Greater Austin Area MLS Stats

INDEPENDENCE TITLE MLS STATISTICS

OVERVIEW

Our statistics are based solely on data from the Austin Board of Realtors MLS and, therefore, will not include all possible sales in the greater Austin area. For example, for-sale-by-owner properties and homes sold by licensed brokers but not listed in the MLS (often called “pocket listings”) would not be included in these figures. Not all sales are updated as “sold” in the MLS immediately after the sale, meaning some sales will be missing from the statistics until they’re updated the following month. Access to these statistics is restricted to members of the Austin Board of Realtors.

Median vs. Average

These statistics contain figures for both median and average, which are both useful for different purposes. The average simply means all the numbers are added together and divided by the total number. The median, on the other hand, is simply the middle number of a list of values.
In an odd-numbered list, the median is the middle number. In an even-numbered list, the median is the average of the two middle numbers. Example: 1,3,6,7,9 6 is the median. (The average is 5.2) Example: 1,3,4,6,8,9 The median is the average of 4 and 6, 4+6 / 2 = 5. (The average is 5.17)
The median statistics can smooth out some of the large swings in trends often seen with averages. For example, if a few very expensive homes are sold in an otherwise middle-price-range neighborhood, the average price could go up quite a bit that month. But the median price probably won’t move much at all because it’s not affected by the larger numbers. This is especially true for smaller data sets where the ups and downs affect average pricing even more.

Months of Inventory

The months of inventory statistic answers the question: “If we kept selling the current active listings at the same rate we sold them in the previous month, how many months would it be until all the listings were sold?” For example, if there are 50 properties currently for sale in a certain area and last month there were 10 sales in that area, we can say the area has 5 months of inventory (50 active listings divided by 10 sold equals 5).
While there is no universal standard for calculating months of inventory, the most common way is to take a snapshot of the number of active listings on a certain day each month and use that as the figure for dividing. Independence Title uses the number of active listings on the 15th day of each month divided by the total sales for that month.
The months of inventory statistic is often used to determine if the local market is a seller’s or buyer’s market, and though it can be helpful for this purpose, it’s important to look at the recent trend over the past months to get the most accurate picture of inventory in your area. For example, four months of inventory would generally be considered a sign of a seller’s market, but if the trend line shows the figure rapidly increasing over the last several months, that could be an early sign of an oversupply. Conversely, a recent, significant decrease in months of inventory for a given area may be a sign that area is becoming “hot” for sellers, even if the current figure is higher than what would normally be considered a “seller’s market.”

Sample Size

The larger the data set, the more accurate and useful the statistics become. Be careful when drawing conclusions from statistics based on a small number of sales, as they may not give an accurate picture of the true home value in an area.

Zip Code Statistics vs MLS Areas

Independence Title publishes statistics both by MLS area and zip code. Both are useful in different circumstances, but keep in mind that MLS areas are created by the Board for consistency in both home value and area of town, whereas zip codes are created by the U.S. Postal Service for efficient mail routes, which may not correlate at all to home value or neighborhood characteristics. The best zip code statistics are found in zip codes with more consistent property types and values.