Luxe Austin Homes - demand

"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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"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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"Existing-Home Sales Surge in a Positive Sign for This Year’s Housing Market"

Realtor.com writes, "This year’s housing market is off to a strong start.

Sales of existing homes, which exclude new construction, jumped 9.5% from January to February, according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors®. That was the largest month-over-month increase in a year.

However, sales did dip a little annually, coming down 3.3% from February 2023.

The surge in monthly closings is likely due to the drop in mortgage rates, which began declining last fall. This brought more buyers into the market and, importantly, might have persuaded more homeowners to sell their properties. As most sellers are also buyers, many have been reluctant to trade a low mortgage rate for a higher one.

Mortgage rates averaged 6.87% for…

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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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"The Austin housing market just won't quit. It's an example of what's happening nationwide despite high prices and interest rates."

Business Insider writes, "just when some people thought the Austin, Texas, housing market was going to crash, it's starting to heat up again.

It could be a sign of relief for homeowners across the US — but bad news for hopeful buyers.

This sudden surge in Austin housing sales is a bit surprising. Not only were some experts predicting the downfall of the city's housing market just a few months ago, but interest rates have been back on the rise in 2024, reaching their highest level since December. However, Austin isn't the only city beating the odds; prices are still rising in 85% of US cities even though 91% of all homes are deemed "overvalued."

The inventory of houses for sale in Austin and the number of houses that sold both increased…

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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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"Austin rents lose steam, with second-steepest decline in December among major U.S. metros"

Austin American-Statesman reports, "just as it is a buyer's market in Central Texas' single-family housing market, so too is it a renter's market in the Austin-area apartment market.

Likely to the dismay of landlords and delight of tenants, Austin saw the second-steepest yearly decline among metros in the latest study by Rent.com.

Rents in Austin dropped 12.5% in December compared with December 2023, according to the study, which tracked rates in the nation's 50 largest metros.

Asking rents in Austin were $1,985 a month in December, versus $2,270 a month the prior December, the study said.

Austin's decline was followed by Raleigh, North Carolina, where rents dropped almost 12.2% to $1,873, and the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise metro, where…

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"Pending Home Sales Post Biggest Jump Since June 2020 as Mortgage Rates Fall"

Realtor.com shares, "The numbers: U.S. pending home sales shot up in December as falling mortgage rates brought buyers back into the market.

Pending home sales rose 8.3% in December from the previous month, according to the monthly index released Friday by the National Association of Realtors.

Pending home sales reflect transactions where the contract has been signed for a the sale of an existing home, but the sale has not yet closed. Economists view it as an indicator of the direction of existing-home sales in subsequent months.

The jump in pending-home sales was the largest since June 2020, when it rose by 14.9%.

The sales pace exceeded expectations on Wall Street. Economists were expecting pending home sales to increase by 2% in…

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"Hutto is Austin's best suburb for first-time homebuyers, report indicates"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Hutto is the best market for first-time homebuyers in the Austin area, according to a new analysis by Realtor.com.

The analysis identified the best markets nationwide for first-time homebuyers, as well as the top local city or suburb in major metro areas. Realtor.com examined median home listing prices, available inventory, forecasted price growth, commute times and unemployment rates when compiling the data.

The report lists median home prices of about $387,000 for Hutto, which is about 30 miles northeast of downtown Austin in Williamson County. That compares to a metro-wide median price of about $500,000, according to Realtor.com. The Austin Board of Realtors tracks slightly lower numbers on those fronts. ABOR…

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"Austin housing market collected $17.5 billion in 2023 despite sales drop, says report"

Culturemap Austin writes, "Austin's hot real estate market is still trying to balance itself out after a full year of cooling prices. But even after that, it's accounting for nearly $17.5 billion in economic activity in 2023, according to the latest report from the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR).

The final report of 2023 wrapped up the Austin-Round Rock metro area's performance and compared it to 2022's statistics. The findings show the median prices in the Austin area decreased 10.2 percent year-over-year to $450,000.

As another good sign for what's ahead for homebuyers in the coming year, 2024 ABoR president Kent Redding said housing inventory in the Austin-Round Rock MSA has increased to the highest it's been in more than eight years.

"In…

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