Listing Services, including the Houston Association of REALTORS, North Texas Real Estate Information Systems, San Antonio Board of REALTORS and the Austin Board of REALTORS.

The upshot: Austin saw its average new home price jump to $368,931, up from $368,736 in December. Average new home prices were up in all the state’s Big Four new home markets, including Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio.

Both total new home sales and pending sales fell in Austin last month. Austin posted a 12-month rolling average of 671 new home sales in January, down from 677 sales in December. Pending new home sales also were lower last month with 584 pending new sales in January, down from 637 pending home sales in December, researchers found.

There was one bright spot for Austin builders, analysts noted: The HomeUSA.com New Home Sales Index, which measures the Days on Market (DOM) for new homes before they are sold. For the second month in a row, the pace of new homes sold in January improved slightly in Austin and statewide.

In Austin, the HomeUSA.com New Home Sales Index showed the DOM improved, falling slightly from 113.45 in December to 112.81 in January. In Texas, the HomeUSA.com New Home Sales Index showed the statewide DOM was 111.44 days in January, down from 112.13 days in December. The DOM for Dallas-Fort Worth dropped slightly, from 115.09 days in December to 114.78 in January. In San Antonio, the DOM had the biggest improvement, dropping from 103.83 days in December to 102.32 days in January.

Analysts noted the Houston Association of Realtors was unable to provide "days on market" data by publication due to technical issues. Researchers will update their report (see Chart 1: Texas New Homes Days on Market) when the data is made available.

“Austin’s new home sales market has been so strong for so long, it’s not surprising to see these numbers," Ben Caballero, owner of HomesUSA.com, and real estate’s first Guinness World Record holder for real estate sales, said in a prepared statement. "The market may be leveling off, or this just may be a seasonal response. But we are about to head into the spring sales season, and a faster sales pace and higher prices could be signals that things are about to get better for builders."

Caballero is sharing this Texas new homes data for January as the Commerce Department will release its national report for New Residential Home Sales for December today, Tuesday, February 26 at 9 a.m. CST. The Commerce Department is running a month behind schedule issuing its nationwide new home construction data due to the recent lapse in federal funding, researchers noted. They offered some of their report's highlights:

TEXAS NEW HOME SALES DATA

New home sales were lower statewide, dropping from a 12-month rolling average of 3,836 sales for December, to 3,818 sales for January. New home sales were lower statewide, dropping from a 12-month rolling average of 3,836 sales for December, to 3,818 sales for January. New home sales were lower in each of the Big Four markets. Dallas-Ft. Worth posted a drop from 1,324 new home sales for December, to 1,318 sales in January. New home sales in Houston dropped from 1,311 in December, to 1,308 sales in January.

San Antonio new home sales in December were 523 and dropped marginally in January to 521 sales. (See Chart 2: Texas New Home Sales)

TEXAS NEW HOME PRICE TRENDS

Statewide the average new home price in Texas was up a little less than $1,500 in January to $358,880, from $357,434 in December 2018. In Dallas-Ft. Worth, the average new home price in January was $375,930, up from $375,886 in December. Houston saw its average new home price jump to $361,231 in January, up from $357,422 in December. And in San Antonio, the average new home price increased slightly in January to $297,248, up from $296,191 in December. (See Chart 3: Texas New Home Prices)

TEXAS PENDING NEW HOME SALES DATA

In addition to Austin, pending new home sales were lower throughout the state of Texas. Dallas-Ft. Worth posted a 12-month rolling average of 1,203 pending new home sales for January, down from 1,286 pending sales in December. Pending new home sales in Houston for January were 1,192, down from 1,266 in December.

San Antonio pending new home sales in January were 476, down from 507 pending new home sales in December. (See Chart 4: Texas Pending New Home Sales)

About the HomesUSA.com New Home Sales Index

The HomesUSA.com Index is a 12-month rolling average of the Days on Market (DOM) for new homes listed in the local Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) for the four largest Texas markets, including Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Created by Ben Caballero, founder, and CEO of HomesUSA.com and the most productive real estate agent in the world, it is the first index to track the sale pace of new home sales specifically.

About Ben Caballero and HomesUSA.com®

Ben Caballero is a Guinness World Record holder1, earning him the reputation as the world’s most productive real estate agent. Top-ranked in America by REAL Trends since 2013, as published in the Wall Street Journal, he is also the only agent to exceed $1 billion in residential sales transactions in a single year; a feat first achieved in 2015 and repeated each year until 2018 when he achieved more than $2 billion. An award-winning innovator, Caballero is the founder and CEO of HomesUSA.com, Inc., working with more than 60 home builders in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. He recently released a podcast series available on iTunes and Google Play. Learn more at HomesUSA.com|Twitter: @bcaballero - @HomesUSA | Facebook: /HomesUSAdotcom.

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