Should you sell your West Austin home now, or wait for next year?
Quick answer
Now, if the house is ready to show and the asking price is based on this year’s closed sales, not last year’s. Holding out has not bought West Austin sellers much: the typical sale rose a little this past year while each square foot brought slightly less. Below a million dollars most price ranges were balanced, and above it buyers had more room, so your price decides how hard the first month will be.
Public-record median: $990,000 for West Austin sales recorded in the MLS, twelve months ending October 20, 2026. That number sits below where much of West Austin actually trades, because the private sales never reach the MLS, and a lot alone in most of these ZIP codes rarely sells for less than a million dollars.
What we analyzed
- 1,621 homes sold in West Austin in the twelve months ending October 20, 2026
- 682 homes for sale in West Austin as of October 21, 2026, 55 of them builder listings
- 5.0 months of inventory in West Austin, against 5.5 in the Austin metro
- West Austin closings for the twelve months ending October 20, 2026, against the twelve months before
- Homes under contract and pending in West Austin as of October 21, 2026
Sources: Unlock MLS, pulled October 21, 2026.
Selling above $1M? Part of this market never goes online
The figures on this page describe the public side of this market, the sales that were listed in the MLS. Above $1M in the Austin area, a large share of sales are never listed there and never appear online.
Those sales trade on a broker-to-broker private network, and I am a participating broker. Only the agents and brokers who do most of the business at this price point use it, and a surprising number of agents do not know it exists because they do not sell in this range. It covers homes, lots, ranches and condos priced over $1M, and much of it is waterfront or in the Austin core, West Austin, Westlake and Rollingwood, where prices run past $1.5M.
Sellers and their brokers use it for privacy: no public photos or floor plans, and no showings to buyers who have not been qualified.
Contact me for off-market private luxury listings you will never see online
79 West Austin homeowners have trusted my real estate team to sell their home in the MLS, and that count doesn’t include a single buyer we’ve represented. Everything on this page comes from the same MLS record we used to price those homes.
What these numbers mean if you are selling is on the West Austin, TX market report, and every number on this page is also broken out ZIP by ZIP on the scoreboard pages for 78703, 78732, 78733, 78734, 78735, 78738, 78746.
Last updated October 21, 2026. Sales data covers the twelve months ending October 20, 2026 (Unlock MLS via MLS Grid, the public MLS side only); listing inventory as of October 21, 2026. This page refreshes annually.
Has waiting paid off for West Austin sellers this past year?
Only on the headline number. The public-record median sale price in West Austin rose to $990,000 over the past twelve months from $960,000 the twelve months before.
By the square foot, buyers paid a touch less: $347 this year against $351 last year. So the middle house sold for more while each foot of it brought about the same, and an owner who held a year for a higher price mostly got a different mix of homes selling around them. The chart below sets this year beside last.
Are buyers still closing in Westlake, Tarrytown and the rest of West Austin?
Yes, at nearly last year’s pace. Closings across West Austin came to 1,621 this past year against 1,657 the year before, close enough that demand has not gone anywhere.
The near term is thinner. On the analysis date 87 homes were under contract and still showing, with another 41 pending, a short line of deals for an area this size. That is one reason the first price matters so much right now: there are not many buyers in the pipeline waiting to rescue a home that opens high.
What does starting high cost a West Austin seller?
Mostly time, and then the cut you were trying to avoid. Of the homes that sold, 633 went under contract within a month. Another 538 took longer than three months on the market, and the gap between those two groups is usually the first price.
About half of the homes for sale today have already come down from their original asking price. A buyer who has watched that happen on your street reads your opening number against the cuts, which is why the homes that closed fast tended to open close to what buyers were paying. What separates the listings that sold from the ones that did not is on Why do some West Austin homes sell while others sit?
Does my price range change the answer?
More than anything else on this page. Each price range’s market is set by what homes sold for against their original asking price over the past twelve months, and it describes that range as a whole; every ZIP page carries the full range table.
The ranges from the mid $300,000s up through the $800,000s closed as balanced markets, where a well-priced home can hold its price. From $900,000 up, every busy range closed as a buyer’s market by that rule, and the private network handles a good part of the business above a million dollars, so the record says less there about timing.
