Austin housing summit: Austin's housing market is shifting for buyers, sellers and renters, tell me about this news in (https://www.statesman.com/business/real-estate/article/austin-housing-reset-buyers-renters-summit-22425645.php)

The Austin American-Statesman reported on key findings from the Austin Board of Realtors’ annual Central Texas Housing Summit, which highlighted that the Austin-area real estate market is moving into a new phase of recalibration. After the extreme volatility of the pandemic boom and subsequent slowdown, the dynamics are shifting across three main groups: buyers, sellers, and renters.Key Takeaways from the Summit1. For Homebuyers: Better Pricing and Builder Incentives, but Tightening Inventory

• Price Cooling: The rapid price spikes of 2020–2022 have largely normalized. The metro median sales pricewhich peaked at $525,000 in 2022has stabilized around $425,000 to $435,000.
• New Construction Discounts: Homebuilders have become aggressive competitors, offering median prices on newly built homes (around $385,000) well below the resale median (around $451,000). Builders are also providing rate buydowns into the mid-5% range and offering $10,000 to $25,000 in closing-cost incentives.
• Window May Be Narrowing: While buyers currently hold strong negotiating power, overall inventory has begun tighteningdropping to around 4.7 months of supplymeaning the window of peak buyer leverage may not stay open indefinitely.

2. For Home Sellers: Stiff Competition and a Fragmented Market

• Competing with Builders: Resale sellers are no longer just competing with nearby neighbors; they are going head-to-head with large homebuilders that can offer below-market financing. Experts noted that offering concessions or mortgage rate buydowns is often more effective for sellers than simply cutting the list price.
• Luxury Outpacing Entry-Level: In an unusual inversion, homes priced at $1 million and above have been selling faster (averaging about 58 days on market) than entry-level homes priced between $250,000 and $300,000 (averaging 82 days). This reflects how rate-sensitive first-time and entry-level buyers remain.
• Micro-Market Disparities: There is no single “Austin market.” Inner-city Austin and Travis County saw double-digit percentage increases in closed sales, whereas surrounding suburban counties like Hays and Bastrop saw slower activity.

3. For Renters: The Window of Concessions Is Closing

• Current Renter Market: Renters have enjoyed a period of relative relief, with flat or declining rents and widespread landlord concessions due to a massive wave of apartment completions.
• Impending Shift: That advantage is expected to fade. Multifamily construction starts have dropped sharply from their 2023 highs. As new deliveries dry up over the next 12 to 24 months, experts warned that the tightening supply pipeline will likely push rents back upward.

The Broader Economic OutlookDespite the cooling from peak years, housing analysts emphasized that Central Texas fundamentals remain positive. Steady regional job growth (adding nearly 24,000 jobs with roughly 4% unemployment) continues to support baseline demand, and long-term forecasts project the region’s population will expand from roughly 2.6 million today toward 4.6 million by 2060.