Luxe Austin Homes - housing

"More homes will hit the market in 2026. Here's the pricing outlook."

Austin Business Journal shares, "More homes are going to hit the market in 2026 — but don’t expect home prices to drop in the near future.

A new report by the National Association of Realtors predicts existing-home sales will jump by 14% in 2026. That’s because of a combination of dropping mortgage rates and improving market stability after several years. 

But, despite the number of new homes hitting the market, prices are still projected to go up by 4% in 2026, as demand remains steady and supply remains lower than normal. 

“Next year is really the year that we will see a measurable increase in sales,” said NAR National Economist Lawrence Yun. “Home prices nationwide are in no danger of declining.”

Mortgage rates are projected to go down…

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"Affordable housing project planned for East Austin"

Austin Business Journal reports, "A new apartment complex with half of its units priced at below-market rates could be coming to East Austin,

Called FiveOne, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the project would encompass roughly 500,000 square feet and include five stories of apartments and a parking garage in a single building. The location, at 5525 E. 51st St., is in the 78723 ZIP code, which is among the top 25 ZIP codes in the region, in terms of poverty rate, while also having a higher home value than the metro’s median home sales price, according to ABJ research.

The owner and developer of FiveOne is an entity named 5525 E 51st Street LLC, which has a Shoal Creek Boulevard address…

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"New Texas law could spur more apartment projects in Austin, experts say"

Austin Business Journal shares, "A new state law that opens more land for residential development should make it easier for multifamily housing to get built in Austin, experts say.

The Texas Legislature approved Senate Bill 840 earlier this year, which allows mixed-use residential housing on any land zoned for office, commercial, retail, warehouse or existing mixed uses without requiring zoning changes from cities.

In Austin, city officials have said SB 840 will increase base zoning entitlements, potentially disrupting the city's existing density bonus programs. That's because developers that participate in the density bonus programs obtain additional entitlements — such as the ability to build denser residential housing — in exchange for…

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"The Tech Hub Emerging as America’s Most Affordable Market for Renters"

Realtor.com reports, "while aspiring homeowners are facing economic headwinds, rents are becoming increasingly affordable nationwide, with Western and Southern metros leading the way. However, one metro stands out from the rest.

In September, Austin, TX, the COVID-19 pandemic-era boomtown and technology hub, overtook Oklahoma City, OK, as the nation's most affordable rental market.

A family earning a typical household income looking to rent in Austin would spend just 16.5% of their monthly paycheck on housing, down 2.8 percentage points from a year ago, according to the September monthly rent report from Realtor.com®.

"Austin's rising housing affordability is primarily driven by declining rents," says Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu. "The…

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"Fed rate cut could boost Austin housing market"

Austin Business Journal shares, "The Federal Reserve has lowered rates by a quarter point, a welcome sign for homebuyers.

The federal funds rate is now 4% to 4.25%, according to a Sept. 17 announcement, marking the Fed's first rate cut since December. The cut comes as economic indicators point to the growth of economic activity moderating in the first half of the year, job gains slowing and the national unemployment rate increasing to 4.3%, according to the announcement.

Lowering the rate could have an impact on housing affordability in the Austin metro, where the median price of a home was $444,490 in August, 1.3% more than the year prior.

“Even a small rate shift can improve affordability and prompt more buyers to re-enter the market, a…

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"Austin is becoming a buyer's market, new real estate reports say"

CultureMap Austin shares, "the latest Central Texas Housing Report from Unlock MLS and the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) has indicated Austin's real estate activity in August is portraying a "more balanced" housing market with an increase in active listings, stable prices, and a rise in pending sales. And two national marketplaces, Zillow and Realtor.com, have already recently declared Austin is now a buyer's market.

The local housing report analyzed August data across the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan statistical area (MSA), the city of Austin, and the five Central Texas counties: Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, and Caldwell.

Across the Austin metro, median home prices in August rose just 1.3 percent year-over-year to $444,490,…

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"Austin has the 7th best housing market among large U.S. cities in 2025"

CultureMap Austin writes, "As if people needed more reasons to move to Austin: The Texas capital ranked No. 7 on WalletHub's just-released list of the best large real estate markets in 2025.

In a separate WalletHub list of 300 U.S. housing markets of various sizes, Austin ranked 18th. For this list, the personal finance website examined 300 U.S. cities based on 17 metrics including each city's real estate market, housing affordability, and economic environment.

The "large market" rankings included 68 U.S. cities with populations greater than 300,000 residents.

Last year, Austin was the 12th best real estate market in America overall, and it was the third-best out of all large U.S. cities.

This is how WalletHub broke down Austin's 2025…

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"Homebuyers are gaining leverage — but the minimum income to buy is surging"

Austin Business Journal writes, "Americans now need to earn $114,000 per year to afford a median priced home.

That's an increase of 70.1% above the $67,000 required to afford that same mid-range home in 2019, according to data from Realtor.com. It's an increase driven by sky-high appreciation, persistent supply constraints and stubbornly high interest rates, among other factors — and the dynamic continues to weigh heavily on the housing market, even as buyers gain leverage.

The data looked at median home prices each April for the past six years.

“Even with today’s affordability hurdles, meaningful changes in the market could give buyers a better shot at finding a home,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “The number of homes…

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"Analysis quantifies impact on rents when apartment supply increases"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Apartment rents typically drop when new units are added to a market's housing supply, but a new analysis quantifies by how much.

The study by the Pew Charitable Trusts on rent changes in major U.S. cities from 2017 to 2024 determined that for every 10% increase in a ZIP code’s housing supply, rent growth was 1.4% less compared to a ZIP code that had no additional housing supply. The Pew analysis also found that a 10% increase in a market's housing supply correlated to rents growing 5% less from 2017 to 2024.

In Austin, which has undergone an apartment building boom in recent years, the biggest rent declines were for older and lower-quality units, the study found.

Alex Horowitz, project director of housing…

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"Where are new homes planned in the Austin metro?"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Some Austin suburbs promise new homes aplenty.

The Austin Business Journal reached out to the city of Austin and its 19 biggest suburbs to survey them on how many single-family homes they report in their development pipelines. Cities measure that differently, and the number includes counts at various stages of entitlement and construction. It's an imperfect science, but it helps gauge how cities are preparing for what's to come in their backyards.

Cities like Kyle (nearly 44,000 homes) and Georgetown (nearly 32,000) have robust pipelines. Taylor (about 8,500) and Buda (about 6,600) are next in line. Meanwhile, Cedar Park is nearing capacity and only reported 200.

Among the highest is Lockhart. The city grew…

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