Luxe Austin Homes

"Dense condo development on tap for Taylor"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Taylor is set to get some new housing — in the form of a dense condo project — as economic growth in the rural city foreshadows a population boom.

Austin-based Metropolitan Development Company LLC is behind the condo project on Taylor’s Second Street, according to an announcement. It also will include some commercial space, said Pawel Hardej, principal at Metropolitan Development.

The project — called The Ferguson — will have eight garden homes, 16 townhomes, 60 condos and five live-work spaces on about 1.5 acres at the intersection of Ferguson and Second streets. The units will range from 575 to 1,534 square feet.

Prices will begin in the mid-$200,000 range.

“On purpose, we did not throw in an expensive…

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"750-plus homes headed to Elgin to continue housing boom"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Elgin’s housing boom is set to continue after City Council approved an amendment to a previously approved development agreement that will allow the developer to build more dense housing in an upcoming master planned community.

The original development agreement for Southside Meadows, as the development is called, was approved in May 2023 and would have seen 526 single-family homes built, but that number has swelled to 763 with the amendment approved Sept. 3, according to the meeting agenda. The homes are being planned as developers descend upon Elgin to build thousands of new homes.

Developer Hariharan Kuppuraj owns the 174 acres where the master-planned community will be built along County Line Road, just south…

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"Developer teeing up big master-planned project in Lockhart"

Austin Business Journal reports, "A North Texas-based developer appears to be gearing up to build a 178-acre master-planned community on the southeast side of the Barbecue Capital of Texas.

The project in Lockhart by Intermandeco GP LLC could bring hundreds of single-family homes, townhomes or apartments — as well as commercial space — to the 1500, 1600 and 1700 blocks of South Commerce Street. Representatives of Allen-based Intermandeco detailed its initial plans during a Lockhart City Council meeting on Sept. 3.

Council members voted unanimously to establish zoning on the site, including 28 acres of medium-density commercial, 18 acres of high-density residential and 132 acres of medium-density residential.

The Marilyn Riddle Trust is the…

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"Housing Market Filled With ‘Wait-and-See’ Home Buyers"

Realtor Magazine reports, "Contract signings fell last month to the lowest level on record, as the housing market continued trudging through a sluggish summer. The National Association of REALTORS®’ newly released Pending Home Sales Index—a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings—dropped 5.5% in July and was down 8.5% compared to a year earlier.

“A sales recovery did not occur in midsummer,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “The positive impact of job growth and higher inventory could not overcome affordability challenges and some degree of wait-and-see related to the upcoming U.S. presidential election.”

Some prospective home buyers also may be waiting for mortgage rates to drop. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome…

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"Outside Austin, the metro's wealthiest ZIP codes are up north"

Austin Business Journal writes, "The Austin Business Journal recently revealed that the metro's wealthiest ZIP code is in the core of the city: downtown Austin.

But what about when you venture outside of city limits? That honor belongs to Cedar Park's 78613 ZIP code, which came in at No. 18 on the list.

American City Business Journals, ABJ's parent company, used a weighted formula with numerous factors, including per capita income, home equity, typical home value, estimated savings and poverty rate to determine the wealthiest ZIP codes.

That determined that wealth looks different in the suburbs. The 78613 ZIP code, which roughly spans north from the Lakeline Mall off Farm to Market Road 620 to New Hope Drive, has a per capita income of around…

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"Austin's apartment construction rate is 3rd highest in the nation"

CultureMap Austin writes,"Austin has been in such an building boom that even a slowing rate of new apartment buildings is still one of the fastest in the country. According to a new insight report from RentCafe, the Austin metro area has the third highest new apartment construction rate nationwide, after previously holding the No. 1 title in 2023.

The report from August 7 analyzed new apartment construction data across 369 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). For the purpose of the study, only apartment buildings containing 50 or more units were included. Any U.S. metros with fewer than 300 units or fewer than two properties/buildings were excluded.

The top two metros that outperformed Austin are New York (No. 1) and Dallas (No. 2) with…

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"3 Austin neighbors are the best Texas suburbs for house renters"

CultureMap Austin shares, "For single-family home renters, finding the right suburb to live in around Austin can be a complicated process. But three distinct Austin neighbors have come out among the top 10 best best suburbs for house renters in Texas: Hutto, Lakeway, and Leander.

This crowning achievement was awarded in online real estate marketplace Point2Homes' new study, "Top Texas Suburbs for House Renters." The report compared suburbs within a 20-mile radius (or 30-mile driving distance) from Texas' five largest cities — San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth — based on 12 metrics, including a suburb's cost of living, share of single-family rental listings, five-year renter income growth, and more.

Hutto ranked as the No. 3…

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"Buyers are snatching up starter homes"

RealEstateNews.com shares, "While the market remains tepid overall, starter homes are drawing more interest as mortgage rates trend lower and inventory rises.

Pending sales for starter homes jumped more than 10% in July year-over-year, according to the latest Redfin report, reaching the highest level in nearly two years. That's in stark contrast to pending sales for all other tiers, which fell by between 6-10% over the same time period. 

Sale prices of entry-level homes were also up, but increased at a slower pace than other home segments, a sign that inventory and demand are more balanced in the lower price tiers. Redfin defined starter homes are those with a sale price in the 5th-35th percentile. 

Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar…

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"Slight Uptick in Home Sales as More Listings Hit Market"

Realtor Magazine reports, "Home affordability conditions are improving slightly, which helped to fuel more real estate transactions in July. Existing-home sales, which account for completed transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, saw their first uptick in about four months, rising 1.3% in July compared to June, NAR’s latest housing report shows.

“Despite the modest gain, home sales are still sluggish,” says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, adding that sales are still down 2.5% from a year ago. “But consumers are definitely seeing more choices, and affordability is improving due to lower interest rates.”

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.49% as of Aug. 15, down from 7.09% a year earlier, which is…

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"Townhomes — why aren't they popular here?"

Austin Business Journal writes, "Even with a ballooning population and pushes for increased density, Austin has shied away from townhome development.

There are about 570 active single-family projects in Austin, and 40 of them are townhome developments, said Keith Hughes, vice president of sales at housing analytics company Zonda. And that’s keeping in track with other Texas cities, according to Zonda’s National Outlook report, but lagging behind other metros across the country.

Zonda defines townhomes as multilevel, single-family residential units sharing a common wall with another similar structure. These homes are typically built in series or rows.

Zonda's data shows that, while townhome deliveries have slowed since the pandemic in many…

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