So what’s up in the new-home market in the Austin region? Not sales and prices, new numbers show.

Of Texas’ four major metros, the Austin metro and San Antonio saw sales of newly built houses decline (15.7% and 2.37% respectively) in April compared to April 2024.

Year-over-year, sales of new homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro were up 2.6%, and in Houston, they were up 7.6%.

The numbers are from HomesUSA.com, whose founder and CEO Ben Caballero reports the figures using data from the local home-listing databases for Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.

His data relies on three-month and 12-month rolling averages. The three-month average reflects market seasonality, while the 12-month average eliminates seasonality to highlight longer-term trends.

While sales of newly built homes were down year-over-year in the Austin region, they ticked up marginally at 1.6% with 773 sales from March. In April, mortgage rates saw “a modest improvement, offering slight relief to prospective homebuyers, and that kept Austin new home sales steady,” said Ben Caballero, founder and CEO of HomesUSA.com.
Caballero also reports average home-sales prices. Last month, they fell in all four metros compared with April 2024, his figures show:

Austin: $492,469 vs. $522,799
Dallas/Fort Worth: $475,041 vs. $475,516
Houston: $396,546 vs. $405,602
San Antonio: $334,491 vs. 348,830
Sales and home-sales prices also have been down in the market for existing (that is, pre-owned) homes for some time, since mortgage rates began rising in 2022.

‘Sales slow everywhere’
When comparing month over month, April new home sales in the Austin region were up marginally, 1.6% to 773 sales up from 761 in March. Statewide — that includes the four largest metros — new home sales increased 9% in April compared to March.

“Builders are searching for any positive news,” said Byron “Buddy” Schilling, president and Northwest Austin manager of JB Goodwin Realtors in Austin. “This is when sales should be blooming.  Sales are slow everywhere.  Not just in Austin.”

“In April 2025, U.S. mortgage rates experienced a modest improvement, offering slight relief to prospective home buyers, and that kept Austin new home sales steady,” Caballero said.

“All market indicators are positive, and the data tells us consumer confidence is improving,” he said. “I like what I’m seeing, and it appears that better times are coming for Austin area home builders. If we see an interest rate drop — and I believe we will — it’ll be off to the races. Smart home shoppers will buy now before things heat up.”

Comparing March to April, the average prices of new homes rose in three of the four Texas metros last month.

• In Austin, the three-month moving average price in April was higher at $492,469 compared with $474,551 in March, the highest average new home price among the state’s major metro areas, overtaking Dallas-Fort Worth, which held the title all year.
• In Houston, the three-month moving average price for new homes in April was $396,546 versus $392,427 in March.
• San Antonio’s average new home price in April was also higher at $334,491 versus $328,130 in March.
• Dallas-Ft. Worth was the exception, as the average new home price in April was lower at $475,041 versus $479,298 in March.
• In the Austin market, pending new home sales last month — a key future sales indicator — rose in April. Austin pending sales in April were 1,244 compared with 1,186 in March, Caballero’s numbers show.

Active new home listings in Austin also were slightly higher in April — 5,748 versus 5,712 in March — indicating stable housing inventory, Caballero said.

What’s going on with existing home sales?
In April, the Austin Board of Realtors reported a decline in sales of existing homes within the city limits, as well as across the broader five-county Central Texas region.

More: In Central Texas, decade-high supply gives potential homebuyers more control, agents say.
Inventory hit a decade-high level, with the additional supply offering prospective buyers some relief “amid continued economic uncertainty,” the Austin Board of Realtors said in its monthly housing report last week.

The latest Austin-area housing data reflects national trends of declining home sales due to higher mortgage rates and wavering consumer confidence, according to board officials. Locally and across the country, tariffs and the risk of recession have sidelined some buyers.

‘So much uncertainty’
Meanwhile, housing inventory is mounting as sellers who have been reluctant to give up their low mortgage rates have finally decided to list their homes for sale, experts say….