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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.
HOUSTON, Texas — The NHL is looking to start the expansion process in Texas, with Austin and Houston as potential targets, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
The expansion news is being discussed at the NHL’s board of governors meeting, which is being held on Tuesday in New York.
The NHL went from 30 to 32 clubs when it added the Vegas Golden Knights (began play in 2017-18) and Seattle Kraken (debuted in 2021-22). The expansion fee for Vegas was $500 million and for Seattle was $650 million.
Earlier this month at the Stanley Cup Final, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman reiterated that the league has fielded calls from across North America from prospective cities and owners who are interested in bringing in an NHL franchise.
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Bettman has previously told the board of governors that any potential expansion team would likely come with at least a $2 billion fee for it to make sense.
The league has seen record revenues this season — projected to be between $7.5 billion and $8 billion. The NHL salary cap is set at $104 million for the 2026-27 season, a $8.5 million increase from this past season.
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AUSTIN, Texas – Barton Springs Pool will reopen to visitors this week.
What they’re saying:
The City of Austin said the pool will reopen on Tuesday, June 23, for the early morning regularly scheduled “swim at your own risk.”
The pool had closed on June 15 due to severe weather.
City staff removed large tree branches, aluminum cans, fishing hooks, and other debris from the water.
The team also cleaned off decks and reinstalled the diving board in preparation for the pool’s reopening.
The Source: Information from the City of Austin
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