Area home sales jump 15 percent

Austin Business Journal - 2:58 PM CDT Wednesday

Area homes sales once again reached record numbers in May, according to the Austin Board of Realtors.

May's Multiple Listing Service, or MLS, report shows a 15 percent increase in home sales from last year to 2,620. That represents an aggregate revenue of $619,383,720, or 24 percent more than last year at this time.

Local homes sold in May for an average of 98 percent of their asking price. Single-family homes earned a record-high median price of $174,000, an 8 percent increase from 2005.

"Once again, the MLS report confirms what anyone who's walked along Austin's increasingly crowded streets has already figured out: people love this city, and they want to live here," says ABOR Chairman John Rosshirt. "As sales continue rising, properties are sitting on the market for shorter amounts of time. The consumer appetite for local housing is very encouraging."

The market gained 3,812 new listings in May -- up 11 percent from last year -- and active listings dropped 2 percent to 8,172. Overall in May, properties sat on the market for 58 days, a 12 percent decrease from last year.