Fewer homes are worth $1 million in the Austin area, market reports show

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — The number of homes in the Austin area worth more than $1 million is on the decline, two new market reports show.

In January, 10.1% of homes in the Austin metro were worth at least $1 million, according to data from Redfin. That’s down from 11.3% the previous year.

The decrease of 1.2 percentage points is the sixth-highest in the nation, and the highest in Texas. San Francisco saw the sharpest drop, with the share of homes with $1 million dropping 6 percentage points.

Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio all saw a slight increase in the share of homes worth $1 million. All four cities saw an increase of 0.4 percentage points between January 2022 and January 2023.

Austin is the fastest-growing city in the country for millionaires

Meanwhile, three local cities are no longer ‘million-dollar cities,’ according to a report by Zillow. The report shows 58 cities nationwide have lost that status — where typical homes are worth at least $1 million.

In the Austin metro, Volente, Sunset Valley and Driftwood have all lost that designation, since a peak in home prices in June.

Of those, home values in Volente dropped the most, down 12.7% from $1,131,618 in June to $987,397 in January. Values in Driftwood slipped by 12.3%, and Sunset Valley dropped by 9.1%.

Three cities in the Austin metro remain million-dollar cities. The typical home is worth $1,326,813 in Lost Creek and $2,179,228 in West Lake Hills. Those values are down 10.9% and 9.6% respectively.

Rollingwood is the priciest local city. A typical home there, according to Zillow data, is worth $2,641,520. That’s down just 0.7% from a peak in June.

There are now 10 million-dollar cities in Texas, down from 15 in June.

“Sellers may have missed the market’s peak, but they can still get a higher price for their homes than last year in most markets, and certainly more than they would have before the pandemic,” said Anushna Prakash, an economic data analyst at Zillow. “Getting the pricing right and boosting a home’s online curb appeal are keys to success for this spring’s sellers.”

And Redfin points out despite the lower prices, homebuyers aren’t catching a break.

“The typical homebuyer’s monthly mortgage payment is even higher than it was when home values peaked in the spring because rates are so much higher, and although home prices have come down, they certainly haven’t crashed,” said Chen Zhao, economics research lead at Redfin. “Now isn’t the time for buyers who need to take out a loan to get a good deal. Buying an $800,000 home today would cost more per month than buying a million-dollar home a year ago.”

by: Christopher Adams

Posted: Mar 14, 2023 / 06:30 AM CDT

Updated: Mar 14, 2023 / 10:03 AM CDT