Luxe Austin Homes

"ST. ELMO IS ON FIRE"

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…

47 Views, 0 Comments

"The 'sweet spot' for frustrated homebuyers is on the horizon"

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…

88 Views, 0 Comments

"Texas boasts more ranches for sale than any other state in the U.S."

CultureMap Austin writes, "Thanks to its deep agricultural roots, the Lone Star State boasts the most ranches and farms of any state in the U.S. — nearly 250,000, according to the Texas Department of Agriculture. Of course, we’ve got a lot of wide open space for those ranches and farms, as Texas spans nearly 172 million acres.

While Texas leads the U.S. in the number of ranches and farms, it also leads the U.S. in the number of ranches on the market. Recent data from Realtor.com shows 7,411 Texas ranches were on the market as of early September — far outpacing the second-ranked state of Kentucky, which had 1,641 ranches up for sale.

Based on the average size of a Texas ranch, 511 acres, the amount of Texas ranchland on the market would equate to…

38 Views, 0 Comments

"HOME ON THE RANGE"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Matt Riehs' grandfather gifted his mother 2 acres, and then his grandmother helped her build a home on it. His aunt paid for his first 4-H project there. Those acts provided Riehs — an inner-city kid — with what he now describes as a "Huckleberry Finn lifestyle," which he credits for changing his future for the better.

While he wanted to become an agricultural teacher at one point, he has spent more than a decade as a large-acreage subdivision developer. For the last three years, he has owned Bertram-based LandHomesTexas LLC, which works in conjunction with his Katy-based brokerage Vertical Integration Realty LLC, to market, buy, sell and develop land homes with large acreage on the outskirts of Austin and Houston.

38 Views, 0 Comments

"Fed rate cut could boost Austin housing market"

Austin Business Journal shares, "The Federal Reserve has lowered rates by a quarter point, a welcome sign for homebuyers.

The federal funds rate is now 4% to 4.25%, according to a Sept. 17 announcement, marking the Fed's first rate cut since December. The cut comes as economic indicators point to the growth of economic activity moderating in the first half of the year, job gains slowing and the national unemployment rate increasing to 4.3%, according to the announcement.

Lowering the rate could have an impact on housing affordability in the Austin metro, where the median price of a home was $444,490 in August, 1.3% more than the year prior.

“Even a small rate shift can improve affordability and prompt more buyers to re-enter the market, a…

97 Views, 0 Comments

"Profits on home flipping are falling — but some areas are beating the odds"

Austin Business Journal reports, "Home flippers are seeing their profits shrink dramatically, plummeting to the lowest point in years.

The latest report from ATTOM, which provides property data and analytics, found that home flippers netted a 25.1% return on investment before expenses in the second quarter, the lowest margin ATTOM has recorded since the second quarter of 2008. It's also down from a high point of a 62.9% in fall 2012.

Gross profit, the difference between what a flipper paid for a property and what they sold it for, also has dropped. The typical flipped home netted $65,300 in the second quarter, about 4% less than the first quarter and 13.6% less than the second quarter of 2024.

The culprit? High home prices that push flippers…

250 Views, 0 Comments

"Austin is becoming a buyer's market, new real estate reports say"

CultureMap Austin shares, "the latest Central Texas Housing Report from Unlock MLS and the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) has indicated Austin's real estate activity in August is portraying a "more balanced" housing market with an increase in active listings, stable prices, and a rise in pending sales. And two national marketplaces, Zillow and Realtor.com, have already recently declared Austin is now a buyer's market.

The local housing report analyzed August data across the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan statistical area (MSA), the city of Austin, and the five Central Texas counties: Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, and Caldwell.

Across the Austin metro, median home prices in August rose just 1.3 percent year-over-year to $444,490,…

645 Views, 0 Comments

"From Bidding Wars to Bargains—How Austin’s Housing Market Became a Buyer’s Market"

Realtor.com writes, "Austin, TX, once the poster child of America’s pandemic housing boom, has flipped into a buyer’s market.

After years of surging demand and record-setting prices fueled by remote workers and tech transplants, the tide has turned. Listings are piling up, prices have retreated from their peak, and affordability—long a sore point in the city—is starting to improve.

Nationally, the housing market has reached a balance of five months of supply—the first summer to do so since Realtor.com® began tracking this data nine years ago, according to the August 2025 Monthly Housing Market Trends report.

While local dynamics vary across the country, Austin’s trajectory underscores a broader theme in real estate: the pendulum swing between…

185 Views, 0 Comments

"The secret to thriving in Austin’s fierce real estate market"

In the fast-paced Austin real estate market, where competition is fierce and expectations are high, The Grossman & Jones Group at Compass Real Estate has earned a reputation for delivering an elevated client experience rooted in trust, service and results. With more than four decades of combined experience, Todd Grossman and Michelle Jones have built a referral-driven business dedicated to exceptional client care and the highest standards of excellence.

At the heart of every successful transaction is a simple truth: who you work with matters.

Clients who choose The Grossman & Jones Group gain more than knowledgeable realtors; they gain trusted advisors who listen, advocate and ensure every detail of the buying or selling process is handled with precision.…

96 Views, 0 Comments

"These are America's hottest luxury housing markets"

Austin Business Journal shares, "While the housing market is shifting — giving buyers a bit more leverage — luxury markets remained resilient in the second quarter in the face of sustained higher interest rates, longer time spent on the market and slower home-price appreciation.

That’s according to The Business Journals’ latest analysis of the country’s hottest housing markets, which analyzed ZIP code-level mortgage and real estate data provided by Intercontinental Exchange to determine the top luxury housing markets. The analysis was limited to ZIP codes that had an average sale price of $1.5 million or greater and a minimum number of listings sold of 10 during the most recent quarter.

The rankings aren’t meant to highlight the most expensive…

114 Views, 0 Comments