Real estate
BY GRACE DICKENS
Central Texas housing market shows growth despite economic uncertainty
Number of closed, pending home sales
Closed home sales
Pending sales
4K
3,411
happened earlier this spring, said Vaike O’Grady, market research adviser at Unlock MLS. Toward the end of February, 30-year xed-rate mortgages dipped below 6% for the rst time since 2022, according to federal mortgage-buying organization Freddie Mac. Additionally, in mid-February, 15-year xed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.35%, the lowest rate since 2024 when it reached 5.16%. “What stands out in April’s data is the shift in buyer psychology and overall market momentum,” O’Grady said in a news release. “Many buyers who had been delaying their home search took advantage of the temporary dip in mortgage rates we saw earlier this year and moved quickly once conditions became more manageable.”
The latest data from Unlock MLS shows signs that the housing market is ticking up in Central Texas, with higher year-over-year home sales and homes selling closer to their original listing price. Representing the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan statistical area, or MSA, the data released May 12 shows residential home sales increased 2% year over year in April for the MSA, reaching 2,648. That’s the highest number of monthly home sales so far this year, up from a 0.5% year-over-year increase in March and decreases in both January and February. Additionally, the number of pending home sales increased 15.4% year over year in April to 3,411. These changes are a response to market shifts that
3K
2,349
2,648
2K
1,566
1K
0
Jan.
Feb.
March
April
SOURCE: UNLOCK MLSCOMMUNITY IMPACT
Diving in deeper
Looking ahead
Close to list price Data shows that the amount homes sold for compared to their original listing prices, or their close to list price, has increased since January.
Alongside rising year-over-year home sales, data shows that the nal selling price of homes is inching closer to the price homes were originally listed for, known as the average close to list price. While this number slipped down to 91% in January, it has consistently risen since, and is now sitting at 94.8%. Despite the increase, this growth still fell short of the close to list prices seen in 2025 for February-March. The median price for homes sold in April was $440,000, marking a 1.9% decline year over year and the latest entry in a series of declining median prices over the past four months.
Increasing pending and closed sales point to a market where buyers are “stepping into the market with more urgency,” O’Grady said, emphasizing the importance of correctly priced homes in the equation. “Pending sales continue to be one of the clearest indicators of where the market is heading,” O’Grady said. “April’s numbers show that condence is building despite higher borrowing costs and ongoing economic uncertainty.”
2025 2026
100%
90%
80%
70%
0%
Jan.
Feb.
March April
SOURCE: UNLOCK MLSCOMMUNITY IMPACT
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