Luxe Austin Homes - Buyers

"Sustainable East Austin community Whisper Valley gains new international homebuilder"

Austin Business Journal reports, "The latest homebuilder to get involved in East Austin’s Whisper Valley neighborhood — a Central Texas epicenter for innovation in sustainable housing — is pushing the limits of how quickly a home can be built.

Kosovo-based InstaBuilt LLC will build its first U.S. homes in Whisper Valley and also is establishing its North American headquarters in East Austin, according to a July 1 announcement.

The company's homes, which will take advantage of Whisper Valley’s geothermal and solar capabilities, are manufactured off-site and then assembled on-site in eight to 12 hours. Because of the technologies it uses, it's able to construct in an energy-efficient manner at a lower price than the average in Austin, InstaBuilt…

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"Home prices begin to come down in pandemic boomtowns like Austin, Tampa"

Yahoo! Finance writes, "Real estate prices surged nationwide when the pandemic hit. Bidding wars, all-cash offers, and contingency removals became commonplace.

Now, the tide has turned in some markets.

Home prices in some large US cities declined in April, according to mortgage data company ICE Mortgage (ICE). San Antonio and Austin in Texas, and Tampa, Florida — among the most popular cities during the pandemic — saw the biggest monthly price declines.

The shift comes as these markets recalibrate: Homesellers and house builders are adding more listings, just as fewer Americans are relocating there.

“The key differentiator we're seeing in terms of growing inventory levels in Florida and Texas is a rise in sellers' willingness to list their…

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"Is it a buyer's or seller's market? Neither — but it's moving toward buyers finally"

Austin Business Journal shares, "The Austin-area housing market has reached a stalemate between buyers and sellers — and that's allowing much-needed inventory to catch up and prices to hold steady.

A few years ago it was common for some parts of Central Texas to have a week or two of housing stock. Home inventory in May was clocked at 4.9 months — 1.5 months more than a year ago. It's a level of inventory that hasn’t been seen in 13 years, according to the Unlock MLS report on the Austin Board of Realtors website. Housing experts often say six months of inventory is representative of a healthy market.

“The good news is that we are moving toward a more sustainable level of inventory, which will provide price stability for sellers and more choices for…

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"New real estate report shows big spike in active Austin home listings"

CultureMap Austin writes, "Potential homebuyers on the prowl for a house in the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown area have a lot more inventory to choose from than usual. Active listings rose to over 12,000 residential properties in May, according to the latest real estate report from Unlock MLS and the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR).

The spike in active listings is a 37.7 percent year-over-year increase from May 2023, the report said, with more than 5,200 new home listings added last month in a 16.3 percent increase from this time last year. Median prices for homes in the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown MSA dipped to $459,450 in May after they reached nearly $470,000 in April.

This glut of available housing allows buyers a greater level of…

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"A key housing metric just fell to its lowest point ever"

Austin Business Journal writes, "The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment — a gauge of how good buyers feel about the housing market — fell to its lowest number since the agency began measuring it in 2010.

In May, just 14% of consumers surveyed by the agency said it was a good time to buy a home, down from 20% in April. Those who said it was a bad time to buy increased to 86%. 

Even seller optimism slipped, dropping from 67% who believed it was a good time to sell in April to 64% in May. The growing pessimism comes even as about 20% of those surveyed said their household income was higher than it was a year ago. 

The declining sentiments are yet another factor weighing on the housing market, which is fueling an affordability crisis in many…

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"Work to start this fall on Four Seasons neighborhood on Lake Austin"

Austin Business Journal writes, "First there was the hotel. Then the condo tower next to the hotel. Soon, there will likely be an entire neighborhood here with the esteemed Four Seasons brand — 179 residences and nine villas in all on top of hills but with access to the lake via a funicular. Construction may begin soon.

Turnbridge Equities, a real estate investment and development firm responsible for major Austin projects such as Music Lane and the CitizenM hotel, has joined Austin Capital Partners and Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts as a development partner for the upcoming Four Seasons Private Residences Lake Austin, a luxury housing development on Bridge Point Parkway with views of Pennybacker Bridge, the West Austin hills and the downtown…

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"Growing number of seven-figure cities have typical home values above $1M"

Austin Business Journal writes, "Nestled amid the palm trees of Jupiter Island, Florida, is a three-bedroom, five-bathroom house with a pool on a half-acre lot.

The 2,798-square-foot house, only steps to the beach and offering ocean views, is currently listed on the market for $5.1 million. As of the time of publication, it's the cheapest house for sale on Jupiter Island, which boasts the highest median home value in America, according to Zillow Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ZG).

The typical home value on Jupiter Island reached $9.98 million in February 2024, according to Zillow, beating out the exclusive neighborhoods of Golden Beach, Florida; Hunts Point, Washington; and Atherton, California.

While certain cities and neighborhoods have always seen…

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"Affluent House Hunters in Austin, Texas, Are Finding an Opportunity—and ‘Even a Deal’"

Mansion Global writes, "Once the poster child for the pandemic housing boom, Austin, Texas, is seeing some of the nation’s steepest price declines for luxury homes, coupled with a growing supply of listings.

Luxury house hunters are now facing less competition and far more choice than even a year ago, marking an opportunity to buy before demand overwhelms supply again. There were 20% more luxury listings on the market in the greater metro area in the first quarter than a year ago, according to data from Realtor.com, which defines luxury as the top 10% of the market by listing price. 

“I have not seen this much great inventory in Austin in a long time, even since before the pandemic,” said luxury real estate agent Kumara Wilcoxon of Kuper…

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"The 'lock-in' effect is hitting homebuyers. It may get worse."

Austin Business Journal shares, "Americans expect high mortgage rates to rise even more in the coming years, a perspective that could further dampen the housing market.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s SCE Housing Survey found Americans expect mortgage rates to climb from just under the 7% they are now to 8.7% a year from now and 9.7% in three years — the highest recorded since the agency started asking Americans that question in 2014.

The pessimism around mortgage rates comes as the Federal Reserve has held off on cutting interest rates after spending much of 2022 raising them to curb inflation. Some officials have said the likelihood of the Fed raising rates again is low, and the housing industry is holding its breath on what future…

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"Home sales are up in Austin thanks to stabilizing housing prices, new real estate report says"

CultureMap Austin writes, "Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown experienced its highest year-over-year increase in home sales this past April, illustrating a growing optimism in the metro area's housing market. That's according to the latest real estate report from Unlock MLS and the Austin Board of Realtor (ABoR).

More than 2,700 homes were sold in April across the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown MSA, which is a 5.9 percent increase from this time last year. Median prices landed at just under $470,000 in a 1.1 percent increase year-over-year. There were 10,808 active home listings on the market, which is nearly a 32 percent jump from April 2023.

"Despite the higher rate environment, the uptick in affordable inventory in the $300,000 range is allowing more…

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