FIELD NOTES / AUSTIN NEWS
Austin rent prices, September 2026: rents fell 16.6% in a year, and Realtor.com says this is the week to buy
Austin rent prices fell faster over the past year than in any other large U.S. city: Zumper's August 2026 National Rent Report puts the median one-bedroom at $1,260, down 16.6% from a year earlier, and the median two-bedroom at $1,610, down 19.1%. Unlock MLS's August 2026 report, which covers houses and condos leased through the MLS rather than apartment listings, shows a flat $2,150 median lease across the Austin metro. Falling rents change the rent-or-buy math in the same week Realtor.com calls the best of 2026 to buy a home in the Austin metro, so this post puts both sets of numbers side by side.
By David Eimer · Austin Journal · 10 minute read · Published
The numbers
- Median one-bedroom rent, Austin
- $1,260As of August 2026
Down 16.6% from a year earlier, the largest one-bedroom decline in the country per Zumper.
Source: Zumper ↗
- Median two-bedroom rent, Austin
- $1,610As of August 2026
Down 19.1% from a year earlier.
Source: Zumper ↗
- Median MLS lease, Austin metro
- $2,150As of August 2026
Flat year over year; City of Austin $2,200, down 4.3%.
Source: Unlock MLS ↗
- Best week to buy, Austin metro
- Sept. 27 to Oct. 3As of Realtor.com, September 14, 2026
22.1% more active listings than the average week; listing prices 6.6% below the seasonal peak.
Source: Realtor.com Economic Research ↗
- 30-year fixed mortgage rate, U.S. average
- 7.03%As of Week of September 24, 2026
6.30% a year earlier.
Source: Freddie Mac ↗
- Active listings, Austin metro
- 12,517As of August 2026
Up from 8,445 in January 2026, a 48% rise (computed).
Source: FRED ↗
- Average close-to-list price, Austin metro
- 93.2%As of August 2026
Up from 92.2% in August 2025.
Source: Unlock MLS ↗
What is the average rent in Austin right now?
Zumper's National Rent Report for August 2026, published August 25, 2026, puts Austin's median one-bedroom rent at $1,260, down 0.8% from July and 16.6% from a year earlier, and the median two-bedroom at $1,610, down 2.4% for the month and 19.1% for the year. Zumper's own words: “Austin leads the country outright, with one-bedroom rent down 16.6% year-over-year.” Nationally the same report shows a $1,515 one-bedroom median, down 0.1%, and a $1,907 two-bedroom median, up 0.5%. A year ago Austin's one-bedroom median was about $1,511 by our computation from the reported change, roughly the national figure; it is now about $255 below it.
Unlock MLS measures a different market: houses and condos leased through the MLS by agents. Its August 2026 Central Texas Housing Report, released September 15, lists a $2,150 median lease across the Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos metro, flat year over year, and $2,200 inside the City of Austin, down 4.3%. The metro closed 2,920 leases in August against 4,296 active lease listings, 1.6 months of inventory, and an average close-to-list of 96.8%.
The two numbers are not in conflict; they describe apartments and houses respectively, and both say the same thing to a renter negotiating this fall: there is more to choose from and landlords are taking less than they ask. The table sets the measures side by side.
Austin rents in August 2026, by measure
| Measure | Median rent | Change vs. a year earlier | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zumper, one-bedroom | $1,260 | −16.6% | Apartment listings, Austin |
| Zumper, two-bedroom | $1,610 | −19.1% | Apartment listings, Austin |
| Unlock MLS, Austin metro | $2,150 | Flat | Houses and condos leased through the MLS |
| Unlock MLS, City of Austin | $2,200 | −4.3% | Houses and condos leased through the MLS |
| Unlock MLS, Travis County | $2,200 | −2.2% | MLS leases |
| Unlock MLS, Williamson County | $2,150 | +1.4% | MLS leases |
| Unlock MLS, Hays County | $2,000 | Flat | MLS leases |
| Unlock MLS, Bastrop County | $1,950 | +1.3% | MLS leases |
| Unlock MLS, Caldwell County | $1,600 | −5.9% | MLS leases |
Sources: Zumper ↗ · Unlock MLS ↗
Why are Austin rents falling?
The sourced facts point to supply. 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. Single-family permits were almost unchanged, 1,147 against 1,153, so the units beyond single-family, mostly apartments, rose from 57 to 777 in that one-month comparison, a figure we computed by subtraction. Monthly permit counts swing, and a permit is not a finished building, but the direction over the past year is more rental supply, not less.
On the MLS side, Unlock MLS counted 4,296 active lease listings across the metro at the end of August against 2,920 leases closed in the month, and landlords accepted an average of 96.8% of their asking rent. Inside the City of Austin the median lease fell 4.3% in a year to $2,200 while the metro median held at $2,150, so the softness is concentrated where the new apartment supply is.
