Austin home sales calm

Some good news for prospective homebuyers: September home sales slid nearly 5% compared to the same month last year, per new data from the Austin Board of Realtors.

Why it matters: Have you tried buying a home lately? Bidding wars this past year have meant homes go for hundreds of thousands of dollars over listing prices as frenzied hopeful owners try to secure their piece of the American Dream.

• Austin homebuying has reached grim comedy: To the ESPN prompt, "Name something that isn't an Olympic sport, but feels like an Olympic sport," the Austin Twitter account Evil MoPac answered: "Buying a house in Austin."

💰 Yes, but: While prices are no longer increasing at a significant month-to-month rate, the metro area's median sale price in September was a record $450,000. That's an increase of 28.5% over last year’s median sales price.

The home sales decline is a positive step, but there's "a long way to go for this to be a balanced market," according to Susan Horton, Austin Board of Realtors president.

By the numbers: Sales dollar volume increased 18.5% year over year to more than $2 billion. The Austin Board of Realtors also found that in the metro area:

• New listings increased by 16.9% to 4,136.
• Active listings grew by 0.7% year over year to 3,723 listings.
• Pending sales declined by 1.1% to 3,552 across the metro area.

In Austin alone, the median home price rose 28% year over year to $525,000.

"Increasing housing inventory — and ensuring that it is attainable across all socioeconomic classes by strengthening and diversifying housing options — is crucial to the health and vibrancy of our community," Laura Huffman, president and CEO of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement.