Uncommon Knowledge
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Home prices in the former pandemic boomtown of Austin, Texas, dropped by -0.1 percent from May to June, according to the latest data from Zillow compiled by journalist Lance Lambert.
“In early June, I said the Austin metro is poised for some more home price declines in the second half of 2024,” Lambert, who writes for ResiClub, posted on X. “The tell-tale sign was the weak month-over-month print from April to May—historically one of the strongest reporting months of the year.”
In early June, I said the Austin metro is poised for some more home price declines in the second half of 2024.
The tell-tale sign was the weak month-over-month print from April to May—historically one of the strongest reporting months of the year.
The June print came in red 👇 pic.twitter.com/kVSCDqsvwb — Lance Lambert (@NewsLambert) July 23, 2024
After a drop of -0.6 percent between December 2023 and January, home prices had modestly been rising in the Texas capital. Between January and February, they increased by 0.3 percent; in both March and April they grew by 1.1 percent month-over-month. From April to May, they increased by only 0.2 percent.
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While the June home price decrease is a far cry from the steep drops of summer and winter of 2022, when prices plunged by as much as -3.0 percent, it’s a clear sign that Austin’s housing market is still navigating troubled waters.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
When the pandemic hit, Austin had been the fastest growing large metropolitan area in the country in more than a decade, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. During the COVID-19 health emergency, the city saw a massive influx of people moving from other states into the Texas capital, attracted by more affordable prices, Austin’s great weather and its vibrant culture.
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These people—often remote workers leaving expensive cities like the ones in California’s Bay Area—brought up demand for homes in the city at a time of historically low supply, engaging in cutthroat bidding wars and sending prices to the roof. At its peak in May 2022, the median sale price of a home in Austin had reached $667,000, according to Redfin data, up 16.0 percent from a year earlier.
But after the end of the pandemic boom, many remote workers were forced to return home and leave Austin, while the massive migration of the past couple of years started to decline. As the U.S. housing market was experiencing a modest price correction between late summer 2022 and spring 2023, Austin was witnessing a much more dramatic collapse of its home prices.
“Because prices have been so high, there was a lot of room for prices to fall,” Daryl Fairweather, Redfin chief economist, previously told Newsweek. Between July 2022 and February 2023, home prices fell in Austin for eight consecutive months, by as much as -3.0 percent and as little as -0.9 percent.
After rising for three months between April 2023 and June 2023, home prices in the city started dropping again between July 2023 and January 2024, though the deepest drop was a much more modest -1.5 percent.
An increase in housing inventory is partly responsible for this further drop in prices. According to a recent analysis of Realtor.com active listings made by ResiClub, housing inventory for sale in Austin reached a new cycle high last month at 10,913 and it’s now 41 percent above pre-pandemic levels.
While the median sale price of homes in Austin remains much higher than the state’s average of $354,800, according to Redfin data, the cost of housing has dropped noticeably since the pandemic. In June, as per Redfin data, the median sale price of a home was $564,000, down -6.0 percent year-over-year.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas’ highway system dropped two spots since 2025, and now ranks at No. 27 in the country for its cost-effectiveness and overall conditions, according to the Reason Foundation’s 2026 Highway Report.
The report assessed pavement conditions, fatalities, deficient bridges, infrastructure costs and congestion levels across the United States. Texas earned the following rankings:
“More than 42,000 of the nation’s 618,923 highway bridges, nearly 7%, are still structurally deficient. Arizona, Nevada, and Texas reported the lowest percentages of deficient bridges,” the report said.
The full report can be found online.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Small hail peppered the Austin area as strong thunderstorms moved through Saturday.
A few of the storms dropped rain and up to pea-sized hail in San Marcos, Dripping Springs and the Austin metro area.
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Williamson County around 8:15 p.m., and then canceled shortly after. However, it was enough for the Two Step Inn music festival in Georgetown to cancel shows for the rest of the evening. Event organizers say the festival will run as planned Sunday.
KXAN’s First Warning Weather team is monitoring the storms. We will update this post as the evening continues.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Society Sons of the American Revolution unveiled a new monument at the Texas State Cemetery on Saturday, dedicated to Texas Revolutionary War soldiers.
“We must educate every generation about why it is that America grew from a tenuous 13 colonies into the most powerful country in the history of the world,” said Governor Abbott. “This monument here is an enduring testament to the heroes who fought for the freedom that is unique to America.”
The monument was dedicated to 69 soldiers who fought in the American Revolutionary War and later settled in Texas, according to a press release.
Among those that were honored, Abbott recognized:
“This year marks the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, which not only gave freedom to the British colonies of North America, but inspired movements for freedom and liberty all over the world,” said TSSAR President Mel Oller. “Texans played a role in the war too, and it’s important to recognize them, and the sacrifices they made for our freedom.”
At the monument unveiling, Abbott was also inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution and received its Silver Good Citizenship Medal.
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