A house listed for sale on Orba Drive in Austin’s Circle C neighborhood in June 2021. Home sales and median prices fell across Central Texas in August as elevated mortgage rates continued to weigh on buyers.
Jay Janner/American-Statesman
Central Texas’ once-sizzling housing market cooled further in August, with home sales and prices both down from a year earlier as high borrowing costs and continued economic uncertainty kept would-be buyers cautious.
Home sales across the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan area slid 7.3% from August 2025, with 2,501 homes sold compared with about 2,700 a year earlier, according to the latest data from Unlock MLS. The median sales price fell 6.4% to $412,000, down from about $440,000 last August.
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“Higher interest rates mean fewer potential buyers, but positive pending sales and continued building activity show the market is still moving,” said Vaike O’Grady, market research advisor at Unlock MLS
Nationally, a recent report from online brokerage Redfin found that pending home sales fell to their lowest level since early April during the four weeks ending July 26. Mortgage-purchase applications fell 4% from the previous week, while the daily average 30-year mortgage rate hovered at roughly 6.85%, its highest level in more than a year.
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The Austin-area data was more mixed on pending sales. They rose 1.5% across the metro area to 2,623, but fell 9.2% in Austin and 1.1% in Travis County. Austin and Travis County typically outperform the rest of the region.
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New listings fell 7% across the metro area, while active listings declined 6.5%. The region had 5.1 months of inventory in August, down from 5.5 months a year earlier. Generally, five to six months of inventory is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers.
Austin, Travis County see sharper declines
The city of Austin saw one of the sharpest drops in the region. Home sales fell 10.3% from a year earlier to 844, while the median sales price declined 4.3% to $560,000.
Active listings fell 14.5% to 4,554, and the city had 4.6 months of inventory, down from 5.7 months a year ago.
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“Austin is not immune to what is happening across the rest of the country, and August’s housing data reflects some of the same affordability and interest rate pressures we’re seeing nationwide,” O’Grady said. “Still, Austin is resilient. Central Texas continues to see economic development and job growth across the region.”
Across Travis County, sales fell 9.5% to 1,111. The median sales price dropped 6.4% to $489,000, and active listings fell 10.2%.
Bastrop County had 98 sales, down 14.8%, and 7.4 months of inventory. Caldwell County was one of the few areas where sales increased, rising 24.2% to 41. But active listings jumped 62% from a year earlier, and the county had more than 7 months of inventory.
Hays County saw 396 homes sold, down 8.1%, while the median sales price fell 1.4% to $355,000. Pending sales dropped 13.5%, and inventory rose to 5.5 months from 4.5 months a year earlier.
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Williamson County recorded 855 home sales, down 4.1% from August 2025. The median sales price fell 5.9% to $399,900, although pending sales rose 9.3%.
Single-family rents remain mostly stable
The single-family rental market also slowed in August, although prices remained mostly stable.
Across the Austin metro area, closed leases fell 6.2% from a year earlier to 2,920. The median lease price was unchanged at $2,150, while active lease listings fell 27.9%.
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In Austin, closed leases declined 3.7% to 1,601. The median lease price fell 4.3% to $2,200, and active lease listings dropped 28.8%.
Unlock MLS does not track apartment rents. Austin’s large wave of apartment construction has given renters more options and pushed landlords to offer concessions, but that construction pipeline has slowed sharply in recent years.