Luxe Austin Homes

Austin home prices climb to new records despite sales slowdown in October

Although home sales in the Austin metro area tapered off in October, the region remains on track for a record-breaking year, according to the Austin Board of Realtors.

ABoR says home sales in the region slid 12.1 percent last month compared with October 2020. However, the median sale price in the area rose 24.7 percent year over year to an October record: $455,000. This is also a slight uptick from the September 2021 median home price of $450,000 in the Austin-Round Rock market. 

“We are beginning to see a glimpse into what buyers and sellers can expect in our housing market moving forward,” Susan Horton, president of ABoR, says in a news release. “More new listings are hitting the market, a trend that we have seen continuously for the past…

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Thanksgiving Store Hours 2021: What's Open, Closed In Austin

AUSTIN, TX — Need a break from all the Thanksgiving turkey eating, football watching and dish washing? Here's one idea: Gather up the family and head out for an hour or two of holiday shopping at select stores in the Austin area.

While a majority of stores remain closed on Nov. 25, several will be open for shoppers looking for a moment of respite amid Turkey Day festivities or those hoping to get a jump start on their Black Friday shopping.

However, don't expect all of your favorite retailers to be open this year.

In June, retail giant Walmart announced it will close all stores on Thanksgiving Day this year, a move the company said is a "thank you" to store employees for their hard work through the coronavirus pandemic.

…

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A Developer’s Opulent Plans Along Lake Austin Include Luxe Condos, a Park, and a Funicular

The 145-acre Camelback property on Lake Austin, just west of the iconic Pennybacker Bridge, rises straight up a series of limestone cliffs to a densely forested ridge 380 feet above the water. It’s as close to a proper mountain as you can find in Central Texas. And what a mountain. From the top, you can see the sweeping semicircular curve of the Colorado River below, and off to the east, a gap in the hills frames the Oz-like cluster of high-rises in downtown Austin, ten or so miles away.

It’s here that property owner Jonathan Coon has built a four-story metal-frame viewing platform that rises above the treetops and affords lucky visitors one of the most commanding views in the state. The platform won’t be here for long, though: It exists…

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Zillow, facing big losses, quits flipping houses and will lay off a quarter of its staff.

Zillow, the real estate website known for estimating house values, said on Tuesday that it would exit the business of rapidly buying and selling houses amid heavy losses and that it planned to let go about nearly 25 percent of its employees.

The announcement was a major strategic retreat and a black eye for Richard Barton, Zillow’s chief executive, who founded the company 16 years ago and has long talked about transitioning Zillow’s popular website into a marketplace. Last year, Mr. Barton predicted Zillow Offers, which made instant offers on homes in a practice known as iBuying, could generate $20 billion a year.

On Tuesday, Zillow, which said it has 8,000 employees, said the division had been the source of huge losses and had made the…

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Lennar Homes’ Plans To Build A Neighborhood Of 3-D Printed Homes In Austin

3D-printed housing has arrived, and is ready for the big time. Homebuilding giant Lennar Homes has committed to building the largest neighborhood of 3D-printed homes yet developed. Breaking ground in early 2022 in the Austin area, the 100-home innovative community is co-designed by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, using ICON's building technology.

The announcement deepens a relationship that began with Lennar’s investment in Austin-based ICON’s recent $207-million financing round and offers a promising path toward delivering affordable, technology-driven homes that meet rising demand. 

There is a shortage of housing in the country, and labor and materials shortages are a frustrating bottleneck for the homebuilders. 3D printing construction has the…

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New Homes Selling At Record Pace In Austin As Shortage Continues

AUSTIN, TX — New homes that hit the real estate market in Austin are selling at a record pace and are often gone in less than three times the amount of time as other new homes across Texas, according to a new report.

New homes listed the city remained on the market an average of only 17 days in September, according to a new monthly report released this week by HomesUSA.com. The new record pace is down drastically from an average of homes spending 83 days on the market at this time in 2020, according to a three-month average of new home sales.

In Texas, the average time on the market for new homes was 54 days, according to the report, which also marked the least amount of time spent listed since the rate was at 93 days last September,…

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Elon Musk announces Tesla headquarters will move to Austin

Tesla will relocate its headquarters to Austin, CEO Elon Musk announced at the company's annual stockholder meeting Oct. 7.

"I'm excited to announce that we are moving our headquarters to Austin, Texas," Musk said at the meeting, which was held at Giga Texas, Tesla's under-development production plant in Southeastern Travis County.

He emphasized that despite headquarters shifting from Fremont, California, to Texas, Tesla's activities in California would continue at a strong pace, with output from both Tesla's Fremont factory and its Reno, Nevada, gigafactory increasing by around 50%. However, he said the company's space for growth was limited in Fremont, and he expected even greater growth in Texas.

"There's a limit to how big you can scale it in the…

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New report shows Austin real estate market "calming"

A recent housing market report by the Austin Board of Realtors shows the real estate market in Central Texas has “calmed” compared to earlier in the year.

Cord Shiflet, incoming president of the ABoR says compared to August 2020, home sales have decreased 4.6 percent.

“While we were seeing 30-40 offers on homes we’re now seeing 5 maybe 10 offers on homes,” says Shiflet.

Rob Gordon, Sales Manager at JB Goodwin Realtors tells us the slight slowdown could be attributed to the typical seasonality of the market, as well as buyer exhaustion from a busy spring.

“There’s a lot of buyers who put in many offers on homes and they never won a home and so they eventually left the market,” says Gordon.

Despite a slower market, prices are at an…

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Fall 2021: Fall festivals and events in the Austin Metro

Barton Hill Farms Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze in Bastrop

Barton Hills Farms, 1115 FM 969, in Bastrop will host its annual pumpkin patch and corn maze from Sept. 25 through Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday.

The farm offers sunflowers to pick along with pumpkins, the Hey Elon! Corn maze, live music, food, beer, apple cannons, archery and more.

Texas Pumpkin Fest

Get into the spirit of autumn and enjoy some family-friendly fun at Texas Pumpkin Fest.

The pumpkin patch in Leander will be available from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. starting Friday, Sept. 25 and will continue through Thursday, Nov. 7. The festival is located at 10930 East Crystal Falls Parkway and will be open seven days-a-week.

Patrons will have the…

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Austin's booming housing market is redefining what counts as 'luxury' real estate

One million dollars used to be a benchmark for "luxury real estate." But that's not necessarily the case anymore.

We've all seen the headlines: Austin's real estate market is booming. 

The median price for a home in the Austin-Round Rock area is currently $480,000. Four years ago, it was $301,000. That's a 59% increase in less than five years.

And the shifting real estate market is changing which properties are considered "luxury real estate."

In Austin, a $1 million price tag used to be the benchmark for a luxury property. But now $1 million could buy you a townhome near downtown or a teardown in other parts of town.

"I remember when having a $900,000 listing, everybody was like, 'Whoa, she is a really…

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