Home prices up, sales down in city

The Austin Board of Realtors reported on Tuesday that September sales of single-family homes showed a 4.5 percent decline year-over-year within Austin’s city limits; meanwhile, the median price went up by 10.6 percent (to $345,000). At the same time, data for the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan statistical area show a 1.3 percent increase in home sales (coupled with a median price increase of 7.5 percent), while regional figures show that Central Texas sales were up by 6.1 percent. These findings, offered ABoR in its press release about the housing report, are indicative of a continuing “donut effect.” According to ABoR President Aaron Farmer, “As more and more homebuyers look outside of Austin’s city limits to find an affordable home, our region’s infrastructure is increasingly strained and the overall costs of homeownership rise because of the increased cost to commute.” ABoR is using the findings as an opportunity to note its support for the $720 million mobility bond proposition that will be on the Nov. 8 ballot, declaring it “can finally bring congestion relief to our region.”