What these figures do not say is where rents go next. Zumper's report is a monthly snapshot of asking rents on its platform, Unlock MLS's is a monthly count of signed leases, and neither is a forecast. A lease is usually a twelve-month decision, which is why the comparison with buying matters this fall.
Sources: FRED ↗ · Unlock MLS ↗ · Zumper ↗
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Austin in fall 2026?
Per month, renting is cheaper in Austin this fall, and the gap is wide before taxes and insurance are counted. Unlock MLS's August 2026 median sale price for the metro is $412,000; with 20% down, a $329,600 loan at Freddie Mac's 7.03% average for the week of September 24, 2026 costs about $2,199 a month in principal and interest, our own computation over 30 years. That is $589 a month more than Zumper's $1,610 median two-bedroom apartment and about level with Unlock MLS's $2,150 median lease for a house or condo. On the City of Austin median of $560,000, principal and interest run about $2,990 a month against a $2,200 median city lease, a gap of about $790.
Property taxes widen the gap. The City of Austin's adopted rate for fiscal year 2026-27 is $0.579948 per $100 of assessed value, per the City's August 12, 2026 budget release, which alone is about $199 a month on a $412,000 home and $271 on a $560,000 home before the county, school district, Central Health and community college add their rates; our guide to building a home budget from the actual parcel works a full example. Homeowners insurance and any HOA dues come on top.
What the monthly comparison leaves out is what each dollar does. Rent buys a year of housing; a mortgage payment fixes the largest part of the housing cost for as long as the loan runs and builds equity as the balance falls, while buying and later selling carry transaction costs that renting does not. Whether the purchase comes out ahead depends on how long you stay and on a price path nobody can promise, so run your own numbers on a real address with the payment estimator on the homes page rather than on the medians.
Monthly cost of renting versus owning in Austin, fall 2026
| Monthly cost | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Median two-bedroom apartment | $1,610 | Zumper, August 2026 |
| Median MLS lease, Austin metro | $2,150 | Unlock MLS, August 2026 |
| Median MLS lease, City of Austin | $2,200 | Unlock MLS, August 2026 |
| Principal and interest, $412,000 metro median, 20% down | $2,199 | 7.03%, 30 years, computed |
| City of Austin property tax on $412,000 | $199 | $0.579948 per $100, City share only, computed |
| Principal and interest, $560,000 city median, 20% down | $2,990 | 7.03%, 30 years, computed |
| City of Austin property tax on $560,000 | $271 | $0.579948 per $100, City share only, computed |
Sources: Zumper ↗ · Unlock MLS ↗ · Freddie Mac ↗ · City of Austin ↗
Is this really the best week of 2026 to buy a house in Austin?
Realtor.com's Best Time to Buy 2026 report, published September 14, 2026, names September 27 to October 3 as the best week of the year to buy a home both nationally and in the Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos metro. For Austin its table shows 22.1% more active listings than the average week of the year, 42.6% fewer views per property than the peak week, 26 more days on market than the peak, a median listing price 6.6% below the seasonal peak, 7.0% fewer new listings than the average week, and price reductions 2.2% above the average.
Nationally the report expects up to 31.9% more active listings than at the start of the year and listing prices 3.5% below their seasonal peak, which it translates to roughly $14,000 in savings on a median-priced home of about $416,000. Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com, is quoted in the release: “Home shoppers heading into fall will find an opportunity that has been hard to come by in recent years: more choices and less urgency.”
The method matters for how far to trust the week. Realtor.com scored every week of the year from 0 to 100 on six seasonal metrics, listing prices, inventory, new listings, time on market, views per property and price reductions, using 2018 to 2025 data with 2020 left out, and ranked the weeks by their average score. It excluded interest rates because they do not follow a seasonal pattern, so the report says nothing about whether a 7% mortgage is a good rate; it says that within any given year this is the week when supply, price and competition line up best for a buyer. Austin's figures are stronger than the national ones on every metric except new listings.
Realtor.com's best week to buy, Austin metro against the United States
| Metric | Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Best week | Sept. 27 to Oct. 3 | Sept. 27 to Oct. 3 |
| Active listings vs. average week | +22.1% | +13.3% |
| Views per property vs. peak week | −42.6% | −30.1% |
| Days on market vs. peak | +26 days | +13 days |
| Median listing price vs. peak | −6.6% | −3.5% |
| New listings vs. average week | −7.0% | +0.4% |
| Price reductions vs. average | 2.2% | 1.2% |
Sources: Realtor.com Economic Research ↗ · Realtor.com via PR Newswire ↗
Do Austin's own 2026 listing numbers back that up?
