Grossman & Jones Real Estate Blog - real estate

"McKinney, Round Rock, Austin rank in top 10 best cities for renters"

Bay News 9 shares, "A few Texas cities and the South in general were heavily featured in the best places for renters to live in a new report.

RentCafe, an apartment listing service that conducts research on the real estate market, posted its annual rankings of the best cities for renters earlier this month. Its rankings were determined by looking at 20 different metrics in three categories–cost of living and housing, the local economy and quality of life. 

While Charleston, South Carolina, took the top spot for the second year in a row, three Texas cities ranked in the top 10. 

McKinney, a city in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, came in at No. 4 on the list because of its “lower-than-average cost of living, high-end apartments in top locations…

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"Austin Rent Prices Drop as City Sees Flood of New Apartments"

Newsweek writes, "Austin, Texas, led the nation in dropping rent prices for the month of June, according to a new report from Realtor.com.

The South generally saw a surge in housing units as more builders target the area because of mass migration post-pandemic.

After Austin's year-over-year rent drop of 9.5 percent, San Antonio, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee, also saw significant rent price decreases of 8.2 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively.

"It's difficult to know just yet if this is simply a trend or a long-term slide, but markets that were white hot during the pandemic like Austin and Nashville are experiencing a deceleration in demand," Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor at the University of Tennessee at Martin,…

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"Austin-area housing inventory edges higher in June with potential price relief on horizon"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Housing stock in the Austin area continues to edge higher, reaching healthier levels not seen in the metro in over a decade — and it's possible lower prices are on the horizon.

The Austin-Round Rock metro's housing inventory reached five months in June — the highest it's been since 2011, according to the latest Austin Board of Realtors and Unlock MLS market report. That's closer to the six months of inventory that housing experts say typically represents a healthy balance between supply and demand, and it's up from a level of 3.7 months of inventory in June 2023.

But what does an increase in inventory mean? According to Clare Knapp, an Unlock MLS and ABOR housing economist, buyers and sellers could expect to see…

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"Active Austin home listings keep rising in emerging 2024 trend, says report"

CultureMap Austin reports, "The latest real estate report from Unlock MLS and the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) has revealed that June saw a significant increase in the number of active home listings in the Austin metro area — continuing on a three-month high that began in April — and median sale prices are dropping to accommodate the rise in inventory.

New in the June report, Unlock MLS refers to the Central Texas region as the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan statistical area (MSA), whereas it was previously identified as the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown MSA.

The data shows there was a 13.4 percent drop in home sales across the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA, with only 2,732 homes sold in June for a median price of $450,000. There…

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"'Samsung effect' spurs plans for 100-acre residential development in fast-growing Taylor"

Austin Business Journal reports, "A new 100-acre residential neighborhood could be coming to Taylor, where economic growth has been explosive thanks to Samsung’s 2,000-acre, multibillion-dollar semiconductor plant that's under construction in the city.

The development, called Turner Springs, would be home to single-family and multifamily residences as well as commercial and retail properties, according to Taylor Planning & Zoning Commission documents. The commission recommended the project for approval at its July 9 meeting.

If it comes to fruition, the project would be built on two properties that have been owned by an entity known as Turner Bobby Jr Etal since 2000, according to the Williamson Central Appraisal District. Insite…

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"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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"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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"Riviera at Lake Travis: Unveiling a bold new vision of luxury living"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Welcome to Riviera at Lake Travis, where Texas charm meets unparalleled luxury living. Emerging from the acclaimed Montechino development, Riviera represents the pinnacle of lakeside opulence in Lago Vista, Texas, under a dynamic new management.

A new name, a new chapter

Riviera at Lake Travis represents more than just a name change — it’s a bold new vision. With fresh leadership guiding our transformation, we are introducing a level of refinement and attention to detail that reflects the finest Texan tastes. Riviera is not just a place; it’s a destination. Here, every sunset over Lake Travis inspires a lifestyle deeply rooted in luxury and comfort.

Opportunities for industry professionals

• Prime real…

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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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