Luxe Austin Homes - April, 2024

"Home Prices Soared Higher in February, Despite Increasing Mortgage Rates"

Realtor.com reports, "Home prices continue to march higher this year, despite pressure from increasing mortgage rates.

National home prices rose 6.4% annually in February, according to data from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index released Tuesday. That was the largest year-over-year rise since November 2022.

Among the 20 cities tracked, San Diego had the highest year-over-year price jump in February, at 11.4%, followed by Chicago and Detroit, both with increases of 8.9%.

The report tracks single-family home prices across December, January, and February, when mortgage rates dipped to 6.6%. More recently, average rates for 30-year fixed mortgages jumped to 7.17% for the week ending April 25, according to Freddie Mac.

In a note,…

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"Tesla electrifying Austin economy far and wide"

Austin Business Journal writes, "The impacts of the Tesla Inc. gigafactory in eastern Travis County can be felt all the way out to an inconspicuous warehouse in Hutto, a vast greenfield at the north end of Georgetown, a train rail line in Taylor and a sprawling industrial complex in Kyle and even a bus station in Killeen, where gigafactory workers are picked up for work each morning for a 150-mile round trip.

Those sites — and just about everywhere in between — are among the locales where the "Tesla effect" is coming to fruition, referring to how the company's headquarters relocation to Austin has spurred additional economic development in the region. That's either through direct investment by the company itself, Tesla suppliers moving here, or…

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"New-Home Sales Surge as Buyers Seek Options in Tight Housing Market"

Realtor.com reports, "New-home sales surged last month, as buyers increasingly turned to fresh construction in a housing market plagued by few homes for sale.

Sales of new single-family houses jumped 8.8% in March from the prior month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 693,000, the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly reported on Tuesday. March sales were up 8.3% from one year ago and were at their highest levels since last September.

The median sales price of new homes was $430,700 in March. That was good news for buyers as the price was down 1.8% from one year ago. This is a result of homebuilders increasingly pivoting to smaller and more affordable homes to appeal to buyers pinched by high mortgage…

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"The Vesper Condo Tower Wraps Up in Downtown Austin’s Rainey Street District"

TOWERS writes, "The 41-story Vesper condo tower is now complete in the Rainey Street District of downtown Austin, with its first phase of move-ins kicking off this week. According to developers Pearlstone Partners and sales agency Prospect Real Estate, the building is currently 67 percent sold. The 452-foot tower broke ground in the summer of 2021, situated on a small 0.4-acre site at the edge of the neighborhood at 84 East Avenue, pretty tightly hemmed in on three sides by the Camden Rainey Street apartment building and a famously garish Homewood Suites. 

It’s just one of a forest of towers now rising in the Rainey District, with the perspective of the aerial shot below showing not one, not two, not three, but four separate tower projects underway…

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"Parts of North Austin area see 30%-40% increase in number of homes sold in March"

Community Impact shares, "Three of five ZIP codes in the North-Northwest Austin market experienced double-digit percent change increases in the number of homes sold year over year in March, according to data from the Austin Board of Realtors.

The details

The 78759 ZIP code netted more home sales than other North Austin-area ZIP codes and experienced the greatest year-over-year growth in March.

Home sale prices varied in March, with some areas experiencing declines in home prices while others, such as ZIP code 78727, saw an almost 15% increase.

The 78729 ZIP code saw an almost 50% decrease in the average days spent on the market, while ZIP code 78758 saw a 14.3% increase.

The majority of homes sold in the area in March were between…

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"6 hot Austin-area ZIP codes for first-time homebuyers in spring 2024"

Culturemap Austin writes, Austinites looking to own a home for the first time may be in luck this year, as the housing market is finally starting to look more lucrative for buyers. The post-pandemic homebuying craze left many scared and uncertain about the possibility of becoming homeowners with prices and rates skyrocketing. However, 2024 is shaping up to be a lot more hopeful for those wanting to trade renting for owning.

According to the US News & World Report market forecast for Austin, the current housing market is favoring buyers as mortgage rates are coming down, there’s a more balanced supply and demand of both new and existing homes, and median prices have slowly dipped by 4.2 percent over the past two years. At its peak in 2022, the…

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"600 more apartments in pipeline for North Austin"

Austin Business Journal reports, "Two multifamily projects are moving forward in North Austin that could collectively bring more than 600 new apartments to the city and create more opportunities for builders, contractors and more.

Austin City Council approved a zoning change on April 18 for a roughly 10-acre site at 10911 Stonelake Blvd., just north of the North Burnet and Gateway district. That change, from limited industrial zoning to multifamily, sets a path for the construction of about 400 apartments.

The council also approved a zoning change from general office to mixed-use on a 9-acre site at 13614 Metric Blvd., allowing for 238 new multifamily units near the Wells Branch neighborhood to move forward.

Don Reese, founder and partner of…

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"Phase II of the HOME Initiative could bring minimum lot sizes down to 2,000 sqft"

ATX Today reports, "Austin City Council will vote on Phase II of the HOME Initiative — a move that would reduce the minimum size of a single-family lot — as early as May.

The council passed the first phase of the HOME Initiative, which stands for Home Options for Middle-income Empowerment, in December 2023. In part, the decision increased the maximum number of units from one to three on certain single-family lots.

This new phase would change single-family lot minimums from 5,750 sqft to 2,000 sqft, something the Austin Board of Realtors said could improve home affordability moving forward.

Why is this under consideration?

Proponents say passage of the new phase could alleviate the housing shortage by allowing construction of 87 to 871 new…

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"The California-to-Texas migration pattern still holds, according to report"

Austin Business Journal reports, "The Lone Star State continues to be a magnet for people moving out of California.

According to Texas Realtors, a professional organization for the state's real estate industry, the number of relocations from California to Texas surpassed any other state-to-state relocations in the country. The group's 2024 Relocation Report is based on U.S. Census data from 2022.

An estimated 102,000 Californians moved to Texas that year, the report shows. In addition, more than 41,000 Floridians moved to Texas, as did 30,000 New Yorkers. Illinois, Louisiana, Colorado, and Oklahoma each saw roughly 25,000 of their residents move to Texas in 2022.

In total, about 668,000 people moved to the Lone Star State from other states in…

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"Housing supply increases across Central Texas in March, Austin Board of Realtors says"

Austin American-Statesman writes, "With the typical busy spring buying season upon us, what's happening in the Austin-area housing market?

The Austin Board of Realtors just released its monthly housing report, which shows that there were 4,714 new home listings across the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown region last month, 10.2% more over the prior March. The increase has led to four months of inventory in multiple parts of the Central Texas region as the market continues to stabilize, the board said.

The board said 2,563 homes sold last month, down 0.3% from March 2023. The median price last month was flat year-over-year, with half of the homes selling for more than $450,000 and half for less.

The numbers indicate that homeowners have confidence…

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