Luxe Austin Homes - residential real estate

"Developer secures $28.5M loan for East Austin infill housing"

Austin Business Journal reports, "The Geyser Group is set to build infill housing in East Austin after securing a $28.5 million construction loan.

The development, known as The Arden, will rise on about five acres at 4908 Lott Ave., beside city-owned Springdale Neighborhood Park, said Matt McDonnell, partner at Austin-based Geyser Group.

“The idea is to create additional housing stock in a neighborhood (ZIP code 78721) that has exhausted its current supply,” McDonnell said. “When you see the Mueller neighborhood complete, you see some of the StoryBuilt projects that either didn’t get fully realized or have stalled out a little bit, so the idea is trying to fill that missing-middle housing that doesn’t really exist in enough quantities.”

Embattled…

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"Homebuyer sentiment is up, but for how long?"

RealEstateNews.com shares, "Consumers were considerably more upbeat about the housing market in September, but rising mortgage rates may put a damper on their enthusiasm.

Homebuyer sentiment reached its highest level in more than two years in September, but that may not last as mortgage rates continue to rise.

The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index jumped 1.8 points last month to 73.9, fueled by the expectation that mortgage rates will decline in the next 12 months. 

Optimism around rates was at a survey high, according to Fannie Mae, with a record 42% of consumers saying they expect mortgage rates to decline — a significant increase since June, when only 24% anticipated a drop in rates. Just under a third of respondents expect rates to…

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"Why mortgage rates may not continue to drop"

Austin Business Journal writes, "Relief on housing costs from interest-rate cuts issued by the Federal Reserve last month may not be as straightforward as some would-be homebuyers might expect. But some areas of the country are poised to feel the impacts of rate cuts more significantly than others.

A recent analysis by Realtor.com found 60.2% of homeowners in the U.S. lived in homes with a mortgage while 39.8% of owners owned their homes free and clear. But the share of mortgaged homeowners versus those who owned their homes outright vary — sometimes significantly — by state.

And, of course, areas with a higher share of homeowners that have a mortgage are more likely to be affected by rate movement than those where more people own their homes…

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"More homes, commercial development on tap for Williamson County after MUD wins approval"

Austin Business Journal reports, "Hundreds of homes could soon rise in a new municipal utility district in Williamson County between Georgetown and Liberty Hill.

Williamson County Commissioners Court approved a development agreement for the MUD, called Hudson Park, on Oct. 1. The roughly 122-acre project from Sugar Land-based Ashton Gray Development will be built along Ronald Reagan Boulevard and feature single- and multifamily residences as well as commercial lots, Ashton Gray President Shaun Vembutty said.

It's another in Ashton Gray’s long project pipeline aimed at some of the more rural areas of the metro. The developer works on retail centers, master-planned subdivisions, multifamily projects, senior living communities and mixed-use…

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"Luminary condo tower downtown to begin construction and sales next year"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Downtown Austin’s next condo tower is slated to begin construction and sales in 2025, and the West 14th Street property already is generating plenty of interest.

Luminary, a 400-foot-tall condo tower from Northland Living, a development arm of Canadian hospitality giant Northland Properties Corp., will have 293 condos along with ground-floor retail space and one level of office space.

Kevin Burns, CEO of Austin-based Urbanspace, which is handling marketing and sales for the project, said there's already been more than 400 inquiries for the condos even though sales haven't officially started and prices haven't been set.

"And that’s without spending the advertising dollars," he said. "That’s just simply sending…

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"The advantages of sustainable living in East Austin’s Whisper Valley"

CultureMap Austin writes, "Named Austin’s 2023 Master-Planned Community of the Year by the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin, Whisper Valley is a 2,063-acre community focused on sustainability, healthy living, technology, and affordability. Developed by Taurus Investment Holdings, this innovative community has created the blueprint for residential master-planned communities of the future.

Located on rolling terrain in East Austin, Whisper Valley homes are extremely energy efficient, tech-savvy and served by Google Fiber and AT&T 5G Fiber, offering future-proof homes that are zero energy-capable.

Whisper Valley is powered by the innovative EcoSmart Solution, a green energy supply system that uses a GeoGrid to harness the renewable…

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"Austin makes new list of 10 easiest cities to pay off a mortgage"

CultureMap Austin writes, "Whether a homeowner's mortgage lasts for 15 or 30 years, paying off such a large debt can be an arduous process. But luckily for homeowners living in the Austin area, paying off a mortgage is much easier than it is in many other large metropolitan areas in the country, according to a new report by SmartAsset.

Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown ranked No. 10 in SmartAsset's new study analyzing the top 40 large U.S. metros where it's easiest to pay off a mortgage. Rankings were determined based on the principal and interest payments for conventional 30-year fixed rate mortgages issued in 2023, relative to the median income of new homeowners.

Leading the nation as the No. 1 easiest place to pay off a mortgage is Pittsburgh,…

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"2024 Q4 housing market trends: Rate relief arrives"

Bankrate.com writes, "Leaves aren’t the only things falling this autumn: Mortgage rates are finally heading down, too. And that, combined with a seasonal dip in home prices, is causing some end-of-year excitement among homebuyers and sellers.

The median existing-home price was $416,700 in August, per the National Association of Realtors — a record high for August, but still down from $422,600 a month earlier. And average rates for the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loan have dropped from a high this year of 7.39 percent in May to 6.24 percent in late September.

With rates already down more than a full percentage point and more Fed interest-rate cuts on deck, many market-watchers are asking, what do the final three months of 2024 have in…

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"Contract Signings Rise as Buyers Eye Market Opportunities"

Realtor Magazine writes, "Pending home sales rose slightly in August as lower mortgage rates provided some motivation to prospective home buyers. But buyers continue to face challenges such as high home prices, and many may be holding out for even lower rates, surveys show.

The National Association of REALTORS®’ Pending Home Sales Index—a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings—eked out a 0.6% increase in August. Contract signings, however, remain 3% lower than a year ago.

Still, last month’s “slight upward turn [in contract signings] reflects a modest improvement in housing affordability, primarily because mortgage rates descended to 6.5% in August,” says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “However, contract signs…

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"This is how committed Austin homeowners are to keeping up curb appeal"

CultureMap Austin writes, "Austin's tremendous growth over the years has brought a boom in residential development. There are beautiful homes to be found throughout the area, and Austin homeowners are among the best in the country at maintaining their curb appeal — or at least the most committed.

So says Thumbtack's 2024 list of the top 10 cities with the best curb appeal in the country, which ranks Austin No. 2 for the second consecutive year. The study was based on an analysis of curb appeal projects from August 2023 to August 2024, which was ranked by project frequency.

Maintaining beauty doesn't come cheap. Thumbtack, a home services website, found that Austinites should budget nearly $3,600 for their autumn outdoor projects – such as gutter…

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