Luxe Austin Homes - affordability

"Buyers Are Gaining Market Power as Mortgage Rates Dip Another Week"

Realtor.com writes, "The sour outlook from consumers, and the consistent "wait-and see" policy from the Federal Reserve, helped push interest rates lower, including mortgage rates dipping to 6.77% for a 30-year fixed home loan. The dip was housing-friendly but small, so its impact will be modest.

Inflation, which showed the Fed’s preferred gauge, rose 2.3% in the year even as the index excluding food and energy prices edged a bit higher. Consumer confidence slipped in June, and while consumer sentiment improved, both measures remain at a concerningly sluggish level. 

The April Case-Shiller home price index showed regional divergence, with price gains strongest in Northeast and Midwest markets, like New York City, Chicago, and Detroit. Southern…

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"The price-cut picture is changing as home listings rise and buyers gain leverage"

Austin Business Journal shares, "After several years of strong sellers' markets, buyers are gaining leverage in a number of housing markets across the nation — and it's reflected in both home-listing and price-cut data.

That’s according to The Business Journals' recent hottest housing markets analysis of first-quarter housing data from Intercontinental Exchange.

Of the 8,936 ZIP codes analyzed by The Business Journals, 5,788 (or 64%) posted a year-over-year increase in home listings in the first quarter. Of those, 698 (or 7.8%) recorded an increase of at least 50%.

The data revealed home listings grew significantly in many pockets of the country, underscoring observations by some market watchers that the national residential real estate…

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"Austin Tops Graduate Friendly List"

Realty News Report reports, "The Class of 2025 just completed their years of classroom studies and have left familiar campuses behind to begin a new mission in life – to establish careers and find suitable places to live.

In its just-released document listing the “Top 10 Rental Markets for Recent College Grads,” the real estate website dubbed Austin the Number 1 U.S. city for newly launched degree holders to kick off their careers and plant the seeds of a new lifestyle in a location that’s affordable, packed with fitting job opportunities, an active social scene and lots of networking chances, particularly with other recent grads.

The roster which places Austin, Raleigh, N.C. and Overland Park, Kan. in the top three slots alongside seven other…

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"Austin and Round Rock rank among fastest-growing affordable U.S. cities"

CultureMap Austin shares, "A new national study has declared Texas home to the most affordable, fast-growing cities in the country, and Austin and Round Rock both made the list.

Round Rock ranked 10th while Austin ranked 35th on GoBankingRates.com's new list of "50 Most Affordable, Fastest-Growing Cities in 2025."

The Dallas suburb Frisco tops the national rankings at No. 1, and four more North Texas cities appear on the top 10: McKinney (No. 2), Allen (No. 5), and Lewisville (No. 8); and the Houston-area suburb League City (No. 7).

The personal finance website's experts narrowed the study down to U.S. cities of at least 100,000 people, with one-year and five-year population growth rates that were higher than the national average, and with…

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"Fresh Out of College? These Are the 10 Best Cities Where Graduates Can Actually Afford To Rent"

Realtor.com shares, "College graduates embarking on careers and setting up homes in new cities might not think of Austin, TX, as the most affordable place to live—but that would be a mistake.

It has everything a young adult could want, including job opportunities, shorter commutes to work, and plenty of amenities like cafes, restaurants, and nightlife, according to the latest Realtor.com® report.

The median monthly rent now stands at $1,450, under the national median of $1,699.

"Austin stands out as the top-ranked city thanks to its strong performance across multiple factors that matter most to recent college graduates—including relatively affordable housing, robust job prospects, a larger peer network, and a lively, culturally rich…

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"Inventory of homes for sale in the Austin metro on the rise"

Austin Business Journal writes, "With housing inventory in the Austin metro on the rise, the region may be close to becoming a buyer’s market.

That’s according to the latest report from Unlock MLS, which found that the metro’s housing inventory reached 5.6 months in April, up 1.4 months from the same time last year and closing in on the six-month mark that's generally considered a balanced market. But with the inventory rising and a larger stock of more affordably priced homes, conditions could lead to a buyer’s market, or at least one that’s favorable for first-time buyers, said Clare Knapp, housing economist for Unlock MLS and the Austin Board of Realtors.

“If anything, it’s a good market for first-time buyers in the sense that they have a…

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"Leander, Pflugerville, Cedar Park among top 25 'best places to live' in US"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Austin has been outshone by its suburbs recently in terms of affordability and population growth, and U.S. News & World Report's latest ranking of the "best places to live" in the country continues the trend.

Three of the city's suburbs — Leander, Pflugerville and Cedar Park — made the top 25, with Leander at No. 8, Pflugerville at No. 15 and Cedar Park at No. 23.

Austin, meanwhile, came in at No. 164, marking a huge tumble from No. 9 in last year's ranking. But the steep fall is deceptive, because U.S. News & World Report drastically expanded its latest list to include many smaller cities, collecting data on more than 850 cities compared with just 150 previously. Of those it analyzed this year, the top 250 were…

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"Austin's housing inventory went up and sales fell in April, per report"

CultureMap Austin shares, "Austin's homebuyers are uncovering an uncertain future for the housing market, as April sales took a nearly 14 percent dip from last year and housing inventory increased by 11.5 percent.

The latest real estate report from the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) and Unlock MLS said Austin's April housing data closely resembles a nationwide trend of higher mortgage rates and a decline in home sales.

New home listings in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan statistical area (MSA) rose to 5,710 homes in April, adding to a total number of 13,351 active home listings. That's nearly 20 percent more from April 2024.

Only 2,484 homes in the Austin area were sold in April, and median home prices took a small 3.2 percent…

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"Here's where home prices grew the most in Q1 as affordability worsens for many Americans"

Story Highlights

• The National Association of Realtors says 83% of metro areas saw their single-family home prices grow in Q1.
• Nationally, the median single-family home price grew 3.4% in the first quarter.
• The Northeast performed the best in sales and price gains while the South lagged.

Austin Business Journal writes, "The U.S. housing market may be showing signs of softening but in most cities, single-family homes only got more expensive at the start of 2025.

A new report by the National Association of Realtors found 83% of metro areas tracked by the NAR saw their existing single-family home prices increase in the first quarter of 2025. While down from the 89% of metro areas that saw price growth in the fourth quarter of…

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"Gen Z's regret grows over generational housing divide"

Austin Business Journal writes, "High home prices and elevated interest rates have members of Generation Z worried about missing out on the dream of homeownership — or deeply regretting having taken the plunge.

According to the BMO Real Financial Progress Index, 54% of American renters envy people their age and younger who have purchased a home. It's a dynamic that's even stronger among Gen Zers, with 63% of those respondents saying they are envious of homeowners. The Gen Z share is second only to that of millennials, who are most likely to be envious, at 67%.

"The data show that owning a home remains a key component of the American dream, but with some obstacles still facing first-time homebuyers, younger generations worry they missed their…

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