Luxe Austin Homes - investors

Are house prices going down?

After U.S. inflation cooled more than expected last month, you may be wondering whether or not the housing market is cooling off. The answer is yes — but with an asterisk.

The median sale price for a home in June 2022 was $428,400, an 11.2% increase since the same time last year. Even though this is a double-digit increase in prices, it’s also the smallest year-over-year increase “in nearly two years,” Redfin market analyst Tim Ellis says.

Data indicates that while U.S. home prices decreased 0.4% from June to July, other factors are still impacting home affordability. Even though home prices remain high, Ellis says the market is balancing out due to a variety of factors, including higher mortgage rates and decreased demand.

Redfin data shows…

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A Buyer’s Bonanza or a Seller’s Dilemma? Where the Housing Market Sits Now and What It Means for You

The real estate market seems to have a split personality.

On the positive side for homebuyers, the number of properties for sale shot up by a record-setting 30.7% this July compared with the same month last year, according to a recent Realtor.com® report. That’s the most significant increase in active listings in the data’s history. And in another hopeful sign for buyers, the share of homes seeing their prices slashed—19.1%—hit a record not seen since 2019.

Yet on the flip side, the $449,000 median list price of homes is a 16.6% increase compared with last year. And the average time a home spends on the market before it sells remains significantly lower (a mere 35 days) than in pre-pandemic times.

So how does a savvy homebuyer make sense of…

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As extreme heat rolls on, energy efficient homes capture attention

As Texans keep a close eye on the state's electrical grid during this record summer heat, one Austin-area neighborhood is staying relatively worry-free about blackouts.

Each home in Whisper Valley — located in Manor, about 8 miles north of the Tesla factory — comes equipped with solar panels on the roof and an underground geothermal heat pump that is more efficient at heating and cooling a home than an above-ground unit, said Greg Wolfson, chief technology officer of EcoSmart Solution, an affiliate of community developer Taurus Investment Holdings LLC. These two factors make Whisper Valley a zero-energy capable community. The development will eventually have more than 7,000 homes that are zero-energy capable.

The zero-energy capable label is not…

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Santa Rita Ranch Named Top-Selling Master-Planned Community in the Austin Area by RCLCO

Santa Rita Ranch, a 3,800-acre historical ranch redesigned as a master-planned community with world-class amenities and spectacular views near Austin, Texas has once more ranked #1 in sales in the Austin-Round Rock area, according to the 2022 RCLCO mid-year report. Santa Rita Ranch also placed 29th in the nation in total sales, up from last year's rank of 33rd.

"We have a top-notch team working hard every day to make sure that Santa Rita Ranch provides the very best possible place to live for all of our many residents," said Santa Rita Ranch Developer Ed Horne, "so recognition like this from an expert group like RCLCO is a wonderful thing. But what we love most is welcoming friendly new faces to our master-planned community, which is why we're so…

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Housing economists: Mortgage-rate volatility likely to level off even with Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes

Despite an interest-rate hike of three-quarters of a percent by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, and additional increases likely still to come, some housing economists aren't expecting another big surge in mortgage rates now or in the coming months.

A recent slowdown observed in the U.S. housing market has largely stemmed from the sudden jump in mortgage rates felt in late spring and early summer, in line with the Fed's decision to move up interest rates in an ongoing effort to combat inflation.

Existing-home sales declined for the fifth straight month in June, down 5.4% from May and 14.2% from the prior year, according to the National Association of Realtors. Unsold inventory was at three months' supply nationally in June, up from 2.6…

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Where to buy a 3D-printed house in the United States right now

No longer a far-off or theoretical concept, 3D-printed houses are set to cause a shift in the 21st century real estate market. With several 3D-printed-house manufacturers already operating around the world, these new residential structures will not only help bring more creative architectural designs to life, but also the technology and rapid rate of reproduction have been touted as lower-cost solutions to affordable housing and subsidized living.

So where can you purchase a 3D-printed house of your own, right here in the United States? Here’s what you need to know about 3D-printed houses and what to expect as the concept hits the mainstream real estate market.

WHEN WILL 3D-PRINTED HOUSES BE AVAILABLE?

There are already a handful of…

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Unique Lake Travis glass home featured on HGTV hits market for $1.2 million

A treehouse-like home near Lake Travis that’s been featured on HGTV can now be yours for $1.2 million.

The 1,653-square-foot house, just south of Hudson Bend at 2803 Manitou Dr., offers two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and plenty of rugged yet modern charm. The home is in the Apace Shores neighborhood.

Highlights of the contemporary home, situated on a half-acre wooded lot, include 30-foot-high glass walls and 11 sets of sliding glass doors. The two-story house, built in 2003 as architect John Allen’s own residence, is one of the few homes in the vicinity that provide private access to the Indian Creek hiking trail.

Allen “believed that the rugged and what many called ‘unbuildable’ lot was the perfect spot to accomplish his vision of living one…

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Prolific infill developer StoryBuilt to bring 100-plus homes to South Austin

South Austin is set to receive a badly needed injection of infill housing.

Locally based StoryBuilt will develop 116 homes on 15 acres in South Austin, according to a July 25 announcement. The development will mostly consist of single-family detached homes with some attached townhomes, StoryBuilt Austin Division President Ross Wilson said.

It's the latest infill project for StoryBuilt, which aims to grow the city from the inside out, he said.

The neighborhood will be located at 8420 Longview Road, in South Austin off West Gate Boulevard. Construction is not expected to begin until summer 2023.

"We're really excited about this opportunity," Wilson said. "Obviously it's a big parcel in South Austin. It's very well connected to downtown and…

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Austin’s real estate is 'inching' toward normalcy as market shows signs of stabilizing

Knock on wood—real estate professionals are saying Austin’s housing market showing signs of stabilizing as local inventory hit two months for the first time since 2019.

Austin Board of Realtors CEO Emily Chenevert said after two years of pandemic-fueled prices, “we're inching our way toward something that feels more normal,” during the 2022 Central Texas Housing Summit—which brought industry professionals and economists together—on Tuesday.

Still, housing is one of Austin’s biggest fallbacks despite a diverse local economy, growing infrastructure investments, multiple nearby universities and a healthy job market. Stable housing falls in tandem with affordability, Austin Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Laura Huffman said.

“So what could…

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Could Austin surpass D-FW as Texas’ top luxury home market?

Dallas-Fort Worth has been the longtime leader in luxury home sales, but it has a strong competitor further south on Interstate 35.

In the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio areas, the number of homes sold for $1 million or more in the first five months of 2022 was about on par with the number sold in all of 2018, according to a new report from the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University. But in Austin area, the number of home sales is already double its 2018 total.

Four years ago, the Austin area had half the number of home sales of Houston and D-FW. By 2021, though, the city was just behind Houston, and so far this year, Austin and Houston are neck in neck.

“D-FW is definitely an international city, but the name…

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