Austin housing: a $421,000 median, 14.8% fewer sales, and rates at 7.40%

The 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 7.40% in the week ending October 15, unchanged from a week earlier and up from 6.27% a year ago.1

At 7.40%, a $456,766 loan — 80% of the city of Austin's $570,958 median sale price — costs about $3,163 a month in principal and interest.2 At last October's 6.27%, the same loan cost about $2,818.

Every figure covers September 2026 closings, published by Unlock MLS on October 13.

Unlock MLS counted 2,223 residential closings across the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro in September, 14.8% fewer than a year earlier.2 The median price rose 1.4% to $421,000 over the same twelve months.

Travis County shows the same split: 9.6% fewer homes sold and a median 2.6% higher. Williamson County went the other way, with 12.1% fewer sales and a median down 2.5%.

Hays County sold 30.5% fewer homes, 294 in all, and its median rose 10.8%. On a base that thin, a few expensive closings move the median a long way.

Pending sales fell 1.8% to 2,313, a far smaller drop than closings. A pending sale records a contract signed in September, while a closing records a deal agreed a month or two earlier.

Closing prices landed nearer the asking price than they did a year ago, at an average 92.7% of list price against 91.4%.2 New listings rose 2.8% to 3,546.

Vaike O'Grady, research advisor at Unlock MLS, pointed to monthly payments as the drag. "The biggest factor for many buyers isn't necessarily the price of the home, but what that price means for their monthly payment at today's rates," she said.3

September's supply measured 5.4 months of inventory across the metro, against 5.5 a year earlier. The city of Austin held 5.4 months and 4,502 active listings, 10.3% fewer than last September.2

Redfin's live page showed 5,809 Austin homes for sale on October 19, plus 120 in early access.4 The two counts cover different pools: Unlock MLS's figure is active residential listings on its system, and Redfin's is everything its site displays.

The rental side tightened. City leases closed at a median $2,195, 4.4% below a year ago, and active lease listings fell 31.7% to 2,014. That left 1.7 months of rental inventory against 2.9 last September.2

Zillow values Austin's typical home at $491,960 through September 30, down 3.2% from a year earlier.5 That index prices the whole housing stock, while a sale median describes only the homes that changed hands.

Redfin's three-month window now runs through September closings. Homes sold in a median 65 days, against 74 days a year earlier, and the median price per square foot rose 1.7% to $298.6 The homes that sold found buyers faster than a year ago, even though far fewer sold.

The 15-year fixed rate averaged 6.71%, down from 6.73% a week earlier and 5.52% a year ago.1

On the metro median of $421,000 with 20% down, the loan is $336,800. At 7.40% that runs about $2,332 a month in principal and interest; at last October's 6.27% it ran about $2,078. The same house carries $254 more a month.2

Those figures leave out property taxes, insurance and HOA dues. A quarter-point move in the rate shifts the metro-median payment by about $58.

The City Council's Housing and Planning Committee voted on October 13 to send a resolution to the full council that would start an update of the Austin Strategic Housing Blueprint.7 Council Members Natasha Harper-Madison and Mike Siegel sponsored the item.

The blueprint was adopted in 2017 as a ten-year plan with a goal of 60,000 affordable housing units. City staff told the committee they aim to have a replacement adopted in mid-2028.

Staff also laid out the Land Development Code amendment schedule. An initial set of rules on data centers should reach the council by the end of this year, with a fuller package in spring 2027. The East Riverside corridor plan, the second phase of the downtown density bonus, and a life-sciences land-use amendment follow later in 2027.7

Any change to what can be built on an Austin lot arrives in 2027 at the earliest.

Unlock MLS publishes October's closings in November. Until then the rate sets the pace: each quarter point moves the payment on the metro median by about $58 a month.