Your ZIP code shifts it again. Steiner Ranch reads differently at your price than the Lake Travis side does; compare Is 78732 a buyer’s or seller’s market for Steiner Ranch owners? with Is 78734 a buyer’s or seller’s market for Lake Travis homeowners?
Closer in, the Tarrytown side and the Lake Austin side each have their own ranges, on How is 78703 treating sellers in Tarrytown and Pemberton Heights? and What are 78733 buyers paying near Barton Creek West?
For Westlake, Rollingwood and Travis Country, start with How is the Westlake and Rollingwood market in 78746? or How is 78735 treating sellers in Travis Country and Barton Creek?, and for Lakeway and Bee Cave, How do Lakeway and Bee Cave resales compete in 78738?
Who is my house up against if I list this season?
Mostly other owners. Builders hold a small share of what is for sale here, so the house a buyer tours after yours is usually a resale that has already cut once. The street-level picture is on What is your West Austin home really competing against?, and what a buyer would pay for yours is on What is your West Austin home worth when top sales stay private?
Sell now, or wait?
The record leans toward listing when the house is ready, and the reasons to hold are about the house more than the calendar. Run your address and we will show you which side your home falls on.
- Sell now if your asking price is based on this year’s closed sales, not last year’s, and the house shows well on the first weekend.
- Sell now if you would list between the mid $300,000s and the $800,000s, the balanced part of West Austin.
- Sell now if you are above a million dollars and open to a private sale, where buyers see the home without public photos or open houses.
- Wait if the home needs repairs an inspector will find, because a buyer here can walk to the next house that does not.
- Wait if the only number that works for you is the top of last year’s market.
During the coming-soon stage we also put the home in front of the 4,000 cash buyers in my black book, not counting buyers using traditional financing, and the more than 100,000 buyers in our database, and you see every option and choose.
Your situation
Waiting a year bought West Austin sellers a slightly higher typical sale and about the same price per foot, while half of today’s listings have had to cut to reach buyers. The calendar is not doing much for anyone here.
What decides your timing is whether your house can open at a price this year’s buyers are already paying, in your range and on your street.
Before You Put Your Home on the Market, See the Homes You’ll Have to Beat
If you are weighing whether to list this season or hold, start with the homes a buyer would compare yours with today. Request my complimentary Home Competitor Analysis for your address. You get:
- The homes for sale near you that a buyer would likely tour alongside yours
- How this year’s sales in your price range compare with West Austin as a whole
- How the walkthrough works and what we look at before any timing advice
No obligation. The report for your part of West Austin arrives within a minute; the pricing analysis comes after we walk the home. Nothing here promises a price, a timeline, or an outcome. 79 homes sold by Watters International Realty in West Austin (Unlock MLS, all time).
About Watters International Realty in West Austin
Watters International Realty is a Texas real estate brokerage, and I am its broker of record. This page is based on Unlock MLS data analyzed on October 21, 2026. 79 homes sold by Watters International Realty in West Austin (Unlock MLS, all time).
See the homes you’d be competing against
You get the competing listings at your price, how your part of West Austin moved this year, and a walkthrough before we talk about timing.
Contact me for off-market private luxury listings you will never see online.
No obligation. The report arrives within a minute; the pricing analysis comes after we walk the home. Nothing here promises a price, a timeline, or an outcome.
More for West Austin sellers
- How is the West Austin housing market treating sellers this year?
- How is 78703 treating sellers in Tarrytown and Pemberton Heights?
- Is 78732 a buyer’s or seller’s market for Steiner Ranch owners?
- What are 78733 buyers paying near Barton Creek West?
- Is 78734 a buyer’s or seller’s market for Lake Travis homeowners?
- How is 78735 treating sellers in Travis Country and Barton Creek?
- How do Lakeway and Bee Cave resales compete in 78738?
- How is the Westlake and Rollingwood market in 78746?
- What is your West Austin home really competing against?
- Why do some West Austin homes sell while others sit?
- What is your West Austin home worth when top sales stay private?
- The Austin seller hub
