Luxe Austin Homes

"Q&A: Real estate developer discusses opportunities for urban infill investments"

Austin Business Journal reports, "many of the country’s fastest-growing cities have certain commonalities that make them magnets for population migration. Job opportunities, a rich culture and access to outdoor activities are a few of the reasons people are drawn to places like Austin, Dallas, Seattle and Denver.

What these places also have in common is a lack of housing stock to accommodate the thousands of people who move there each year. While housing developers often eye large tracts of land outside of cities where they can build hundreds of homes, suburban sprawl is taking a toll on the U.S. economy. And the cost of public infrastructure maintenance is weighing on depopulating towns across the country.

StoryBuilt is taking a different…

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"Home Prices Would Need To Fall This Much for Buyers To Get a Break"

Realtor.com writes, "since home prices shot into the stratosphere, many first-time buyers have prayed for them to fall so that they could afford to become homeowners. Their wishes appear to have been granted—and yet, they’re caught in a paradox: Even as prices have begun to dip, the cost of purchasing a home has risen. A lot.

The reason for the contradiction: soaring mortgage interest rates.

Most folks are still laser-focused on a property’s price tag. In fact, this kind of list price obsession is deeply ingrained in the American psyche. But, of course, purchasing a home is very different from buying products from a brick-and-mortar store or shopping online. Unless home shoppers are buying with all cash, they will be taking out a long-term loan…

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"‘Incentives Come in Many Forms’: Here Are Ways To Lower Your Mortgage Rate, According to This Mortgage Company CEO"

Realor.com writes, "mortgage rates are double where they were a year ago, making home buying a much more costly endeavor. Home sellers are trying to help them out.

Buyers are not feeling the market, depressing mortgage demand. Rates are hovering at around 7%, which adds hundreds of dollars in additional monthly payments for prospective buyers’ budgets.

Even though the number of for-sale homes is growing, they’re still expensive, creating affordability issues for buyers.

Some builders and sellers are getting more creative, and offering ways for potential home buyers to lower their mortgage rate and monthly payments.

“There are programs out there today, like something called a 2-1 buydown or a 3-2-1 buydown,” Michael Isaacs, the CEO of GO…

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"International homebuyers still flock to Austin but are spending less than pre-pandemic"

Austin Business Journal reports, "Austin's international homebuyer market is still down in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

That’s according to the Austin Board of Realtors' 2022 Central Texas International Homebuyers Report. From April 2021 to March 2022, international buyers purchased $613 million worth of residential properties in Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell counties — representing 3% of total home sales.

That number was relatively flat compared with the $634 million figure from the 2021 report, but is a steep drop from the $800 million reported in 2020, the first year the report was compiled.

Though international buyers contributed less to the housing market, Realtors say Covid-19 is less of a concern to clients now.

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"Austin is a millennial magnet, with tens of thousands moving here last year"

Austin Business Journal writes, "Austin's millennial population grew more than any other city in the nation last year, according to data collected by personal finance website SmartAsset.

The findings, released Oct. 27, suggest that the city’s strong economy and standard of living continue to attract huge numbers of people at the height of working age.

However, other studies indicate the dramatic rise in the cost of living in the city and its shortage of housing continue to impede first-time homebuyers, many of whom are millennials.

Nearly 24,000 millennials — those born from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s — moved to Austin in 2021, according to SmartAsset.

That compared with the more than 13,400 that left, according to SmartAsset's…

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"10 Reasons Why Austin, Texas Is The Hottest Real Estate Market In The United States Right Now"

Times Square Chronicles writes, "Austin, Texas is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. With more people flocking to Texas from many parts of the country, the city’s real estate market is amongst the hottest in the country right now. We’ll take a look at ten reasons why.

Teifke Real Estate announced that median home values are expected to rise in the middle of next year. Rental rates are also expected to rise as well. Let’s take a look now at the list of ten reasons why Austin is the hottest real estate market (and you should jump in now).

1.   THE TECH INDUSTRY IS PLANTING ITS STAKE HERE

Some of the most popular tech companies like Apple and Tesla are making their presence known here in the Austin area. It’s becoming a…

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"Why is the real estate boom in Austin slowing down?"

KVUE Austin reports, "more than two years ago now, 2020 saw what many real estate agents and developers called a gold rush in Austin, with homes being sold in a matter of hours. Now, the market appears to be slowing down.

"It's brought a lot of people here and it was just a perfect storm," said Chester Wilson, one of the owners of Greater Austin Builders.

Two years ago, many set their sights on Austin.

"Gold rush is a perfect term for it. I've been doing this for 25 years. It was unlike anything we've ever seen," said Cord Shiflet, the president of the Austin Board of Realtors.

However, Shiflet said Austin's real estate boom isn't going anywhere but that it's just slowing down.

He noted that rather than…

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"Decline in U.S. Pending Home Sales Gathers Steam in September"

Realtor.com writes, "the numbers: U.S. pending-home sales fell 10.2% in September, which is the fourth straight monthly drop, according to the monthly index released Friday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The decline was much larger that forecast. Analysts polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast the pending home sales index to drop by 4%.

Outside of the pandemic, the drop in pending home sales is the largest year-over-year decline since 2001. Sales dropped by 33.1% in April 2020.

Contract signings fell by double-digits in all regions across the country.

Pending home sales reflect transactions where the contract has been signed for an existing-home sale, but the sale has not yet closed.

Economists view it as an…

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"Wildhorse Ranch to expand near Manor"

Austin Business Journal writes, "another undeveloped chunk of land has taken a step toward becoming single-family homes in Northeast Austin.

During the Oct. 25 meeting of the Austin Planning Commission, the preliminary plan for Pinnacle at Wildhorse Ranch gained approval to divide 60 acres into 57 lots within the city’s Gilleland Creek watershed.

The approval represents an expansion to Wildhorse Ranch that has risen on 1,450 acres next to the newly requested expansion.

The development is a product of Austin-based Dwyer Realty Companies, led by longtime developer Pete Dwyer, and the request and the preliminary plan were presented to the commission by Kevin Burks, a civil engineer at the design consulting firm Kimley-Horn.

Dwyer Realty did…

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"15 Austin ZIP codes now dominated by renters not homeowners"

Austin Business Journal writes, "if you live in either the 78727 or 78744 ZIP code, odds are you’re renting.

That's according to an Oct. 24 study from RentCafe, which found that from 2010 to 2020, those two ZIPs transitioned from having a majority of homeowners to a majority of renters. There are now 15 ZIP codes in the Austin area with renting majorities, signifying how the evolution of Austin into a big city is changing its economic makeup.

North Austin’s 78727, which eats up a large part of town north of The Domain neighborhood, had a population consisting of about 51% renters in 2020. Its 2020 renter population of 16,285 was a 21% jump from the 13,413 who called the ZIP code home in 2011, RentCafe found. The rental search platform used data…

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