Austin Housing Market Report: September 2026
Austin's median sale price fell 6.4% year over year to $412,000 (Unlock MLS, Sept. 15, 2026). See what the data means for buyers and sellers this fall.
Austin Housing Market Report: September 2026
Last Updated: October 2026
TL;DR: The Austin metro's median sale price slipped 6.4% year over year to $412,000 in August, and closed sales fell 7.3% (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026). Pending sales still rose 1.5%, but September brought a fresh headwind: the 30-year fixed mortgage rate crossed 7% (Freddie Mac PMMS).
Key Takeaways
- The Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos median sale price was $412,000 in August 2026, down 6.4% from August 2025 (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
- Closed sales fell 7.3% year over year to 2,501 homes, yet pending sales rose 1.5% to 2,623 (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
- Supply kept tightening: 13,676 active listings, down 6.5% year over year, and 5.1 months of inventory (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
- The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 7.28% on October 1, 2026, up from 7.03% a week earlier and 6.34% a year earlier (Freddie Mac PMMS).
- Austin's sales pace for the year was still running 9% above 2025 as of July, the most recent reading (Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC), September 2026).
Table of Contents
- Where does the Austin market stand in September 2026?
- Home prices: how far have they pulled back?
- Sales and demand: is the fall slowdown here?
- Inventory and days on market: how much choice do buyers have?
- Mortgage rates: what happened in September?
- What does this mean for buyers?
- What does this mean for sellers?
- Where prices moved across the five counties
- What to watch in October
- FAQ
Where does the Austin market stand in September 2026?
Austin's summer momentum hit a wall in August. The metro median sale price fell 6.4% year over year to $412,000, closed sales dropped 7.3% to 2,501, and supply held at 5.1 months of inventory (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, released September 15, 2026).
A quick note on timing: Unlock MLS publishes each month's full Central Texas Housing Report in the middle of the following month. The newest official monthly dataset available today covers August, and the September report is due around October 15. For September-specific signals — mostly mortgage rates — this report leans on the Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC) and Freddie Mac PMMS, cited line by line.
The August reading is a sharp turn from July, when metro sales rose 4.4% year over year to 2,739 and the median price inched up 1.0% to $435,000 (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, July 2026 report). One soft month does not make a trend. It does show how sensitive this market is to borrowing costs — and borrowing costs moved the wrong way in September (Freddie Mac PMMS, October 1, 2026).
Home prices: how far have they pulled back?
The metro median sale price was $412,000 in August 2026, down 6.4% from a year earlier, and the City of Austin median was $560,000, down 4.3% (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
| Area | Median sale price (Aug 2026) | Change vs. Aug 2025 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA | $412,000 | -6.4% | Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, 9/15/2026 |
| City of Austin | $560,000 | -4.3% | Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, 9/15/2026 |
| Travis County | $489,000 | -6.4% | Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, 9/15/2026 |
| Williamson County | $399,900 | -5.9% | Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, 9/15/2026 |
| Hays County | $355,000 | -1.4% | Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, 9/15/2026 |
| Bastrop County | $342,495 | -5.1% | Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, 9/15/2026 |
| Caldwell County | $270,000 | +17.4% | Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, 9/15/2026 |
| Texas statewide (July 2026) | $339,000 | about flat | Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC), Sept. 2026 |
Two yardsticks matter here. A median tracks the mix of homes that sold; a repeat-sales index smooths that out. The Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC) index put Austin's annual price decline at 1.4% in July 2026, improving from 2.2% in June (Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC), September 2026). A median dip often means more lower-priced homes sold that month, not that every home lost value.
Caldwell County's median jumped 17.4% year over year to $270,000, but only 41 homes closed there in August — small markets produce loud percentages (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
Sales and demand: is the fall slowdown here?
Closed sales fell 7.3% year over year to 2,501 homes in August, yet pending sales — contracts signed but not yet closed — rose 1.5% to 2,623 (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026). That split says demand cooled but did not disappear.
August closings generated about $1.40 billion in sales volume across the metro, down 11.1% from August 2025; inside the city limits, 844 homes closed, down 10.3% (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
The statewide picture was similar. Texas closed 32,306 sales in July, up 2.2% year over year, and Austin's year-to-date sales pace was running about 9% above 2025 (Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC), September 2026). TRERC also flagged that July's pending sales pointed to a weaker August in Texas — and the new Austin data bears that out.
