Luxe Austin Homes - austin

Austin ranks among top luxury real estate markets with soaring 550% sales volume increase

Shocker—Austin’s luxury real estate market is booming but after an especially fruitful year, the capital city is joining the big leagues for high-priced homes.

According to a study comparing industry-wide sales activity done by real estate agency Compass, Austin saw a 450% increase in $10 million-plus real estate transactions from 2020-2021, placing it among the 30 highest-value markets in the U.S.

With 11 total transactions totaling $189 million, the sales volume in Austin jumped 562% since 2020, putting the city markedly higher than major cities like Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Jersey Shore, New Jersey; Long Island, New York, and Washington D.C.

Dallas was the only other Texas city to be included on the list and nearly mirrored Austin’s…

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Burgeoning Austin suburb boasts second-hottest neighborhood for U.S. homebuyers

The population of Leander soared 123 percent from 2010 to 2020, and the growth shows no signs of letting up. A new report from residential real estate platform Opendoor provides further evidence of the continued popularity of the Williamson County suburb.

Leander’s 78641 ZIP code ranks second on Opendoor’s new list of the country’s 10 most popular ZIP codes for homebuyers. To develop the list, Opendoor analyzed home sales in 2021 in the more than 40 markets where it operates brokerages.

Chris Westrom, Opendoor’s senior general manager in Austin, says Leander benefits from the population and job growth occurring throughout the metro area.

“Leander … offers residents a smaller-town charm while only being about 30 miles outside of the hustle and…

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Inspire Development embarks on massive Pearson Ranch mixed-use project in Northwest Austin

Inspire Development has broken ground on Pearson Ranch, a 156-acre mixed-use project that aims to bring office space, retail, hotels, housing and parks to an area developers called Williamson County’s “burgeoning technology corridor.”

Located at the northeast corner of SH 45 N and West Parmer Lane, the development is 2 miles from Apple’s $1 billion new campus. Pearson Ranch will feature 2.6 million square feet of Class A office space; 200,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and community spaces; two hotels, thousands of multifamily housing units; and 30 acres of parkland, according to a Jan. 31 release from Inspire Development.

In the release, Pearson Ranch developers said the community is designed to attract local restaurants and retailers and…

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$500 million Southeast Austin project calls for 4,000 homes, condos and apartments

A $500 million development that calls for more than 2,500 houses, 1,500 multifamily units and commercial space is in the works for fast-growing Southeast Austin

The developer is Houston-based Hines, an international real estate firm. Its partners are Vancouver-based Trez Capital, based in, Dallas-Fort Woth-based Caravel Ventures and Tokyo-based Sumitomo Forestry.

The project — which is being called Mirador — will be developed at a cost of more than $500 million, according to Hines executives. The company said financing is in place, but did not provide additional details.

The Hines-led development group said this week that it has closed on the sale of the 1,400-acre site for the project. The property is bounded in part by Pearce and Wolf…

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Wide-open spaces: Austin homebuyers build their dream homes on empty lots out of town

Austin homebuyers have been through the wringer in the past year—tales of offers well over asking price, sales in under an hour, and months-long supply chain shortages have become commonplace in the city's cutthroat housing market. So it's perhaps no surprise that many homebuyers are looking for greener pastures as they stake out large empty lots along the city's outskirts.

After casually searching for a home for years, Austin influencer and blogger Jane Ko experienced the pandemic housing surge firsthand when she found an empty lot near the airport in the summer of 2020. Stretched thin by high demand and limited supply, Austin's median home prices had already reached a then-record of $435,000 in August of that year, while new inventory grew by…

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3 Reasons Why Austin Is a Homebuyer's Dream in 2022

Key Points

• Home prices have soared but still present a bargain relative to other areas -- for now.
• Those areas include Silicon Valley, a place some major employers are leaving for Austin.
• A burgeoning population underpins the argument that a buy now will pay off later.

Austin, Texas, fell from the No. 1 spot in 2021 to a predicted No. 10 in 2022 on Zillow's list of hottest housing markets in America. Tampa, Florida, has assumed the top spot, but Austin is still a very robust market.

The capital region of the Lone Star State has seen explosive population growth, the most of any large metro area in the United States from 2010-2020, according to the U.S. Census, swelling by a third in 10 years to nearly 1 million in the city itself…

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New Homestead Exemption Rule

There is a new update to the Homestead Exemption Law. 

Starting January 1, 2022, homebuyers will be allowed to file for exemption in the year they purchased the property - previously homebuyers had to wait until the following calendar year to file. 

This is great news for homebuyers who can now have the opportunity to lower their property taxes! 

How does this affect prorations? 

Previously, prorations of taxes between the Buyer & Seller, and reserves needed for the Buyer's new escrow accounts, were estimated using the homestead exemption because it was in place until the end of the year. Now, a Seller can buy a new property and move their exemption to that new property immediately. 

Source: Patten Title Company 

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Texas School Resource Guide

Texas Education Agency (TEA) - tea.texas.gov

 A state agency that oversees primary and secondary public education. The TEA strives to improve outcomes for all public school students in the state.

• Mission, Leadership, Annual Reports, & Legal Structure

• Financial, Grant, & State Funding Information

• List of Texas Schools & Enrollment Guidance

• Curriculum, Subject Areas, & Educational Support Programs

• A·F Accountability Resources

• State Testing & TxCHSE Resources • Educator Databases

• Data & Reports

Texas Schools - txschools.gov

As an extension of TEA, TXschools.gov is a database that stores information by school and district. This resource provides analytical tools to create correlations, compare, and study the…

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Family in town? Austin landmarks and tourist traps even locals love

Outdoors

Zilker Park, Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail

Spanning 351 acres in the heart of Austin is Zilker Park. It’s also the city’s oldest park, according to the city’s website. It was named after Andrew Jackson Zilker, who donated pieces of land to the city on multiple occasions beginning in 1917.

You can also hop on the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail, named after a former mayor and his wife. The trail is 10 miles long.

Barton Creek Greenbelt, Sculpture Falls

Austin has several greenbelts for hiking, but the most famous is the Barton Creek Greenbelt. It’s an ideal spot for swimming as well.

You can start at the trailhead off MoPac — this will give you access to both Twin Falls and Sculpture Falls — or from the…

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The Best Cities to Relocate to Around the World, According to a New Study

The pandemic has heightened our appreciation for where we live, with many reconsidering their hometowns. Coupled with the flexibility of remote work and international borders slowly opening up, now might be the time to consider that relocation you've long dreamed of. To determine the ideal places to call home, U.K. finance site money.co.uk studied the best cities to move around the world in its Relocation Report, released this week.

Austin came in first, thanks in part to its average temperature of 68.7 degrees and average monthly salary of £3,984 (or $5,378), as well as its internet speed of 87.5 Mbps. Next up was the most populous city in the world, Tokyo, for its plethora of restaurants and parks, as well as its high life expectancy at…

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