Are We Back on the Right Real Estate Trajectory in Austin?
Short answer: yes on pricing, no on affordability.
If you zoom out and look at real estate over the last 75 years, home values in the U.S. typically appreciate at about 3–5% annually. There are always spikes and corrections, but over time the market tends to return to that long-term trend line. What we experienced in Austin from 2020 to 2022 was a massive spike—home values jumped 25–30% in a very short period of time, fueled by sub-3% interest rates and a surge in demand.
What followed was inevitable.
Spring Market Update for 78749 (Southwest Austin)
As we move into the spring market, activity in the 78749 zip code is starting to pick up. There are currently over 100 homes either active, under contract, pending, or closed recently, which is typical for this time of year as buyers begin re-entering the market after the winter slowdown. The average home in this dataset sits around 1,974 square feet and was built in the early 1990s, which reflects the established nature of the neighborhoods in this part of Southwest Austin.