Luxe Austin Homes - housing

"If you're considering a move to Austin, keep these real estate metrics in mind"

KVUE Austin reports, "as South by Southwest (SXSW) continues in Downtown Austin, we're starting to see more people searching for Zillow listings in the capital of the Lone Star State.

Every morning, the KVUE News team takes a look at the trending Google searches in Austin. Over the past few days – since the start of SXSW on March 10 – searches for "zillow austin" have begun appearing more and more often. On Tuesday, Day 5 of the festival, "zillow austin" was the No. 2 search at around 9 a.m.

With this trend, we thought we would highlight the cost of real estate in the Austin area compared to the median salary.

A new study from Zillow found that Texas had one of "the most valuable housing markets" in the country in 2022. The…

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"Austin Housing Market Forecast"

U.S. News reports, "given the enormous popularity of the greater Austin, Texas, area for online searches, newcomers and employment growth, it may act as a reasonable bellwether for the state of the U.S. housing market. This will certainly be tested in the spring and summer selling season, when the National Association of Realtors reports that about 40% of sales of existing homes throughout the U.S are historically made between the months of May and August. Besides offering warmer weather, buying a home during these months allows buyers with school-aged children to shop, bid, close and move into a new residence before the start of a new school year.

Similar to the overall U.S. housing market in mid-2020, the Austin housing market went into…

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"What Is an Escalation Clause in Real Estate and When Should You Use One?"

Realtor.com shares, "when you’re deciding on what price to offer on a home, the situation might call for a single price or, in some cases, numerous prices via an escalation clause.

In a fast-paced, competitive market, having an escalation clause as part of your offer on a house can benefit the homebuyer and seller alike. But it does come with some downsides, so it’s important to know the pros and cons before you include one in an offer (or accept one as a seller).

Here’s what to know about an escalation clause, and when it’s a smart tactic for your real estate deal.

The basics of an escalation clause

An escalation clause is a real estate contract, sometimes called an escalator, that lets a home buyer say: “I will pay X price for this home,…

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"These towers could raise the bar for North Austin's skyline"

Austin Business Journal writes, "while The Domain and its surroundings are often referred to as Austin’s second downtown, buildings there have never reached the heights of the Central Business District. But that may be starting to change.

In February, Austin City Council approved revised building regulations for the region known as North Burnet/Gateway that allow for denser and taller construction up to 491 feet, or about 45 stories. The previous limit was 360 feet.

While some towers were already planned to reach 300 feet in this area, more recent projects are stretching toward the new upper limit of construction,

"They are responsive to energetic growth in this area of my district," said Council Member Leslie Pool, who represents District 7,…

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"Is the Housing Market About To Hit Rock Bottom? Here’s What That Means, and Why We May Be Here for a While"

Realtor.com writes, "today’s housing market has been in some deep doldrums by many standards, but the latest real estate statistics suggest something more serious might be ahead—that the market might be careening toward some sort of rock bottom.

“Taken as a whole, this week’s data lines up with other indicators that are pointing to a potential bottom in housing market activity at a fairly low level,” notes Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale in her most recent analysis.

The only upside we can think of is that there’s typically nowhere to go from there but up. So, does that mean the worst days of real estate will soon be over? Not quite, since the big four harbingers of housing—home prices, inventory, days on the market, and mortgage…

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"Report shows Southwest Austin home prices down, inventory up"

Community Impact shares, "the latest Austin Board of Realtors report shows home prices are down and inventory is up in Southwest Austin compared to this time last year.

For the month of January, the median home price in Southwest Austin was $537,450, down from $587,100 in January 2022.

Southwest Austin is not alone with this downward trend, as median home prices throughout Austin decreased 6.3% to $450,000 in January 2023. This is the largest drop since July 2011, according to the ABoR report.

While prices are dropping, inventory is going up in the area, according to the report. In January 2023, there were two months of inventory compared to January 2022 when there were 0.4 months of inventory, the report shows.

"January's data demonstrates the…

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"Austin retires into 19th best spot in the country to put away your work boots"

CultureMap Austin reports, "if 2023 is your year to relocate for a new life in retirement, or you’re a future retiree looking for that next move, Texas should be on your search list. Rental marketplace Zumper analyzed data from 100 cities nationwide to find the best American cities to retire, ranking Austin at No. 19.

In their latest report, Zumper looked at housing affordability, transportation, satisfaction of renters aged 45 and older, and other metrics to determine the cities in which current and prospective retirees would find the best benefits.

Texas was great overall for retirees based on the lack of state income tax and state-level taxes on Social Security. Good news for those who'd like to stay in Central Texas: San Antonio ranked No. 6…

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"Mortgage Rates Rise for Third Week in a Row, Returning to Highs Seen in November"

Realtor.com reports, "the numbers: Mortgage rates are up sharply, putting pressure on the housing market once again.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.5% as of February 23, according to data released by Freddie Mac on Thursday.

That’s up 18 basis points from the previous week. One basis point is equal to one one-hundredth of a percentage point.

The 30-year rate was last at this level in November 2022.

Last week, the 30-year was at 6.32%, compared with last year, when it was averaging 3.89%.

The average rate on a 15-year mortgage rose to 5.76%, from 5.51% the previous week. The 15-year was at 3.14% a year ago.

Freddie Mac’s weekly report on mortgage rates is based on thousands of applications received from lenders across the…

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"Housing market continues to stabilize in Round Rock, Pflugerville, Hutto"

Community Impact writes "the latest report from the Austin Board of Realtors shows a continuing trend of decreasing prices and growing inventory in the Round Rock, Pflugerville and Hutto housing markets as of January.

According to the report, the three cities combined saw a median home sale price of $435,124 in January, up 7.39% from $405,200 in December, but down 3.48% from $450,800 in January 2022.

In keeping with previous months, Round Rock Pflugerville and Hutto's median price in January was higher than the broader Central Texas market at $417,500, but lower than the city of Austin's median price of $525,000.

The three cities had a combined 845 active listings and 237 closed sales in January. Last January, they had only 135 active listings and 423…

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"January housing report: Central Austin home prices trend downward, housing inventory increases"

Community Impact writes, "home prices are continuing to trend downward, and housing inventory is on a steady uptick in Central Austin, according to Austin Board of Realtors January report.

In January, median home prices in Central Austin decreased 0.2% to $680,000 in Central Austin.

This trend was reflected throughout the Austin-Round Rock area, where median home prices decreased 6.3% to $450,000, the largest drop since July 2011, according to ABoR.

ABoR President Ashley Jackson said that while the market is cooling within the Austin region, surrounding Central Texas cities are seeing an uptick in home prices.

“Outlying areas like Caldwell and Hays counties are the most affordable pockets in Central Texas. When we have a city like Austin challenged by…

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