Austin housing market, September 2026: mortgage rates cross 7%

How high are Austin mortgage rates in September 2026?

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.03% for the week of September 24, 2026, up from 6.95% the week before and 6.30% a year earlier. The 15-year fixed averaged 6.42%, up from 6.26% the prior week and 5.49% a year ago.

Freddie Mac's weekly series on FRED shows five straight increases since the 6.65% reading of August 20, and the last weekly average above 7% before this one was 7.04% on January 16, 2025. The survey is a national average; an Austin quote will land above or below it depending on credit score, down payment, points and loan type, and there is no separate Austin-only Freddie Mac figure.

The backdrop is a Federal Reserve that raised the federal funds target range by a quarter point to 3.75% to 4% on September 16, 2026, saying in its statement that “inflation remains elevated.” Mortgage rates follow long-term bond yields more than the Fed's overnight rate, and the 10-year Treasury yield reached 5.18% on September 24 per Federal Reserve data on FRED, up from 4.83% on September 9. Freddie Mac's own summary of the week: “The housing market remains supported by a solid labor market and an economy that is growing at a healthy rate.”

Sources: Freddie Mac ↗ · FRED ↗ · Federal Reserve ↗

What does a 7% rate cost on an Austin median-priced home?

Unlock MLS reported a $412,000 median sale price for the Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos metro in August 2026 and $560,000 for the City of Austin. With 20% down, a $329,600 loan on the metro median costs about $2,199 a month in principal and interest at 7.03%, versus about $2,040 at the 6.30% rate of a year ago: roughly $159 more each month, or about $1,900 a year. On the city median, a $448,000 loan runs about $2,990 a month at 7.03% against $2,773 at 6.30%, a difference of about $217 a month.

The same arithmetic for each county in the Unlock MLS release shows how far the rate move reaches. The table uses each area's August 2026 median sale price, 20% down, and a 30-year term; the payments are our own calculations from the standard amortization formula, not lender quotes.

These figures leave out property taxes, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance and any HOA dues. Property taxes are the largest omission: the City of Austin's adopted rate for fiscal year 2026-27 is $0.579948 per $100 of assessed valuation, per the City's August 12, 2026 budget release, and the City is only one of several taxing units on an Austin bill. Our guide to building a home budget from the actual parcel walks through the taxing units.

Nor is a median a price for any particular house. Use the payment estimator on the homes page with a real asking price and a rate quote dated this week, then add the parcel's actual taxes.

Sources: Unlock MLS ↗ · Freddie Mac ↗ · City of Austin ↗

Are Austin home prices dropping in 2026?

Austin home prices are lower than a year ago on every August 2026 sale and listing median, but the size of the drop depends on which measure you read. Unlock MLS's August 2026 report lists the metro median sale price at $412,000, down 6.4% year over year, and the City of Austin median at $560,000, down 4.3%; Travis County's median was $489,000.

Realtor.com's median listing price for the Austin metro was $450,000 in August 2026, down from $461,966 in July and from $499,000 in August 2025, a 9.8% decline computed from the two FRED observations. Against the series' peak of $629,479 in May 2022, August 2026's median asking price is 28.5% lower, again by our computation. The FHFA all-transactions house price index for the Austin metro, built from repeat sales and refinance appraisals of the same homes rather than whatever mix happened to sell, stood at 506.31 in the second quarter of 2026 against 504.61 a year earlier, essentially flat.

A median moves when the mix of homes changes, so a falling median can mean smaller or farther-out homes are selling rather than that every home lost value. Unlock MLS also reports an average close-to-list price of 93.2% for the metro in August, up from 92.2% a year earlier: the average gap between asking and closing prices, not a discount any one seller must give. Our note on the August 2026 report explains why a city median is not a neighborhood price.

The longer view matters more than one month. Realtor.com's August readings on FRED for each of the last eleven years show the run-up, the 2021 squeeze, and the slow unwinding since.

Sources: Unlock MLS ↗ · FRED ↗

Which Austin-area county is least expensive, and where is inventory highest?

Unlock MLS breaks its August 2026 release into the metro, the City of Austin and five counties, and the spread is wide. Caldwell County's median sale price of $270,000 is less than half the City of Austin's $560,000, and the two outer counties, Bastrop and Caldwell, carry more than seven months of inventory against 4.6 in the city and in Williamson County.

The year-over-year columns do not move together. Hays County's median fell only 1.4% while Travis County's fell 6.4%; Caldwell County's median rose 17.4%, but on 41 closed sales, a number small enough that a handful of new-construction closings can swing it. Williamson County, with 855 sales and 4.6 months of inventory, is the tightest of the counties, and its 93.6% average close-to-list is the highest in the release.

None of these are neighborhood prices. A county median mixes new subdivisions, lake houses and 1970s ranches, and the Austin neighborhood atlas is a better starting point for the parts of Travis County inside the city. Buyers weighing a new build in Williamson or Hays should read the guide to buying new construction in Austin first, because builder incentives change the effective price in ways a median never shows.

