Luxe Austin Homes - construction

"Phase II of the HOME Initiative could bring minimum lot sizes down to 2,000 sqft"

ATX Today reports, "Austin City Council will vote on Phase II of the HOME Initiative — a move that would reduce the minimum size of a single-family lot — as early as May.

The council passed the first phase of the HOME Initiative, which stands for Home Options for Middle-income Empowerment, in December 2023. In part, the decision increased the maximum number of units from one to three on certain single-family lots.

This new phase would change single-family lot minimums from 5,750 sqft to 2,000 sqft, something the Austin Board of Realtors said could improve home affordability moving forward.

Why is this under consideration?

Proponents say passage of the new phase could alleviate the housing shortage by allowing construction of 87 to 871 new…

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"Another homebuilder joins Gregg Ranch neighborhood in Marble Falls"

Austin Business Journal writes, "In Marble Falls, Gregg Ranch continues to grow.

The 240-acre community at the southern end of Marble Falls was touted in 2020 as the first large-scale development in the city in decades, with around 1,250 homes planned. Pulte Homes and Vogel Builders have built homes in the community, and Arizona-based Gregg Ranch developer Harvard Investments announced April 2 that Colorado-based Richmond American Homes has also signed on to the project.

The Richmond homes at Gregg Ranch will range from 1,687 to 3,000 square feet, with two- to six-bedroom floor plans. Richmond will begin with 62 home sites for its first two phases of construction and is under contract to buy 113 lots in a third phase of construction.

Homes…

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"Buda's Sunfield is metro's fastest-growing neighborhood"

Austin Business Journal reports, "Buda’s Sunfield is the fastest-growing neighborhood in the metro, nabbing the top spot after leapfrogging from the No. 8 position in 2023. See the list below this article.

Scarborough Lane Development’s Sunfield, a 2,795-acre master-planned community, earned first place on Austin Business Journal’s latest list of fastest-growing neighborhoods with 470 home starts last year. The list is based on data from real estate company Zonda.

There are eight homebuilders active in Sunfield, where homes can be purchased at prices much lower than the average home in the metro.

While Sunfield’s 470 home starts was an increase over the 291 home starts reported on our 2023 list, many neighborhoods saw a decrease in home…

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"Nearly 300 condos heading to trendy South Congress"

Austin Business Journal reports, "Intracorp Homes has unveiled new details about its upcoming condo development on bustling South Congress Avenue.

Intracorp, one of the most active condo developers in the city, confirmed the project late last year but declined to provide additional information at the time as it worked its way through planning stages. On April 2, the developer announced details, including number of units, costs and the entities working on it. The company also said a final general contractor hasn't been selected.

Leland South Congress, as the project is called, will rise seven stories on about 3 acres spread across four lots at the intersection of South Congress Avenue and Live Oak Street.

The development will add 270 condos to…

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"Builders expect home prices, construction to increase in 2024"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Homebuilders around Texas are optimistic that new home prices will ramp up in 2024 and that construction rates will grow as well.

Zonda analyst Bryan Glasshagel presented the company's findings for the final quarter of 2023 at the housing data firm's quarterly event on March 20.

The company surveyed homebuilder division presidents around Texas, 64% of whom expect home prices to increase between 1% to 5% this year. A majority of the respondents are also anticipating increased activity in 2024, with 75% of builders surveyed expecting starts to increase an average 10% this year.

"Consumer confidence is still driving builder activity," Glasshagel told the crowd that was gathered at the Greater San Antonio Builders…

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"Housing Starts Rebound in February by Largest Amount in Nine Months"

Realtor.com reports, "The numbers: Construction of new U.S. homes rebounded 10.7% in February to an annual pace of 1.52 million units, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That is the biggest gain in nine months. Despite the increase, starts are still below December’s level.

Economists on Wall Street were expecting a 7.4% rise in housing starts in February to 1.43 million. All numbers are seasonally adjusted.

The number of housing starts in January was revised slightly higher, to a drop of 12.3% to 1.37 million, from an initial reading of a 14.8% drop to 1.33 million. It is still the biggest drop since May 2022.

Building permits, a sign of future construction, rose 1.9% in February, also reaching a 1.52 million annual rate. That’s the…

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"Ashton Gray's project pipeline brims with Austin-area housing developments"

Austin Business Journal reports, "the company behind Elgin’s Briarwood mixed-use development has big plans for other parts of the Austin metro.

Houston-based Ashton Gray Development recently gained approval from the Elgin City Council to annex 75 acres into Briarwood, a housing development and the city's first municipal utility district. With a pipeline that ranges from Jarrell to Lockhart and stops in between, however, that's only the tip of the iceberg for Ashton Gray, which is aiming to bring more than 5,300 single-family homes to the region, plus apartments and commercial projects.

“We started acquiring land in Austin several years ago,” said Shaun Vembutty, Ashton Gray founder and president. “This was even before some of the buying frenzy…

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"The District mixed-use project moving forward even bigger than originally planned"

Austin Business Journal reports, "one of the region's most-anticipated projects is back on track — and much bigger than previously planned.

Eight years ago, Mark IV Capital, a Newport Beach, California-based commercial real estate firm, purchased a 66-acre plot near Interstate 35 and the State Highway 45 toll road for a project known as The District. But the plans subsequently stalled, mostly due to shifting market conditions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.

Since then, the size of the project has more than doubled. The District is planned as a $500 million investment that will result in 3 million square feet of development and a minimum of 5,000 jobs at full buildout in 2039. Original plans called for 1 million square feet by 2039 and a…

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"Housing Starts Post Sharpest Drop Since April 2020"

Realtor.com reports, "The numbers: Construction of new U.S. homes fell 14.8% in January as home builders scaled back new projects.

The pace of construction slowed as builders curtailed their activity amid wintry weather in the U.S. in January.

Housing starts fell to a 1.33 million annual pace from 1.56 million in December, the government said Friday. That’s how many houses would be built over an entire year if construction took place at the same rate every month as it did in January.

Housing starts fell to the lowest level since August 2023.

The drop in January was the sharpest since April 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, when starts fell by nearly 27%. Not including that pandemic drop, housing starts fell by the most since 2015.

…

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"Mortgage rates hold steady to start 2024. Is an uptick in the housing market on its way?"

Austin Business Journal writes, "the nation's for-sale housing market is off to a mixed start this year after a 2023 that proved largely challenging for homebuyers.

Existing-home sales ended 2023 down about 19% from the prior year, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. While the number of transactions declined, prices rose in most metro areas through the end of the year, and that trend appears to be holding up early into 2024.

In fact, single-family existing-home sale prices rose in 86% of metro areas measured by the NAR — or 189 of 221 — in the fourth quarter. That's up from 82% in the third quarter.

At the end of 2023, the national median single-family existing-home price was up 3.5% from the year prior, to $391,700.

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