Photo by Randy von Liski

Austin Monitor writes, "Austin’s bio and health ecosystem is emerging as a significant driver of economic development, with new projects and public policy efforts shaping the future of the sector, according to the 2024 Austin Bio & Health Report authored by industry analysts Jason Scharf and Jani Tuomi.

The report found Austin is now home to over 1,100 bio and health companies, employing 21,000 people and generating a total ecosystem valuation of $42 billion. Venture capital investment in the sector has also grown, with $3.5 billion raised over the past five years, positioning Austin among the top 10 cities nationally for bio and health funding.

Among the other findings: 40 companies within the sector are valued at over $100 million, with the…

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Santa Rita Ranch is located in fast-growing Liberty Hill in Williamson County. KENNON EVETT

Austin Business Journal reports, "For the fifth-straight year, Liberty Hill’s Santa Rita Ranch is the top-selling master-planned community in the Austin metro, and it's also in the top 20 nationally.

The sprawling neighborhood claimed the metro's title despite an overall drop in home sales compared to 2023, according to Robert Charles Lesser & Co.’s 2024 list of the best-selling master-planned communities in the nation. It came in at No. 18 nationally, with no other community in the Austin metro in the top 50.

Overall, 644 homes were sold in Santa Rita Ranch in 2024, compared to 742 in 2023, a 13% drop. In Texas, communities in Katy, Cypress, Aubrey and New Caney ranked higher on the national list.

“It was a busy year in Santa Rita Ranch,”…

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Baby boomers continue to dominate the national housing market. GETTY IMAGES

Austin Business Journal writes, "Baby boomers own an outsized share of homes in America — and nearly half of them say they’ll never sell.

About 43% of baby boomers say they will never sell their home, the highest of any generational group, according to a survey of U.S. residents ages 18 to 65 by real estate firm Redfin Corp. (Nasdaq: RDFN). The biggest single reason cited for staying in place is that their home is almost or completely paid off, while others say they like where they live.

About 30% say they are staying in their current home because prices are too high and 18% said they are staying because they don’t want to give up their low mortgage interest rate.

The survey results are playing out in real time, with a recent Redfin analysis…

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Kyle's 78640 ZIP code was the 10th hottest housing market nationwide in 2024. The City of Kyle, TX - Local Government/Facebook

CultureMap Austin writes, "The Austin metro's strong real estate market has shown it can persevere through another year of high mortgage rates, and one local ZIP code in Kyle was the No. 10 hottest housing market in the nation in 2024. That's according to a just-released report by online real estate company Opendoor.

The study examined the U.S. ZIP codes where people bought homes the fastest in 2024, using local Multiple Listing Services (MLS) data in markets where Opendoor operates. The ZIP codes were ranked by the total number of homes that went into contract within 90 days of listing.

Homes in Kyle's 78640 ZIP have an average value of $319,463, though that price has dipped 6.1 percent over the last year, according to Zillow's Home Values…

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Realtor.com reports, "Mortgage rates jumped to a six-month high of 6.93%, up from 6.91% last week, for the average 30-year fixed home loan for the week ending Jan. 9, according to Freddie Mac.

“In the first full week of the new year, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage remained elevated at just under 7%,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The continued strength of the economy has put upward pressure on mortgage rates, and along with high home prices, continues to impact housing affordability.”

Khater also pointed to a continued lack of entry-level inventory, which presents a stumbling block, especially for consumers looking to become first-time homeowners.

“The Freddie Mac rate for a 30-year mortgage climbed this week as the…

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KXAN Austin shares, "Six of the nation’s 10 hottest zip codes in 2024 are in Texas, according to real estate site Opendoor.

The site ranked the hottest zip codes nationwide by looking at the number of homes that went into contract within 90 days of listing last year.

In 2024, 77493 and 77433, both in the Houston area, topped the list for areas where people bought homes the fastest. In 2023, the two zip codes were flipped, with 77433 on top.

San Antonio’s 78253 ranked third in 2024, while New Braunfels’ 78130 ranked fourth.

Also in the top 20 were 75126 in Forney, which ranked sixth, 78640 in Kyle, which came in 10th, and McKinney’s 75071, which ranked 12th.

“Over the past three years, we’ve seen people choose to move away from city centers…

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Realtor.com writes, "With 2025 underway and with the presidential inauguration on the horizon, speculation is rife about the direction of interest rates.

Here are some of the main outlooks for where they might be headed:

Mortgage rates

Last week, the Freddie Mac rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 6.91%, its highest level since July.

But Realtor.com® economists predict that mortgage rates will take a tumble in 2025.

According to our 2025 Housing Forecast, we will see an average mortgage rate of 6.3% in 2025.

Home equity loans and HELOCs

Home equity loan and HELOC rates are also expected to fall.

Bankrate predicts that in 2025, the average home equity loan rate will go from 8.41% to 7.9%, and the average HELOC rate will…

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(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Realtor.com writes, "The U.S. housing market crawled to a standstill last year—and while the latest projections show that 2025 is expected to bring only limited relief to buyers and sellers, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon.

The year closed out with the strongest seasonal slump since January 2023. Homes lingered on the market for a whopping 70 days, up from 62 in November. It made December 2024 the slowest festive season in five years.

Inventory also plummeted 8.6% from November, marking the most precipitous drop in nearly two years.

Meanwhile, mortgage rates reached a six-month high, hitting 6.91% for the average 30-year fixed home loan for the week ending Jan. 2, according to the latest numbers from Freddie Mac.

On top of…

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U-Haul International Inc. released state and metro data that shows where people were moving last year. U-HAUL INTERNATIONAL

Austin Business Journal shares, "The Austin metro was among the hottest destinations in the country for where people were moving last year, according to the latest annual ranking from U-Haul International Inc.

Austin ranked No. 5 among the top U.S. growth metros in 2024, and Texas was the No. 2 state for move-ins — bested from the top spot after three consecutive years by South Carolina, according to data released Jan. 2 and Jan. 3.

The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area took the crown for the top growth metro in the recent list, followed by Charlotte, North Carolina (No. 2); Phoenix (No. 3); and, Lakeland, Florida (No. 4). Houston ranked No. 9.

U-Haul collects migration data from more than 2.5 million one-way U-Haul truck, trailer and moving…

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — "A senior economist for real estate company Zillow told KXAN that the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan housing market is set to enter 2025 in a “healthier” spot than its previous “unsustainably hot” situation.

Zillow senior economist Orphe Divounguy said in a Dec. 11 interview that 2024 saw a “cooling in the housing market.” The company rated the Austin-Round Rock Metro as a buyer’s market in an October 2024 report.

“We’re in a period of transition, and we’re going to continue to see home sales continue to rebound slowly from the big trough that we had in 2023,” he said. “The big surprise at the national level was the fact that we started to see some sellers return.”

Divounguy’s prediction for the national market in 2025?…

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