They do. Realtor.com's Austin-metro series on FRED show active listings rising from 8,445 in January 2026 to 12,517 in August, a 48.2% increase by our computation, while the median listing price eased from $475,000 in April and May to $450,000 in August, a 5.3% decline. Median days on market rose from a low of 51 in April to 73 in August, and listings with a price reduction reached 5,252, about 42% of the active count. New listings peaked at 4,408 in April and fell to 2,932 in August, which is the “fewer fresh listings” side of the Realtor.com row.
Unlock MLS's August report adds the closing side: 5.1 months of inventory across the metro and 4.6 in the City of Austin, an average close-to-list price of 93.2%, up from 92.2% a year earlier, and pending sales up 1.5% year over year. Sellers are conceding on price and time; buyers are still signing contracts.
The caveat is geography. Every figure here describes the metro or the city, and the September 2026 market post shows how differently the counties behave; a specific street can be tighter than any of these averages. The table tracks the 2026 seasonal arc month by month.
The 2026 season in Austin-metro listings (Realtor.com via FRED)
| Month | Active listings | New listings | Median listing price | Median days on market | Listings with a price cut |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 2026 | 8,445 | 2,948 | $454,975 | 91 | 2,408 |
| Apr. 2026 | 11,057 | 4,408 | $475,000 | 51 | 4,678 |
| May 2026 | 11,977 | 4,084 | $475,000 | 56 | 5,356 |
| June 2026 | 12,456 | 3,926 | $473,500 | 63 | 5,706 |
| July 2026 | 12,655 | 3,112 | $461,966 | 67 | 5,498 |
| Aug. 2026 | 12,517 | 2,932 | $450,000 | 73 | 5,252 |
Sources: FRED ↗ · Unlock MLS ↗
What does a 7% mortgage rate do to “a good time to buy”?
Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey averaged 7.03% for a 30-year fixed loan in the week of September 24, 2026, the first reading above 7% since January 2025, against 6.30% a year earlier. The Federal Reserve 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.” On the $329,600 loan above, the difference between last year's rate and this week's is about $159 a month, by our computation.
That is the tension in the question. Realtor.com's best-week analysis deliberately leaves rates out, and on the metrics it does score, Austin buyers have the most choice and the least competition of the year right now. The rate is the price of using that leverage, and it is a national number that no local timing can change.
A buyer can work on the rate side too: ask the lender what a permanent or temporary buydown costs, ask the seller to fund it as a concession, and get every quote dated this week, because the Freddie Mac average moved from 6.65% on August 20 to 7.03% on September 24. Nothing here predicts where rates go from here, and a plan that depends on refinancing later is a bet, not a budget.
Sources: Freddie Mac ↗ · Federal Reserve ↗
How much leverage does an Austin buyer have this fall?
More than in any recent fall, by the published figures. The average August sale across the Austin metro closed at 93.2% of its asking price according to Unlock MLS; about 42% of Realtor.com's active listings carried a price reduction; the median listing had sat 73 days; and Realtor.com's best-week table shows views per property 42.6% below the peak week, which is the report's measure of competition from other buyers.
That leverage is spent in specific asks. After the inspection, ask for repairs or a credit rather than accepting the house as is. Ask for closing-cost help or a rate buydown, which cost a seller less than a price cut of the same value to a buyer. Ask for a longer option period on an older home so the permit history and flood map checks can be done properly. Sellers facing 7.0% fewer new listings than the average week have less competition too, so a well-priced home still draws multiple showings.
The limit on leverage is the specific house. A renovated home in a wanted location can still sell near asking in a week; the medians describe the market, not the listing in front of you. Our note on what listing photographs cannot tell you and the property research desk cover what to check before the offer.
Sources: Unlock MLS ↗ · FRED ↗ · Realtor.com Economic Research ↗
Should you keep renting or buy in Austin this fall?
The numbers set up the trade cleanly. Renting is cheaper per month, and getting cheaper: a two-bedroom apartment at Zumper's $1,610 median costs $589 a month less than principal and interest on the metro median home before taxes and insurance. Buying costs more per month at 7.03% but buys the year's best selection and negotiating position, and it converts part of each payment into equity. The shorter your likely stay, the more the costs of buying and later selling weigh against the purchase; the longer it is, the more the fixed payment matters against rents that move every year, in either direction.
This week, do four things. Compare your actual rent and renewal date, not the medians, with a payment on a real address. Get a rate quote dated this week and ask what a buydown would cost. Pull the parcel's taxing units and 2026 adopted rates before treating a monthly figure as final. Then tour homes that have been listed 60 days or more, where the concessions above are most available.
