Luxe Austin Homes - atx

"Some median home prices increase in Lake Travis, Westlake in September"

Community Impact writes, "a few ZIP codes in the Lake Travis-Westlake market saw an increase in home sales and median home prices compared to last year, according to data from the Austin Board of Realtors.

While prices and sales were down across the market, there were a few outliers. Homes in 78732 saw the biggest price jump at over 17% year over year. Sales were also up the highest year over year in this ZIP code by 40%.

Median prices in 78733 dropped the most in the market, going for $1.5 million last September to just under $900,000 this September.

Sales in the market were also a mixed bag. Homes in 78746 sold 15 homes both last year and this year. For the remaining six ZIP codes, three had more home sales than last year, and three had fewer sales…

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"First tiny home village in Austin suburb sees big demand"

Culturemap Austin reports, "a Round Rock developer built a first-of-its-kind community to bring a tiny solution to a large problem. He's tackling affordability with a new tiny home community called Mustard Seed Village.

"Very grateful. I mean, it's almost like a miracle in a sense," Mohammed Mbaya said.

Mbaya searched all over Cental Texas for an affordable place to live.

"Houses are expensive all around Round Rock, just like Austin. So to find a place like this in Round Rock, it's like, perfect," Mbaya said.

He said when he first found these homes, he wasn't immediately convinced. "Honestly, at first I was like, 'Tiny home, I don't know. I'm not sure how tiny it is,'" he said.

But after seeing the layout, he said it just made sense.…

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"Where tens of thousands of new apartments will rise between Austin, San Antonio"

Austin Business Journal reports, "the San Antonio and Austin metros have more more than 55,000 apartment units under construction, highlighting the immense fortune developers are poring into the emerging metroplex.

Just looking at the I-35 corridor between the two big cities, 23,000-plus units are proposed, under construction or have come online in the past 12 months, according to data from MRI ApartmentData, a multifamily analytics firm tracking Sun Belt markets.

That shows multifamily developers and investors are eager to keep pouring money into dense housing in the region. To be sure, there are thousands of single-family homes in the pipeline as well, although many experts have said denser, more affordable housing is desperately needed to…

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"Austin earns top 10 ranking for the best foodie cities in the U.S., new report says"

Culturemap Austin writes, "just a week after Austin was deemed a top 10 city for vegans and vegetarians, the city is making waves as the No. 9 best city in the U.S. for foodies, according to a new study by personal finance experts WalletHub.

Major culinary events like the Austin Food and Wine Festival are a major draw for foodies, with more than 90 chefs and culinary experts providing signature bites from local, regional, and nationally-acclaimed restaurants. Austinites can catch the next fest on the first weekend in November.

WalletHub's study looked at more than 180 culinary hotspots from all over the U.S. and ranked them based on 28 different "foodie-friendliness" factors, including the accessibility and affordability of high-end restaurants;…

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"Guess which downtown Austin high-rise with a posh private club has a new name?"

Austin American-Statesman writes, "Chase Tower, a high-rise that looms as a 21-story landmark in downtown Austin, is getting a new name.

The name — Procore Tower — was revealed Wednesday. An unveiling event featured a 4-foot-tall cake replica of the building at 221 W. Sixth St., between Colorado and Lavaca streets.

It's being named after Procore, which provides construction management software. Procore leases eight floors —almost 107,000 square feet of space — in the building. The tower, which has undergone multiple changes of ownership and renovations since being completed in 1974, is owned and managed by CIM Group.

Los Angeles-based CIM co-owns the tallest completed building on Austin's skyline — the 58-story downtown high-rise named the…

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"Pilot program could make zoning reviews more predictable, Austin staffers say"

Austin Business Journal reports, "a pilot program intended to improve Austin's rezoning process is set to be considered by City Council.

The six-month pilot program would extend deadlines for zoning and rezoning applications in addition to neighborhood plan applications with the intention of giving developers and landowners more time to refine their requests and avoid potentially missing a deadline that would require them to start the process from the beginning.

For example, land use cases will be extended from a 60-day consideration period to 120 days while whole neighborhood plan amendments will increase from 90 days to 120.

Jordan Feldman, a principal planner with the city, said the proposed changes would decrease the need for staff…

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"Hundreds of home lots for sale near Caldwell-Hays border"

Austin Business Journal reports, "more than 500 homes could rise in the borderlands between Caldwell and Hays counties.

Misty Farms, as the neighborhood will be known, is primed for development on roughly 99 acres just off State Highway 21 at the intersection of Misty Lane and Farmers Road in Caldwell County, according to a marketing brochure. The property is owned by Maxwell Farms Partners LP, though broker and land development firm La Tierra Realty LLC is the entity that is marketing the development site.

Homebuilders will be able to negotiate to purchase specific chunks of the development or the entire property, said La Tierra broker Trevor McManis, who estimated that if a builder started working on the development now, it could start turning…

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"Luxury homes with hefty price tags rise in West Austin"

Austin Business Journal shares, "a new, gated luxury housing development is rising south of West Lake Hills.

The development itself may be small by most standards — five homes on 5.5 acres — but the size of the homes and their price point are not. The homes at Five, as the development is called, range from 6,700 to 8,900 square feet and list prices start at $12.5 million, according to Moreland Properties' Eric Moreland Group, which is marketing the homes for Houston-based developer Unicus Developments LLC.

Five isn't the sort of development that your typical Austinite could spring for, but it is the type of development that can serve a growing population of wealthy homebuyers as Austin's population continues to surge. Last year, the Austin metro…

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"Austin land use changes to see joint review by Council, Planning Commission"

Austin Business Journal reports, "amendments to Austin's land development code intended to boost building density throughout the city will soon be considered in a joint public hearing between the Austin City Council and Planning Commission. The changes could have a significant impact on housing supply in the city.

A meeting date has not been yet been scheduled but is expected to occur this year. Council on Sept. 21 approved a resolution calling for the joint public hearing, which was recommended by the city’s Housing and Planning Department.

The hearing shows there is political momentum behind the city's effort to address the housing shortage and correlated affordability concerns — as well as controversy. After a previous effort to overhaul the…

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"The housing market is slowing but home prices are still going up"

Austin Business Journal writes, "this year's housing market, beset by high interest rates, is on track for the lowest number of homes sold in 12 years.

Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage financing organization, projects total home sales in 2023 to be about 4.8 million, the lowest since 2011, and only slightly higher in 2024 at 4.9 million. The total amount of mortgage originations for 2023 is expected to be about $1.56 trillion, down from what Fannie Mae had originally projected to be $1.6 trillion this year.

Fannie Mae sees personal spending to be at unsustainable levels relative to American incomes and it projects a "modest economic contraction" in the first half of 2024, combined with mortgage rates hovering above 7%.

And while…

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