September's closings will mostly come from contracts written around the rate jump, so the cleanest read of its impact arrives with the September Unlock MLS report around October 15 (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS; Freddie Mac PMMS, October 1, 2026).
Inventory and days on market: how much choice do buyers have?
Buyers still have options: 13,676 active listings and 5.1 months of inventory across the metro in August 2026 (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026). But selection is thinner than a year ago, and it has been thinning all summer.
| Metric | August 2026 | Change vs. Aug 2025 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active listings (MSA) | 13,676 | -6.5% | Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, 9/15/2026 |
| New listings (MSA) | 3,579 | -7.0% | Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, 9/15/2026 |
| Months of inventory (MSA) | 5.1 | 0.4 fewer | Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, 9/15/2026 |
| Active listings (City of Austin) | 4,554 | -14.5% | Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, 9/15/2026 |
| Months of inventory (City of Austin) | 4.6 | 1.1 fewer | Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, 9/15/2026 |
| Active listings (Caldwell County) | 256 | +62.0% | Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, 9/15/2026 |
Six months of supply is the textbook marker of a balanced market. Austin sits below it at 5.1 months, yet the average sale still closed at 93.2% of list price (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026) — a reminder that months of supply alone does not settle the negotiation.
On speed, the most recent published figure is statewide: Texas homes that sold in July spent an average of 63 days on market, up from 61 days a year earlier, while homes still unsold at month-end had averaged 92 days (Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC), September 2026). The Austin-specific days-on-market figure publishes with the full September report.
Sellers kept trimming, too: the median Texas seller cut was $13,000 in July 2026, about 3.6% of the original list price (Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC), September 2026).
Mortgage rates: what happened in September?
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 7.28% as of October 1, 2026, up from 7.03% a week earlier and 6.34% a year earlier (Freddie Mac PMMS). The 15-year fixed averaged 6.60% that same week (Freddie Mac PMMS).
Rates climbed above 7% even before the Federal Reserve's 25-basis-point hike on September 16, 2026, and financing costs are expected to stay the main headwind for Texas housing through year-end (Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC), September 2026).
What does a higher rate do to a budget? It shrinks the loan size a given monthly payment can support. By how much depends on the price, the down payment, the loan product, and the lender's pricing — each of those is set case by case and confirmed in writing.
Stated plainly: mortgage terms and eligibility are decided by the lender, case by case, and confirmed in a written offer. Sully Ruiz is a real estate agent, not a lender; the first step for any buyer is a written pre-approval.
Buyers weighing today's rates sometimes look at assumable mortgages in Texas — existing government-backed loans that a buyer may be able to take over at the seller's original rate, subject to the servicer's rules and the lender's approval.
What does this mean for buyers?
Buyers in October hold real but narrowing leverage. The average metro sale closed at 93.2% of list price in August 2026 (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026), and statewide sellers were still cutting a median of $13,000 as of July (Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC), September 2026).
The case for moving carefully is the affordability math. Each additional $100 a month in carrying costs pushes roughly 9,800 Central Texas households past the point where housing becomes a genuine financial strain (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS 2026 Homeowner Affordability Index). Budget for taxes, insurance, and utilities — not just the principal and interest.
Renters should note the rental side cooled too: the metro median rent was $2,150 a month in August 2026, flat versus August 2025 (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
Practical steps for the fall market:
- Start with a written pre-approval from a lender — eligibility is the lender's call, case by case, in writing.
- Use the average 93.2% close-to-list ratio as a reality check on offer strategy, not as a rule (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
- Track how long the homes you like have been sitting; a 90-day-old listing negotiates differently than a fresh one.
- Compare loan options side by side — rates, points, and lender credits each shift the monthly math, and a lender puts each scenario in writing.
For a full walkthrough, see the buyer's guide.
What does this mean for sellers?
Sellers face a thinner-competition, pickier-buyer market. Active listings across the metro were down 6.5% year over year in August 2026, and inside Austin they were down 14.5% (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026). Pending sales still rose 1.5% metro-wide (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026) — buyers are writing contracts.
Pricing is where deals are won. The average metro sale closed at 93.2% of list price in August, and the median Texas seller was already cutting $13,000 as of July (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026; Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC), September 2026). Price to the most recent comparables, not to last spring's numbers.
The Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC) expects the seasonally slower period, plus higher rates, to weigh on sales activity through year-end (Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC), September 2026). That makes condition, staging, and marketing matter more — the seller's guide covers the full checklist.
Where prices moved across the five counties
County lines tell five different stories this month:
- Travis County: median $489,000, down 6.4% year over year, on 6,427 active listings — down 10.2% (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
- Williamson County: median $399,900, down 5.9%, with pending sales up 9.3% — the strongest forward-demand reading among the metro's large counties (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
- Hays County: median $355,000, down just 1.4% — the steadiest of the big three — at 5.5 months of inventory (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
- Bastrop County: median $342,495, down 5.1%, with 7.4 months of inventory and an average close-to-list of 91.8% — the deepest negotiating gap in the metro (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
- Caldwell County: median $270,000, up 17.4%, with active listings up 62.0% and pending sales up 34.3% — a small market where percentages swing hard (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
What to watch in October
- The September Central Texas Housing Report lands around October 15 — the first full read of how the rate jump met the fall market (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS).
- Whether pending sales keep their small edge; August pendings rose 1.5% metro-wide (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
- Whether Austin's price declines keep narrowing the way the statewide index suggests — July's Austin decline was 1.4%, better than June's 2.2% (Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC), September 2026).
- Each week's Freddie Mac PMMS release — the 30-year fixed averaged 7.28% on October 1, 2026 (Freddie Mac PMMS).
For the longer view, the August 2026 market report covered the stronger summer numbers.
FAQ
What is the median home price in Austin?
The Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro median was $412,000 and the City of Austin median was $560,000 in August 2026, the most recent official month (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026). September figures publish around October 15.
How many months of inventory does Austin have?
The metro had 5.1 months of inventory in August 2026, down 0.4 from a year earlier; inside the city it was 4.6 months (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026). Six months is the textbook balanced-market marker.
Is Austin a buyer's market or a seller's market?
Neither extreme. At 5.1 months of supply, selection is decent but tightening, and the average sale closed at 93.2% of list price — buyers negotiate, and sellers still transact (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026).
What is the average mortgage rate right now?
The 30-year fixed averaged 7.28% as of October 1, 2026 (Freddie Mac PMMS). The rate on any specific loan is set by the lender, case by case, and confirmed in a written offer — a written pre-approval is how a buyer gets an actual quote.
How long do homes take to sell in Austin?
The newest published figure is statewide: Texas homes sold in July 2026 averaged 63 days on market, up from 61 days a year earlier (Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC), September 2026). The Austin-specific figure arrives with the September Unlock MLS report.
Should I wait for prices to fall further?
No one can promise where prices head next, and this report will not try. What is measurable today: 13,676 active listings, an average close at 93.2% of list, and 5.1 months of inventory (Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS)/Unlock MLS, September 15, 2026). The right timing depends on a household's budget and plans, not on a forecast.
What should you do next?
Want these numbers applied to your address or target neighborhood? Book a free consultation, or start with the buyer's guide or the seller's guide.
About the Author
Sully Ruiz is a licensed Texas REALTOR® (TREC #0742907). Her sponsoring broker is Keller Williams Austin NW. She works bilingually in Spanish and English, representing buyers and sellers across the Austin metro, and has guided 46+ families through home purchases financed with ITIN loans — as their real estate agent, not their lender. She is a member of NAR, Texas REALTORS®, ABOR, and NAHREP.
Disclaimer
"Market data is for informational purposes only and is subject to change. Sources are believed to be reliable but are not guaranteed. Contact Sully Ruiz for a personalized market analysis."
Sources
- Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS) / Unlock MLS — August 2026 Central Texas Housing Report, accessed October 7, 2026
- Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS) / Unlock MLS — July 2026 Central Texas Housing Report, accessed October 7, 2026
- Unlock MLS — Market Research & Statistics, accessed October 7, 2026
- Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC) — Texas Housing Insight, September 2026, accessed October 7, 2026
- Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC) — Housing Activity data, accessed October 7, 2026
- Freddie Mac — Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), accessed October 7, 2026
- Freddie Mac PMMS news release, October 1, 2026, accessed October 7, 2026
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Sully Ruiz
REALTOR® · TREC License #0742907
Texas-licensed real estate agent. Her sponsoring broker is Keller Williams Austin NW. She works with buyers and sellers in Austin and Central Texas, in English and Spanish.
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