Austin Real Estate Standoff: Buyers Delay Purchases, Expecting Market Correction

Written by:

Rudi Davis

Date:

23 Sep 2025

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The Austin real estate market is experiencing an unprecedented psychological shift, with buyer hesitancy reaching levels that suggest deeper concerns beyond just interest rates, according to a veteran market observer.

“One of the biggest things I’m noting is that there is a lot of buyer hesitancy,” says Ryan Gomillion, Director of Operations at Gill, Denson & Company. “It’s as if a majority of home buyers are kind of waiting for something else to break.”

The Post-COVID Market Reset

Gomillion traces this mindset shift to the market’s dramatic evolution since 2020. “Covid was a crazy time in Austin… everybody started to realize, hey, I can buy a lot of home for not a lot of money right now and have a really nice monthly payment,” he says. “We’ve been putting in a dozen – and I’m not exaggerating – a dozen offers before one even gets considered, and it’s still $50-100,000 over what they’re actually asking for. It was a madhouse.”

That frenzy has given way to a more cautious approach. “Those conditions could not last, and did not last,” Gomillion notes. “By the tail end of 2022 slash beginning of 2023… things start to settle, and then adjust back to probably what they should have been if the COVID boom didn’t really happen.”

Creative Market Solutions Emerge

In response to this hesitancy, Gomillion sees sellers and builders getting creative with incentives. “New home builders are kind of the most popular in how they work around it, where they’ll offer great specials of buying down rates or offering some sort of financing-related deals,” he explains.

This trend has spread to the resale market, where “home sellers [are] willing to offer money to home buyers that they can use towards their closing costs or towards their financing costs.”

Market Reality Check

For sellers, Gomillion emphasizes the importance of realistic expectations: “Somebody looking to sell their home right now – it is not the same environment it was three, five years ago, and coming in with that expectation will only hurt you.”

He highlights three key factors shaping today’s market dynamics. First, properties are now spending roughly two months on the market, reflecting a slower pace of transactions. Second, buyers have become far more selective, carefully evaluating each listing before making an offer. Finally, sellers face a clear choice: present homes in flawless, move-in condition or price them aggressively to attract attention and close a deal.

“Even then,” Gomillion adds, “your unbeatable price is probably 10% above what everybody else thinks is unbeatable.”