Austin Business Journal reports, "Austin's housing market expects a flat year, but on the upper end of the spectrum high-spending homebuyers seem prepared to buck the trend.
Many luxury real estate brokers report activity picking up. Wade Giles, of the Giles Group at Compass, went so far to say he’s seen a “real frenzy” the past several weeks. High-end listings are grabbing multiple offers and open houses are bustling — a noticeable shift from last year.
“These are numbers that we haven’t seen in quite some time,” Giles said. “We’re all kind of experiencing the same thing … really strong momentum going into the year.”
That outlook comes as local housing experts expect a flat year for home sales in the general market. Austin Board of Realtor CEO Emily Girard said the key word for 2026 housing here is "stabilization" after years of Austin's housing market arguably being overheated.
Recent Redfin statistics indicate Austin's housing market has slowed down more than any of the 50 other major metros studied. Data from the Texas A&M Real Estate Center shows Austin ended last year with 30,283 home closings, a 1.7% decrease from 2024.
It's relatively easy to see what the bulk of the housing market is doing, but the luxury market is harder to assess because many multimillion dollar homes sell off-grid.
Christie’s International agent Dara Allen said the new year has been a change of pace from the past three years, which yielded a slowdown for her luxury sales.
The vast majority of her clientele move to Austin from out of state — California, New Jersey and New York feed her and others well. Movement in those housing markets tend to signal the direction for cities like Austin, and she’s seen a recent upturn in activity on the East and West coasts.
“Two weeks before the Christmas holiday break, my business really picked up,” she said. “It was just like your phone started ringing off the hook.”
Dave Murray, who leads DMTX Realty Group under Keller Williams, is a go-to agent for ranches and waterfront acreages around the Austin metro. Since December, he said those larger properties are also picking up.
“(Ranches) are the first thing to drop off and the last thing to come back,” he said. “Right now, they’re coming back.”
He doesn't expect a repeat of the 2021 buying and selling highs — exacerbated by the pandemic lockdown — but Giles said he hopes the market is finally rebuilding as the high-end housing activity leans promising.
“I feel like maybe that light at the end of the tunnel is getting larger and the worst might be behind us,” Giles said.
The boost in luxury sales seems largely driven by the slight descent of interest rates, which have already dipped lower than any point in 2025. As of Jan. 29, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are averaging 6.10%, according to Freddie Mac.
For the past several years, even among the affluent, people have been hesitant to pull the trigger because of spiked rates following historic lows, said Beth Drewett, of the Drewett Group under Compass. Sellers have been shy to trade out their pandemic-era rates, but the rates seen now are more approachable.
“We’ve been operating in a slower cycle for the past few years, and I think we’re getting to the end of that,” she said. “I think even slight (rate) adjustments are going to get those buyers and sellers back into the market.”
Beyond selling homes and watching interest rates, high-end Realtors wear many hats for their clients. From finding a private chef to prepare at-home omakase for a California buyer who felt trepidatious about Austin's Japanese cuisine to carrying an arsenal of toys to keep kids entertained during showings, serving Austin's high-dollar buyers means providing all-encompassing service.
As of late, that level of service includes sobering some clients' high homebuying hopes and redirecting them to areas farther out — something familiar to agents of first-time homebuyers but more foreign to Realtors to cater to wealthy clients.
“(A buyer) was like, ‘$2.5 million is our budget, and we want to have at least an acre. We want Westlake.’” Allen said. “We can just stop right there … Never going to happen.”
Moreland Properties agent Greg Walling recently had a client come to him looking for a 3,000-square-foot Tarrytown home in the $1 million to $3 million range — an ask that seemed more plausible 40 years ago, he said.
“It’s gotten hard to kind of crack the code for less than a couple million bucks,” Walling said.
According to ABJ’s wealthiest ZIP codes list, Westlake and Tarrytown’s home values middled at $1.7 million and $1.3 million respectively in May 2025 – the first and second highest for the metro.
As high-end buyers hunt for spacious homes, the city of Austin is moving in a different direction as it addresses affordability concerns. In recent years, city officials have been on a density kick with policies like the HOME initiative making way for more houses on smaller lots.
To achieve those acre-plus property deals, Realtors are pointing clients westward. Murray said areas like Spicewood and Dripping Springs are “blowing up” with interest as people seek out space without sacrificing too much convenience.
Realtors are paying close attention to several top-dollar hill country communities such as Canyon Ranch, a 600-acre Spicewood neighborhood. As more restaurants and retail follow those developments, Allen said she only sees areas west of Austin getting more attractive.
“People want that growth. They want the space and the room," she said. "Anything moving out (near) Route 71, I think that's very important.""
Source: Austin Business Journal
Written by: Ali Juell
Published: February 8, 2026
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