Sources: Unlock MLS ↗

How long are homes taking to sell in Austin?

Realtor.com's median days on market for Austin-metro listings was 73 in August 2026, up from 67 in July and from 72 in August 2025, per the series on FRED. The 2026 low was 51 days in April, so the market has slowed by about three weeks since spring, similar to 2025, when the figure rose from a 44-day low in March and April to 72 in August.

Realtor.com counted 12,517 active listings in the Austin metro in August, level with the 12,475 of August 2025, and 2,932 new listings, down from 3,112 in July. Listings with a price reduction numbered 5,252, down from a June peak of 5,706 but equal to about 42% of active listings when the two counts are compared. The month-by-month table shows the seasonal shape: inventory and price cuts build from February to June, then thin into December while days on market climb.

Unlock MLS reports 5.1 months of inventory for the metro and 4.6 for the City of Austin; the figure is how long the current active supply would last at the current sales pace. Unlock MLS does not publish a days-on-market number, so the 73-day figure is Realtor.com's listing-based measure, and the two publishers' inventory counts differ because they cover different sets of listings. The market page carries the Unlock MLS figures for each month as they are released.

A buyer touring a home listed 70 or more days ago has time to inspect carefully; a seller three weeks in without an offer is not yet unusual.

Sources: FRED ↗ · Unlock MLS ↗

Is Austin a buyer's market or a seller's market right now?

By the August 2026 numbers, Austin leans toward buyers without being one-sided. On the buyer's side of the ledger: 5.1 months of inventory across the metro, an average sale closing at 93.2% of its list price, a median listing sitting 73 days, and price reductions on about 42% of active listings. Those are the marks of sellers conceding on time and price.

On the seller's side: Unlock MLS reports pending sales up 1.5% year over year across the metro and up 9.3% in Williamson County, active listings down 6.5% from a year earlier, and a close-to-list ratio that improved a full point from 92.2%. Fewer new listings arrived in August than in July, so a well-priced home faces less competition this fall than it did in spring.

The 7.03% mortgage rate cuts both ways. It removes buyers at the margin, which is why sellers are conceding, but it also means the buyers who remain are budget-constrained and comparing carefully, so an overpriced listing is skipped rather than negotiated. Whether a specific home is a bargain depends on its price against closed comparable sales in its own area, not on whether the metro as a whole favors one side.

Sources: Unlock MLS ↗ · FRED ↗ · Freddie Mac ↗

Is the Austin economy still supporting the housing market?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 1,424,000 nonfarm jobs in the Austin metro in August 2026, up from 1,407,000 in August 2025, a 1.2% gain by our computation, and the metro's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.7% in July 2026 against 3.5% a year earlier, per the BLS series on FRED.

Home building has not stopped: the Census Bureau recorded 1,924 private housing units authorized by permit in the Austin metro in August 2026, against 1,210 in August 2025, of which 1,147 were single-family homes, close to the 1,153 of a year earlier. Monthly permit counts swing widely, with July 2026 at 2,605, so a single month says little on its own. Inside the city limits, the City of Austin's open data portal lists 243 residential new-construction building permits issued between August 26 and September 25, 2026.

Vaike O'Grady, market research advisor at Unlock MLS, put it this way in the August release: “Higher interest rates mean fewer potential buyers, but positive pending sales and continued building activity show the market is still moving.” What these figures do not tell you is what happens next to rates or prices; they describe a metro still adding jobs and homes while financing costs rise. For a buyer, that argues for judging a home by its own price, condition and taxes rather than by a bet on the market's direction. For a seller, steady employment means buyers exist, but at a 7% rate each buyer's budget stretches less far than it did a year ago.

Sources: FRED ↗ · City of Austin Open Data ↗ · Unlock MLS ↗

What should an Austin buyer or seller do with September's numbers?

Start with a written rate quote dated this week, because Freddie Mac's U.S. average moved from 6.65% on August 20, 2026 to 7.03% on September 24, 2026, and an August quote no longer describes the Austin market. Run the payment on real addresses, not on the metro median, and add the parcel's own taxing units and 2026 adopted rates before deciding what you can afford; the property research desk shows which public records to pull for an address.

Buyers should read the 73-day median days on market and the 42% share of listings with price reductions as room to inspect, negotiate repairs and ask for closing-cost help, while remembering that a median is not a rule and some homes still sell quickly. Sellers should price against closed sales from Unlock MLS's August report rather than against asking prices, because the 93.2% average close-to-list ratio shows how far listings and closings sit apart; pricing correctly at the start is how a listing avoids joining the 42%.

Neither side should act on a forecast: nothing above says where rates or prices go from here. If you want these numbers applied to a specific home or street, bring the address and David can pull the comparable closed sales, the parcel's tax history and a current rate scenario for it.

Sources: Freddie Mac ↗ · Unlock MLS ↗ · FRED ↗