If you would rather have someone run the comparison with you, bring your lease renewal date and budget to David; he can pull the closed sales, the tax history and a current rate scenario for the homes you are weighing against staying put.
Sources: Zumper ↗ · Freddie Mac ↗ · Unlock MLS ↗
Common questions
What is the average rent in Austin in 2026?
Zumper's August 2026 report puts Austin's median one-bedroom apartment at $1,260 a month and the median two-bedroom at $1,610. Unlock MLS, which tracks houses and condos leased through the MLS, reports a $2,150 median lease across the Austin metro and $2,200 inside the City of Austin for August 2026. The two figures describe different housing types, so compare your own rent with the one that matches your home.
Is rent going down in Austin?
Yes, as of August 2026. Zumper shows Austin's median one-bedroom rent down 16.6% and the two-bedroom down 19.1% from a year earlier, the steepest one-bedroom decline among large U.S. cities, and Unlock MLS shows the City of Austin's median lease down 4.3% to $2,200 while the metro median held flat at $2,150. These are monthly snapshots, not forecasts; the Census Bureau's permit counts point to more rental supply, which is the sourced reason behind the trend.
Is it cheaper to rent or buy a house in Austin right now?
Per month, renting is cheaper in fall 2026. Principal and interest on Unlock MLS's $412,000 metro median with 20% down at Freddie Mac's 7.03% rate is about $2,199, computed over 30 years, against Zumper's $1,610 median two-bedroom apartment, and property taxes, insurance and any HOA dues come on top of the mortgage. Buying fixes the largest part of the payment and builds equity, while renting keeps the money flexible; which comes out ahead depends on how long you stay and on a price path nobody can promise.
When is the best time to buy a house in Austin?
Realtor.com's Best Time to Buy 2026 report names September 27 to October 3 as the best week for the Austin metro, with 22.1% more active listings than the average week, prices 6.6% below the seasonal peak and 26 more days on market than the peak. Realtor.com's own Austin-metro series on FRED show the same pattern in 2026: active listings rose from 8,445 in January to 12,517 in August while the median listing price eased from $475,000 in spring to $450,000. Late summer and fall favor buyers on choice and price; spring offers the most new listings.
Is now a good time to buy a house in Austin?
By the August and September 2026 figures, buyers have the most choice and leverage of the year: 5.1 months of inventory, an average sale closing at 93.2% of list, a median listing 73 days on the market and price cuts on about 42% of listings. The cost is a 7.03% mortgage rate, about $159 a month more on a $329,600 loan than a year ago. Whether it is a good time for you depends on the specific home's price against closed sales, your rate and how long you plan to stay; this post does not forecast rates or prices.
How much do rents differ across the Austin area?
Unlock MLS's August 2026 report lists median MLS leases of $2,200 in the City of Austin and Travis County, $2,150 in Williamson County, $2,000 in Hays County, $1,950 in Bastrop County and $1,600 in Caldwell County, with the metro at $2,150. Those are leases of houses and condos signed through agents; Zumper's apartment medians for Austin are lower, $1,260 for a one-bedroom and $1,610 for a two-bedroom.
Take this to your next conversation
- Compare your actual rent and renewal date with a payment on a real address, not with the medians.
- Get a rate quote dated this week and ask what a permanent or seller-funded buydown would cost.
- Tour homes listed 60 days or more and ask for repairs, closing-cost help or a longer option period.
Sources and review date
Sources checked . Planning suggestions are editorial guidance; current property facts and requirements need an address-specific check.
- Zumper: National Rent Report, August 2026 (published August 25, 2026) ↗
- Realtor.com Economic Research: Best Time to Buy 2026 ↗
- Realtor.com via PR Newswire: September 27th to October 3rd marks the best time to buy a home in 2026 (September 14, 2026) ↗
- Unlock MLS: August 2026 Central Texas Housing Report, released September 15, 2026 ↗
- FRED: Realtor.com active listing count, Austin metro (ACTLISCOU12420) ↗
- FRED: Realtor.com new listing count, Austin metro (NEWLISCOU12420) ↗
- FRED: Realtor.com median listing price, Austin metro (MEDLISPRI12420) ↗
- FRED: Realtor.com median days on market, Austin metro (MEDDAYONMAR12420) ↗
- FRED: Realtor.com price-reduced listing count, Austin metro (PRIREDCOU12420) ↗
- FRED: Census new private housing units authorized by permit, Austin metro (AUST448BPPRIV) ↗
- FRED: Census single-family units authorized by permit, Austin metro (AUST448BP1FH) ↗
- Freddie Mac: Primary Mortgage Market Survey, week of September 24, 2026 ↗
- Federal Reserve: FOMC statement, September 16, 2026 ↗
- City of Austin: City Council approves $6.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2026-2027 ↗