Luxe Austin Homes - construction

"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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"U.S. Housing Starts Drop to Lowest Level Since June 2020"

Realtor.com reports, "The numbers: Construction of new U.S. homes fell 11.3% in August—falling short of Wall Street expectations—as builders scaled back new projects to focus on completions.

The pace of construction reversed course and fell as mortgage rates stayed over 7%, dampening home-buying demand. The last time construction of new homes was at this level was in June 2020.

So-called housing starts fell to a 1.28 million annual pace from 1.45 million in August, the government said Tuesday. 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 August.

Economists on Wall Street were expecting a drop in starts to 1.43 million. All numbers are seasonally adjusted.

…

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"Pearlstone envisions denser Austin, forges ahead with $700M in urban housing"

Austin Business Journal writes, "amid a year of muted activity for commercial real estate development, Pearlstone Partners LLC is betting big on the continued allure of Austin — it has three new projects up its sleeve that could total about $700 million in construction costs. That's on top of Robert Lee and his team forging ahead on three under-construction projects expected to deliver from early 2024 through 2025.

The Austin-based company just unveiled details on three multifamily communities planned to rise on prime sites, spread from Rainey Street to the northwest side of the Central Business District. All three are still in the investment phase, meaning they may not deliver for a few years.

Demand for housing has slowed across the board in…

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"Austin expedites land use reforms for denser housing"

Austin Business Journal reports, "a push by a handful of Austin-based nonprofits to expedite construction of denser, more affordable housing has garnered a response from City Hall.

A coalition of housing-focused organizations issued a call to city leaders on July 7 to expedite code changes to enable developers to build denser and faster than previously allowed. The letter was from the Austin Housing Coalition, Transit Forward, HousingWorks Austin and the Austin Justice Coalition.

About two weeks later, Austin City Council unanimously approved a resolution July 20 that authorizes the city manager to propose code amendments that complement the city’s ongoing piecemeal changes to its land development code. The ultimate goal is to streamline…

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"Homebuilding starts to pick back up as buyers adjust to new pricing norms in tight market"

Austin Business Journal reports, "after months of slowdown in the wake of weaker buyer demand, homebuilders are starting to pick back up on construction — and feeling more confident about the housing market since mortgage rates surged last year.

Privately-owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.63 million, a 21.7% increase from the April estimate of 1.34 million, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. Meanwhile, privately owned housing units authorized by building permits last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.49 million, 5.2% higher than in April but 12.7% less than the May 2022 rate.

The jump in home starts observed last month is notable, said Kelly Mangold, a principal at RCLCO Real…

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"U.S. Housing Market Recovery Is Being Held Back by Limited Listings and Fluctuating Mortgage Rates"

Realtor.com reports, "The numbers: Sales of previously-owned homes in the U.S. fell 3.4% in April for the second month in a row, as buyers continue to deal with low levels of home listings and see-sawing mortgage rates.

Sales of existing homes in the U.S. fell to an annual rate of 4.28 million in April, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

That’s the number of homes that would be sold over an entire year if sales took place at the same rate in every month as it did in April. The numbers are seasonally adjusted.

The drop in sales wasn’t as bad as what economists on Wall Street had expected. They forecast existing-home sales to total 4.26 million in April.

But compared with April 2022, home sales were down 23.2%.

Key…

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"Austin-Round Rock has the best housing market for growth and stability, new study says"

CultureMap Austin writes, "despite concerns about housing prices and availability in the state, a new study deemed six major Texas metropolitan areas some of the best housing markets in the nation for their growth and stability. And the Texas Capitol city took the No. 1 spot.

In SmartAsset’s report, Austin-Round Rock earned its best housing market title due to its eye-watering 354 percent home price increase since 1998, which is vastly greater than any other area in the country.

Considering Austin’s population has just about doubled in the last two decades, the housing market’s skyrocketing growth was inevitable. The relocation of several tech companies to the city surely didn't hurt. Even Austin’s apartment construction has the highest growth…

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"Austin Housing Market Forecast"

U.S. News reports, "given the enormous popularity of the greater Austin, Texas, area for online searches, newcomers and employment growth, it may act as a reasonable bellwether for the state of the U.S. housing market. This will certainly be tested in the spring and summer selling season, when the National Association of Realtors reports that about 40% of sales of existing homes throughout the U.S are historically made between the months of May and August. Besides offering warmer weather, buying a home during these months allows buyers with school-aged children to shop, bid, close and move into a new residence before the start of a new school year.

Similar to the overall U.S. housing market in mid-2020, the Austin housing market went into…

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"Is Austin housing hot or not? Prices are sliding but buyers, sellers cautiously test waters"

Austin Business Journal writes, "despite chilly forecasts from the likes of Zillow and Goldman Sachs, others expect the heat to stay elevated in Austin’s housing market — by at least one measure, it's still among the hottest in the country.

Austin tied with Durham, North Carolina for third place in the U.S. News & World Report’s latest Housing Market Index, released Feb. 14. Raleigh, North Carolina ranked first and Denver ranked second.

The index takes into account data on employment, housing prices, builder sentiment and much more.

Austin ranked No. 4 in the supply sub-index, which included government data on housing supply, rental vacancy rates, construction costs, construction jobs, builder sentiment from the National Association of Home…

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"Austin housing market more stable after cooling 2022 demand, report finds"

CultureMap Austin writes, "In a slightly contradictory year, the 2022 Central Texas housing market saw both higher barriers to affordability and a shift toward buyers.

According to the Austin Board of Realtors' last monthly report of 2022 and year-end overview, inventory rose, but so did interest rates and construction costs. Prices rose, too, reaching a new annual record for the Austin-Round Rock MSA at $503,000 (up 11.4 percent). Travis County mirrored the pattern, as median prices increased 10.6 percent to $575,000.

Demand in the MSA lagged while supply stayed the same: New listings stayed steady but 33,547 homes were sold, down 18.3 percent from the previous year, and they generally stayed on the market for 31 days, 11 days longer. This was…

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