Grossman & Jones Real Estate Blog - housing

"Austin housing market continues to stabilize, fueled by skyrocketing inventory and 'normal' price growth"

According to CultureMap Austin, "For the third month in a row, the Austin Board of Realtors reports that the local housing market is returning to normal. Following the unprecedented price growth experienced in early 2022, the market is shifting back to a normal pace, fueled by skyrocketing inventory and normalized home price appreciation.

The latest monthly report shows that in August 2022, the metro's median home price jumped 5.5 percent year over year, to $496,038. While a record high for the month of August, ABOR says the growth "[indicates] a normalization of home price appreciation that economists say is consistent with historical norms."

In the city of Austin, the median price grew 3.6 percent year over year to $555,000; Travis County's…

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"Crane Watch: More condos to rise in S. Austin; More warehouses slated for I-35 corridor"

According to Austin Business Journal, "There’s another industrial development sprouting in the fertile I-35 corridor.

Mississippi-based EastGroup Properties Inc. broke ground Sept. 12 on Stonefield 35, a 275,559-square-foot project in Buda, the company announced Sept. 22. The development comes amid impressive growth, especially for industrial space, in the corridor between Austin and San Antonio.

The development will be built on about 21 acres at the northeast corner of I-35 and Robert S. Light Boulevard. EastGroup is constructing three buildings with varied dimensions.

The largest building will be 148,233 square feet and equipped with 51 dock doors and two ramps, according to marketing material. The building will have 195 parking spaces.

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Forecast shows Austin-area population could surpass San Antonio by 2040

No one can gaze into a crystal ball and tell us what the population of the Austin metro area will be two decades from now. Forecasts from professional prognosticators give us a pretty good idea, though.

A CultureMap analysis of the most recent population projections from the Texas Water Development Board, a government agency that helps manage the state’s water supply, shows the Austin area may enter eye-popping territory by 2040. The analysis indicates the population of the Austin metro area will exceed the population of the now-larger San Antonio metro area in just 18 years.

Based on the water board’s county-by-county outlook for Texas, the population of the five-county Austin area will reach 3,340,450 in 2040. By comparison, the population of…

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Palladius Capital gets apartments in fast-growing Austin suburb

A major real estate investor in Austin has acquired a sizable apartment complex in the fast-growing suburb from a prominent developer based in the city.

Palladius Capital Management acquired the 342-unit, located in Kyle from Endeavor Real Estate Group, which completed the project earlier this year.

The sale price was not disclosed.

Kyle and other areas south of Austin have proven to be a popular market for multifamily construction and projects as of late

The complex Palladius got is called Citizen House Kyle, and located along the I-35 Innovation Corridor, part of the larger Dry River District, which includes a 65-acre mixed-use community also being developed by Endeavor Real Estate Group. The deal for the apartment complex includes one-…

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What could $350M affordable housing bond mean for Austin's economy?

With the fate of a $350 million affordable housing bond now in the hands of Austin's voters, the referendum carries the potential to inject a substantial sum of money into the hands of developers and contractors — while also addressing a mounting housing crisis.

But the idea has its opponents.

The $350 million bond, the largest of its type proposed in city history, if approved would increase property taxes by more than $45 a year for a "typical" Austin home, valued at $448,000 with a taxable value of $358,400, assuming there's a homestead exemption.

Such a gain could cause pain during this time of drastically rising prices. Yet proponents argue that is why now is the time to invest in much-needed housing for essential workers.

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Austin company taking tiny home rentals to San Antonio

Austin-based Casata Corp., a developer of small home rental communities, is turning its gaze on San Antonio as it expands across the rest of Texas.

The company, founded in 2020 by developer Aaron Levy, is scouting five locations around San Antonio for a 200-unit community of built-to-rent homes with floor plans ranging between 400 and 800 square feet.

"We like cities where jobs are being created," Chief Operating Officer Zain Mahmood told San Antonio Business Journal.

The company also looks at the entertainment and shopping options nearby.

Mahmood, who was introduced to Levy through mutual friends and brought on as co-founder, said that when the group set up its pilot project, Casata Austin, the community was 82% leased before construction…

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200-plus homes may sprout in Northeast Austin subdivision

Sixty-eight acres in Northeast Austin have been zoned for single-family, small lot construction by the city’s Zoning and Platting Commission.

Plans indicate there are 211 plots at 4806 Blue Goose Road, just east of Cameron Road. Commissioners approved the zoning as part of the consent agenda at their Sept. 6 meeting, following a recommendation by city staffers.

The final number of homes could change.

The project is spearheaded by RR Braker Valley LP and Jeremy Smitheal, a partner at Austin-based real estate investment firm Riverside Resources. The company is behind several major commercial projects across the city, including plans to transform part of West Sixth Street.

A representative for Riverside Resources confirmed the firm is behind…

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Adjustable-rate mortgages are on the rise, but borrower profile has changed

Adjustable-rate mortgages are more popular this summer than they've been since right before the Great Recession.

The share of mortgage applications for ARMs rose to 12.6% in June before they dipped to 12.2% in July, according to an analysis by Seattle-based Zillow Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ZG). It's the first time since August 2007 the share of ARMs among mortgage applications has been more than 12%.

While that could trigger some alarm bells, the conditions today — including lending standards — are very different than the years leading up to the housing crash of the late 2000s, said Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow.

"It's something to keep an eye on but, at the moment, it doesn’t look concerning to us," Tucker said. In the years leading up…

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Good News for Buyers: 10 Cities Where the Number of Homes for Sale Is Soaring

Today’s housing market is one of the strangest that many real estate experts have ever seen. After years of bone-dry inventory and sky-high demand that led to soaring prices, bidding wars, and a breakneck sales pace, the market is correcting—and rapidly at that.

In fact, the number of U.S. homes for sale is rising at the fastest pace in five years, up more than 200% since its lowest point this February, according to a Realtor.com® analysis. That’s great news for frazzled buyers who’ve been struggling over the past few years to find anything—anything—to buy. However, housing supply is still well below normal. The number of listings would need to nearly double to get inventory back to what had become normal before the COVID-19 pandemic—and even that…

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Apartment construction on fire in Austin area

By year’s end, Austin is projected to rank No. 4 among major metros nationwide for new apartments brought online, a welcome sign of relief in a region starving for both rental and for-sale housing.

That’s according to an Aug. 23 RentCafe study which found that Austin is projected to deliver 18,288 apartments in 2022.

That would be a five-year high and continue a trend of increased apartment construction since 9,107 units were delivered in 2019.

Already this year, the Austin metro ranks No. 2 in the nation with 4,236 apartments delivered, according to RentCafe. Houston ranks No. 1 with 4,746 apartments delivered and Seattle ranks No. 3, with 3,232.

Multifamily builders are rushing to meet a huge level of demand. A July study by Hoyt…

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