Pending Sales & Inventory Up, Austin Area Housing Market Keeps Pace With Summer Trends: Chuck Farr’s August 2025 Newsletter

Welcome to the waning days of Summer, homeowners, tenants, prospective buyers, and real-estate investors!

In the News: According to the July 2025 Central Texas Housing Report released by Unlock MLS, “the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA recorded 2,492 sales, down 7.9% from last July, with a median price of $435,000. The market followed familiar summer trends with sales slowing and prices adjusting slightly, while inventory stayed above 2024 levels despite a dip from June. Pending sales rose more than 15%, signaling stronger activity heading into fall.  

“Vaike O’Grady, research advisor at Unlock MLS, said the market is behaving much as expected for the summer, with seasonal patterns playing out against a backdrop of solid economic growth in Central Texas.  

“‘It’s typical for the summer market to slow as people focus on travel and leisure; we often see activity pick back up once school starts. The year-over-year growth in pending closings is encouraging. Inventory is higher than in recent years, giving buyers more options, but the month-to-month dip in new and active listings suggests some sellers may be holding back. If interest rates shift lower this fall, we could see seller and buyer activity accelerate.’ 

“Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA [Entire Metro Area] 

• “July 2025 - For Sale  

• 2,492 – Residential homes sold, 7.9% less than July 2024. 

• $435,000 – Median price for residential homes, 3.3% less than July 2024. 

• 4,308 – New home listings on the market, 13.4% more than July 2024. 

• 15,002 – Active home listings on the market, 15.9% more than July 2024. 

• 2,829 – Pending sales, 15.3% more than July 2024. 

• 6.1 – Months of inventory, 0.9 months more than July 2024. 

• $1,440,357,791 – Total dollar volume of homes sold, 7.3% less than July 2024. 

• 93.1% – Average close to list price, compared to 94.2% in July 2024. 

• “July 2025 - For Lease 

• 2,701 – Closed leases, 6.4% less than July 2024. 

• $2,295 – Median price for rent, 0.2% less than July 2024. 

• 3,671 – New lease listings on the market, 0.5% less than July 2024. 

• 5,741 – Active lease listings on the market, 0.9% less than July 2024. 

• 2,873 – Pending leases, 2.5% more than July 2024. 

• 2.0 – Months of inventory, flat compared to July 2024 

• $7,055,985 – Total dollar volume of leases, 5.4% less than July 2024. 

• 99.7% – Average close to list price, compared to 99.9% in July 2024.” 

For folks in the Austin MSA, if you had bought a house in 2018 at the median price of $305K, its value would have increased to $502K by the May 2022 peak (the post-pandemic years went crazy like the rest of us). Median price for the MSA is now still nearly $435K, so you would have still done well investing in Central Texas real estate. If you bought during (or after) the peak, the slow erosion of property values began levelling in 2023, and median prices have been stable for two years.

Check the latest Central Texas Housing Report for more details and data for the city of Austin (Travis) and surrounding counties. You will see a wide range across the area, so check details in the report about where you (want to) live.

Summer Home Maintenance Tips: Summertime has its own home maintenance checklist in Central Texas, especially for existing property owners. Here are a few items to consider during August (a repeat of our previous Summer issues):

·      Set your mower on the highest setting so you do not cut the grass too short and expose it to drought and weeds.

·      Reverse the setting on your ceiling fans to counterclockwise (search YouTube for how to do that). This pushes the air down, creating a nice breeze. Shut off fans when you leave the house to save electricity.

·      Whether you have central air-conditioning or window units, you should clean or replace your filters at least once every other month (or more often if they are visibly dirty).

When considering your real-estate needs and situation in the context of macro-level data, remember that your potential sale or purchase will always be hyperlocal. Let us know if we can help. Issues of this and previous newsletters are located on the Blog tab of my website at www.chuckfarr.com. Please DM or email me if you want your email added to my newsletter list.