Austin, Texas is one of the most popular housing markets in the US, but since the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes began in March, the market has cooled down. Agents attribute this fall in demand to a confluence of factors, such as higher mortgage rates and double-digit price increases, fewer homebuyers moving to the city, and inflationary pressures. In March, the personal finance website WalletHub ranked Austin as the second happiest city in Texas and the 30th happiest city in the US. According to SmartAsset's ranking index, Austin scored 88.75 out of 100 in personal finance, 76.87 in well-being and 49.35 in quality of life.
In a survey conducted by Consumer Affairs website, 33 percent of respondents selected Austin as the US city they believed would experience a housing crisis in 2023. However, Ryan Leahy, regional president of the Austin mortgage lending company HomeTown Texas, believes that it's not the intense seller market of a few months ago and sellers should restore their expectations. Leahy points to a map of the city which shows that almost all of Austin's affordable housing is built east of MoPac, as indicated by the little yellow houses. He said it can be seen in some older neighborhoods in Austin, such as Hyde Park and Clarksville, but there hasn't been enough housing built for the past two generations. According to Leahy's statement, housing would be aimed at moderate-income families and people at risk of being excluded from the Austin housing market.
An average of 63.3% of properties on the market have experienced a reduction in price in the last seven days, compared to 39.97% a year ago. Knock points out that the average sales price of a home in the Austin area rose 71 percent during the peak of the pandemic, compared to 39.9 percent across the country. Knock's outlook for the homebuying market in Austin isn't as dire as those expressed by Americans in a new survey.
