Luxe Austin Homes - growth

"Zillow says Austin’s housing market is now ‘ice cold,’ Austin Board of Realtors says no way"

KXAN Austin writes, "just days after the Austin Board of Realtors said the local housing market is starting to “rebalance,” Zillow has released a much harsher outlook: the Austin market is now “ice cold.”

The characterization comes as Zillow released its market report for December 2022.

The report shows homes in the Austin area are spending a median of 68 days on the market, more than in any other major metro nationwide. Back in December 2021, Zillow reported homes in the area were on the market for a median of 22 days.

Another metric in the report shows homes aren’t selling for as much as they used to. In November, just 11% of listings sold for higher than the asking price, down from 47% a year before.

That may be leading some homeowners…

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"46K new housing units possible on unlocked Austin land — but zoning change doesn't go far enough, builder says"

Austin Business Journal reports, "builders in Austin can now take advantage of a change in city code that will allow for the development of residential properties on land zoned for commercial use.

The change to the land development code, which Austin City Council approved on Dec. 2, carries major implications for real estate firms, significantly expanding the market for development. It also represents another avenue for cutting into Austin's housing shortage: city staffers previously estimated this decision could allow for the creation of 46,324 new homes.

Developers will still need to apply to build residential projects in commercial areas and will have to meet certain criteria, including around affordability. The change incentivizes the…

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"Travis County considers increasing development fees"

Austin Business Journal reports, "developers working in Travis County may face increased construction and permitting fees in the months ahead.

Travis County Commissioners Court is considering increasing existing development fees and implementing new ones for a variety of services including traffic impact analysis, on-site sewage facilities and floodplain permits, in addition to requests for variances and exceptions associated with development review.

If passed, this would be the first change to the county’s development fee structure since 2016 and generate millions in annual income for the county.

With already long wait times for county development review, which increase the cost of new construction, commissioners stress that any additional…

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"The 10 best cities for finding a hybrid job that pays $100,000 or more―they’re not all on the coasts"

CNBC writes, "even as more workers report to an office than did a year ago, hybrid work that allows them to work from home at least part of the time remains the dominant trend.

More than half of people with remote-capable jobs expect to work in a hybrid arrangement by the end of the year, according to Gallup, and online searches for hybrid jobs are up by 130% in the last year, according to IT-recruiting firm Frank Recruitment Group.

As far as being able to work from home, at least some of the time, and commanding high pay goes, several major tech hubs still lead the way. More than a quarter of hybrid jobs in San Francisco and Seattle pay more than $100,000 per year, according to a report from SimpleTexting, a text message marketing service.

…

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"Wilson Capital Proposes 80-Story Apartment Tower in Austin, Texas"

REBusiness Online reports, "Wilson Capital, an Austin-based real estate development firm, has unveiled plans for Wilson Towers, an 80-story apartment building in Austin. Totaling 450 residential units and rising 1,035 feet, the development would become the tallest building in Texas upon completion.

The property is located at 410 E. Fifth St. in the heart of Austin’s downtown. It is less than a block from the MetroRail Downtown station, three blocks from the Congress Avenue retail and restaurant district, and six blocks from the Texas State Capitol building. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer.

According to local real estate publication Towers, the project is a massive expansion upon previously released redevelopment plans for the site…

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"Q&A: Real estate developer discusses opportunities for urban infill investments"

Austin Business Journal reports, "many of the country’s fastest-growing cities have certain commonalities that make them magnets for population migration. Job opportunities, a rich culture and access to outdoor activities are a few of the reasons people are drawn to places like Austin, Dallas, Seattle and Denver.

What these places also have in common is a lack of housing stock to accommodate the thousands of people who move there each year. While housing developers often eye large tracts of land outside of cities where they can build hundreds of homes, suburban sprawl is taking a toll on the U.S. economy. And the cost of public infrastructure maintenance is weighing on depopulating towns across the country.

StoryBuilt is taking a different…

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"Austin is a millennial magnet, with tens of thousands moving here last year"

Austin Business Journal writes, "Austin's millennial population grew more than any other city in the nation last year, according to data collected by personal finance website SmartAsset.

The findings, released Oct. 27, suggest that the city’s strong economy and standard of living continue to attract huge numbers of people at the height of working age.

However, other studies indicate the dramatic rise in the cost of living in the city and its shortage of housing continue to impede first-time homebuyers, many of whom are millennials.

Nearly 24,000 millennials — those born from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s — moved to Austin in 2021, according to SmartAsset.

That compared with the more than 13,400 that left, according to SmartAsset's…

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"Mortgage Bankers Expect Rates To Drop to 5.4% in 2023. Here’s What That Means for Home Prices."

Realtor.com reports, "high mortgage rates and recession fears are hurting home prices, so expect growth to be flat this year, one expert says.

“Our forecast is for home-price growth moderation to continue,” Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association, said Sunday during the organization’s annual conference in Nashville, Tenn.

Home prices have already begun moderating. According to Case-Shiller, home prices fell month-over-month from June to July for the first time in 20 years. The latest numbers, which will be for August, will be reported on Tuesday morning.

With a recession likely in the cards, on top of mortgage rates near or above 7%, “we’ve already seen a pretty dramatic pullback in housing…

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"New 43-story tower breaks ground in Austin's Rainey Street district"

Austin American-Statesman reports, "a 43-story apartment tower is the latest high-rise to start construction in the booming Rainey Street area in downtown Austin.

High Street Residential, along with MSD Partners and River Street Partners, said started construction has bgun on the tower, which will rise 500 feet at River and Rainey streets on downtown's southeastern edge. It will have 377 upscale apartments, ranging from studios to three-bedroom units and penthouses.

Called 700 River (initially River Street Residences), the tower will include 3,400 square feet of retail space and more than 30,000 square feet of amenity space, according to the developers. The high-rise is due to be completed in late 2024.

The project is part of wave of growth…

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"Why Are Homeowners Seeing Prices Drop?"

U.S. News reports that, "for just about any homeowner, talk of falling home prices can spark panic. With homeownership being the major financial and personal investment it is, there's a natural anxiety that comes with any potential threat to that investment.

However, housing market activity to date does not show a year-over-year decline of home prices – at least not yet. While some data sets show small month-to-month home price declines, month-to-month data is more volatile and does not signal a drastic shift in the market on its own.

There is a marked deceleration in home price growth due to a combination of already high home prices, high mortgage interest rates, low housing inventory and economic uncertainty on a larger scale.…

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