Grossman & Jones Real Estate Blog - housing

"Housing affordability got worse in Q2 — and homeownership costs hit a new high"

Austin Business Journal reports, "Homes across America remained unaffordable for many prospective buyers in the second quarter, with single-family home and condo prices less affordable during that three-month period compared to historical averages in 99% of the nation's counties.

That's according to a recent analysis by Attom Data Solutions LLC, which looked at housing data from U.S. counties with a population of at least 100,000 and that had at least 50 single-family home and condo sales in the second quarter.

The analysis also found that expenses for existing homeowners on median-priced homes are on the rise. Those costs consumed 35.1% of the average national wage in the second quarter, a high point since 2007 and meaningfully higher than the…

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"Austin inches closer to air conditioning mandates for residences"

Community Impact Austin reports, "A new city mandate for air conditioning in all residences is moving closer to final approval, and residents can weigh in on the change in July.

What's happening

The city is in the process of revising its technical codes, including its first proposed air conditioning mandate under the building code.

The update would require all residential property owners to keep rooms at least 15 degrees cooler than outdoor temperatures, and no hotter than 85 degrees Fahrenheit at most.

If implemented, the standards would apply for all existing properties and new construction in Austin.

Austinites can weigh in on the new building code items online until July 24. The revisions will also be discussed at the July 9 planning commission…

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"Meet the Ander Condo Project, Bringing Nearly 200 Homes to West Anderson"

TOWERS Austin writes, "Here’s a completely true thing you can say that will greatly irritate many people: Condos are pretty rare in Austin. Although they’re the boogeyman of choice for locals lamenting the relentless march of time, the fact is that the vast majority of new multifamily residential construction in Austin delivers apartments for rent, rather than condos for sale. Of the thousands upon thousands of new housing units constructed in the region since the start of the pandemic, condos make up about five percent or less of that total, and this isn’t great news for first-time homebuyers, since condos are often significantly less expensive than detached single-family homes.

The reason developers tend to prefer apartments over condos is all…

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"Over 1,400 homes may rise in Lockhart"

Austin Business Journal reports, "Over 1,400 rooftops are slated to rise south of Austin as the city of Lockhart continues to grow.

Lockhart City Council on June 18 approved the addition of a 472-acre municipal utility district, called Juniper Springs, from Houston-based Perry Homes to the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, a move that required the ETJ to be expanded by 88 acres.

The new MUD would allow 1,428 homes to be built on the western edge of Lockhart along State Highway 142, officials said during the meeting. That amount of homes could result in dramatic population growth for Lockhart, a city that's attracted big projects and industrial development in recent years.

Lockhart’s growth over the past decade-plus has been muted, rising…

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"Homeowner equity continues to rise despite housing-market challenges"

Austin Business Journal reports, "American homeowners continue to build significant equity even as the housing market has slowed and home prices aren't rising as rapidly as they did in recent years.

U.S. homeowners with a mortgage pulled in $28,000 in equity gains on average year over year in the first quarter, the highest amount since late 2022, according to CoreLogic Inc. That average year-over-year increase of 9.6% translates to a collective gain of $1.5 trillion and means net homeowner equity totaled more than $17 trillion at the end of Q1.

The implications behind homeowners' gains in home equity are varying, but the gains seen since the Covid-19 pandemic ultimately mean homeowners are gaining wealth, said Selma Hepp, chief economist at…

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"Austin home prices jumped 87 percent in 10 years, report reveals"

CultureMap Austin shares, "A new real estate report confirms something that Austinites pretty much already knew: The city of Austin saw a significant increase in housing prices among U.S. cities within the last decade, with median home prices skyrocketing up to 87 percent.

The report by online real estate database PropertyShark analyzed median home sale prices in 41 of the most populous U.S. cities and locales in 2014 and 2023. According to the study, the median sale price of a home in Austin in 2014 was $287,000. A decade later, median housing prices in the city nearly doubled, landing at $538,000 in 2023.

Demand for housing increased dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when "millions of office employees suddenly shifted to working from…

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"Is it a buyer's or seller's market? Neither — but it's moving toward buyers finally"

Austin Business Journal shares, "The Austin-area housing market has reached a stalemate between buyers and sellers — and that's allowing much-needed inventory to catch up and prices to hold steady.

A few years ago it was common for some parts of Central Texas to have a week or two of housing stock. Home inventory in May was clocked at 4.9 months — 1.5 months more than a year ago. It's a level of inventory that hasn’t been seen in 13 years, according to the Unlock MLS report on the Austin Board of Realtors website. Housing experts often say six months of inventory is representative of a healthy market.

“The good news is that we are moving toward a more sustainable level of inventory, which will provide price stability for sellers and more choices for…

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"New real estate report shows big spike in active Austin home listings"

CultureMap Austin writes, "Potential homebuyers on the prowl for a house in the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown area have a lot more inventory to choose from than usual. Active listings rose to over 12,000 residential properties in May, according to the latest real estate report from Unlock MLS and the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR).

The spike in active listings is a 37.7 percent year-over-year increase from May 2023, the report said, with more than 5,200 new home listings added last month in a 16.3 percent increase from this time last year. Median prices for homes in the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown MSA dipped to $459,450 in May after they reached nearly $470,000 in April.

This glut of available housing allows buyers a greater level of…

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"A key housing metric just fell to its lowest point ever"

Austin Business Journal writes, "The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment — a gauge of how good buyers feel about the housing market — fell to its lowest number since the agency began measuring it in 2010.

In May, just 14% of consumers surveyed by the agency said it was a good time to buy a home, down from 20% in April. Those who said it was a bad time to buy increased to 86%. 

Even seller optimism slipped, dropping from 67% who believed it was a good time to sell in April to 64% in May. The growing pessimism comes even as about 20% of those surveyed said their household income was higher than it was a year ago. 

The declining sentiments are yet another factor weighing on the housing market, which is fueling an affordability crisis in many…

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"Local leaders discuss housing affordability, supply in Austin"

Community Impact Austin shares, "Area leaders are continuing to look for creative ways to increase housing supply and create sustainable housing options in Austin, such as changing development codes and spearheading efforts to grow the local workforce.

Amplify Credit Union hosted its second annual Central Texas Affordability Summit on May 23 with Amplify members; Mayor Kirk Watson; and a panel featuring Heather Donahue of MOD Architecture and Design; Jeremy Striffler, director of real estate and asset management at Austin ISD; and Hannah Rangel of the Downtown Austin Alliance.

The gist

Watson said the city has undertaken a number of initiatives to address its housing supply and affordability. In December, City Council approved the first phase of the Home…

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