Market bubble?

Several weeks ago I wrote Market pause?, pointing out that we began a transition in our residential market in March. Since then we have seen some housing inventory growth, somewhat slower market velocity, and less aggressive price escalation. After years of frantic activity the contrast has been clear, and it has led to questions about whether we are in a market bubble heading for the kind of extreme disruptions we saw in 2008. My answer in June was ‘NO,’ and these posts show graphically how different — and better — things are in this market cycle than in the last one:

Think Home Prices Are Going To Fall? Think Again

3 Graphs To Show This Isn’t a Housing Bubble

Note that those are national market statistics. Home prices rose much faster in the Austin area and housing inventory remains much lower than you see in those graphs. Major employers continue to demonstrate their confidence by building and expanding here and housing demand remains very strong. No market cycle lasts forever, but we still have a lot going for us in Central Texas, and an environment that allows us to build housing inventory and to better balance supply and demand will be a benefit in the coming months.