Austin Business Journal writes, "Off a quiet road in South Austin, a homebuilder is trying something new to bring more and less expensive housing to the city. 

Ash Creek Homes is using the city's Home Options for Mobility and Equity ordinance — known as the HOME ordinance — to build 28 detached homes on a 2.4-acre property with 10 residential lots. The location is on Drew Lane near the intersection of Slaughter Lane and Menchaca Road. 

The goal of the project is to see if building a mid-sized housing development under Austin’s HOME ordinance will result in more homes at cheaper prices, said Jenna Edge, president of Ash Creek Homes. She said the company bought the property before the HOME ordinance was approved, with the hope of using the…

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Austin Business Journal reports, "The Austin Independent School District plans to consolidate operations amid a tough financial outlook and could either sell or lease up to 13 school sites that it's considering closing.

The district published a proposed consolidation plan Oct. 3 in which 13 schools would be closed and most of the district’s attendance boundaries would be altered. The proposal is aimed at addressing anticipated enrollment declines and financial challenges, with the AISD’s approved 2025-26 budget projecting a $19.7 million deficit and the potential consolidation forecast to save more than $25 million. 

“To protect the quality of education in Austin ISD, we must reassess where our limited resources are spent,” Superintendent Matias…

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CultureMap Austin shares, "Georgetown is soaring as one of the top 30 most highly sought-after U.S. suburbs of 2025, according to a new national survey by moving services provider MoveBuddha.

MoveBuddha's experts analyzed Zillow Home Value Index data and mover search data from August 1, 2024, to September 11, 2025, for the 100 largest U.S. metro areas. The study then determined the most desirable suburb for each metro by analyzing which had the highest inbound-to-outbound move ratio. Cities that qualified as "suburbs" were those located about 31 miles from their main metros.

Georgetown ranked as the 27th most desirable American suburb, and it's the No. 3 best suburb to move to in Texas. This North Austin neighbor fell third to Boerne, a city…

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Austin Business Journal writes, "Look, in the air — it's a bird, it's a plane ... actually it's a big pool rising higher than a pool has gone in the history of Texas.

It's also our photo of the week. The penthouse pool at Waterline in downtown Austin has been set. MC Aquatic Construction in Georgetown gets much of the credit. The company is used to installing pools at apartment complexes and even a high-rise or two, but this project was at a completely other level.

The stainless steel pool was manufactured by Bradford Products LLC, and a crew from DPR Construction got it up there in a single bound under the supervision of developers Kairoi Residential and Lincoln Property Co.

Waterline is the tallest tower in all of Texas, with unmatched…

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CultureMap Austin shares, "Five Austin suburbs — Leander, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Pflugerville, and Kyle — are maximizing their popularity on WalletHub's 2025 list of the best small cities in America.

The annual survey compared more than 1,300 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 residents based on 45 livability metrics categorized into five key dimensions: Affordability, economic health, education and health, quality of life, and overall safety. Cities were grouped by percentile, where the 99th percentile represents the best small American cities.

Out of the 19 total U.S. cities that ranked among the 99th percentile of best small cities in America, Carmel, Indiana; Brookfield, Washington; and Apex, North Carolina landed in…

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Austin Business Journal writes, "Home sales have slowed in many cities across the country — including some Covid-era hotspots — but some communities are bucking the trend and seeing houses sell more than 40% faster than they did pre-pandemic.

That's according to The Business Journals' second-quarter analysis of the nation's hottest housing markets based on quarterly listing and sales data from Intercontinental Exchange.

ZIP code 49629 in Elk Rapids, Michigan, was the fastest-selling housing market in the nation for the second quarter. Homes in Elk Rapids spent an average of 23 days on the market.

The small, waterfront community — approximately 17 miles from Michigan vacation hotspot Traverse City — provides easy access to nearby Elk Lake and…

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Austin Business Journal shares, "Investors are snapping up an ever-growing share of single-family homes, and it’s the smallest investors leading the way.

Real estate investors purchased 33% of all single-family residential homes sold in the second quarter, according to the Q2 Investor Pulse Report from BatchData. That is up from 27% of all single-family homes in the first quarter and up from 25.7% in 2024.

It's also the highest share of investor purchases in more than five years, according to the report. Overall, investors own roughly 20% of the 86 million single-family homes in the country.

The development comes as analysts in some pandemic-era real estate hotspots have seen a shift in how properties are changing hands in their markets. In…

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Austin Business Journal reports, "A notable housing developer that's active in the Austin area is bringing 1,500 homes to a city in the northernmost reaches of the metro: Belton.

River Farm, as the neighborhood is known, is being developed by Hunt Communities, according to an announcement. Crews broke ground on the master planned community on Sept. 24.

The El Paso-based developer is building housing communities throughout the state, but in Central Texas, the company is best known for its The Colony neighborhood in Bastrop, a 2,300-acre development that had around 2,000 homes built as of April and another 2,000 on the way.

River Farm is 478 acres. It's located on the southern edge of Belton, just east of I-35, with the Lampasas River on River…

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Austin Business Journal writes, "While South Congress Avenue was undergoing its trendy evolution 10 years ago, St. Elmo was a sleepy, urban industrial center just a few miles down the road.

Previously populated by low-slung buildings, used car lots and heavy machinery, this South Austin hub has rebranded in recent years to the St. Elmo Arts District — the new, cool place to be in Austin that could perhaps help maintain some of the city's "weird" reputation.

It’s a smorgasbord of newly minted condos and apartments, restaurants, warehouse buildings spraypainted with eclectic art that house anything from a brewery to a sake tasting room, and even Propaganda Headquarters, a creative command center. The district is also home to what was supposed to…

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Austin Business Journal writes, "The best time of the year to buy a home is coming up, giving frustrated house hunters an increased chance to close a desired deal.

The week of October 12-18 is what Realtor.com is calling the “sweet spot” for home shoppers. Why? A rare combination of higher inventory, lower prices and less competition makes it ideal for buyers. And even though it's not exactly a buyer's market overall, the improved buying conditions could feel like a breath of fresh air for prospective buyers.

"After years of constrained conditions, the 2025 housing market is giving buyers something they haven't had in a long time: options," said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, in a statement. "I expect this market momentum shift…

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