Luxe Austin Homes - sellers

Living the Dream: Here Are the Hottest Luxury Real Estate Markets in America Right Now

Wouldn’t it be incredible to wake up each morning and sink your toes into sandy, white beaches, look out your window at picture-perfect sunsets, and fall asleep to the sound of waves lapping the shore? For more and more Americans with unlimited (or at least jumbo) bank accounts, this is their life. The overall real estate business may be going through challenges lately, but make no mistake: The high-end luxury market is booming.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for luxury homes in popular vacation areas, particularly along the coasts, has surged. The newfound ability of many of these wealthiest buyers to work remotely, more baby boomers retiring earlier into their forever homes, and cheap mortgages fueled the rush into some of the most…

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Austin ranks among top luxury real estate markets with soaring 550% sales volume increase

Shocker—Austin’s luxury real estate market is booming but after an especially fruitful year, the capital city is joining the big leagues for high-priced homes.

According to a study comparing industry-wide sales activity done by real estate agency Compass, Austin saw a 450% increase in $10 million-plus real estate transactions from 2020-2021, placing it among the 30 highest-value markets in the U.S.

With 11 total transactions totaling $189 million, the sales volume in Austin jumped 562% since 2020, putting the city markedly higher than major cities like Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Jersey Shore, New Jersey; Long Island, New York, and Washington D.C.

Dallas was the only other Texas city to be included on the list and nearly mirrored Austin’s…

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Burgeoning Austin suburb boasts second-hottest neighborhood for U.S. homebuyers

The population of Leander soared 123 percent from 2010 to 2020, and the growth shows no signs of letting up. A new report from residential real estate platform Opendoor provides further evidence of the continued popularity of the Williamson County suburb.

Leander’s 78641 ZIP code ranks second on Opendoor’s new list of the country’s 10 most popular ZIP codes for homebuyers. To develop the list, Opendoor analyzed home sales in 2021 in the more than 40 markets where it operates brokerages.

Chris Westrom, Opendoor’s senior general manager in Austin, says Leander benefits from the population and job growth occurring throughout the metro area.

“Leander … offers residents a smaller-town charm while only being about 30 miles outside of the hustle and…

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$500 million Southeast Austin project calls for 4,000 homes, condos and apartments

A $500 million development that calls for more than 2,500 houses, 1,500 multifamily units and commercial space is in the works for fast-growing Southeast Austin

The developer is Houston-based Hines, an international real estate firm. Its partners are Vancouver-based Trez Capital, based in, Dallas-Fort Woth-based Caravel Ventures and Tokyo-based Sumitomo Forestry.

The project — which is being called Mirador — will be developed at a cost of more than $500 million, according to Hines executives. The company said financing is in place, but did not provide additional details.

The Hines-led development group said this week that it has closed on the sale of the 1,400-acre site for the project. The property is bounded in part by Pearce and Wolf…

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Wide-open spaces: Austin homebuyers build their dream homes on empty lots out of town

Austin homebuyers have been through the wringer in the past year—tales of offers well over asking price, sales in under an hour, and months-long supply chain shortages have become commonplace in the city's cutthroat housing market. So it's perhaps no surprise that many homebuyers are looking for greener pastures as they stake out large empty lots along the city's outskirts.

After casually searching for a home for years, Austin influencer and blogger Jane Ko experienced the pandemic housing surge firsthand when she found an empty lot near the airport in the summer of 2020. Stretched thin by high demand and limited supply, Austin's median home prices had already reached a then-record of $435,000 in August of that year, while new inventory grew by…

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3 Reasons Why Austin Is a Homebuyer's Dream in 2022

Key Points

• Home prices have soared but still present a bargain relative to other areas -- for now.
• Those areas include Silicon Valley, a place some major employers are leaving for Austin.
• A burgeoning population underpins the argument that a buy now will pay off later.

Austin, Texas, fell from the No. 1 spot in 2021 to a predicted No. 10 in 2022 on Zillow's list of hottest housing markets in America. Tampa, Florida, has assumed the top spot, but Austin is still a very robust market.

The capital region of the Lone Star State has seen explosive population growth, the most of any large metro area in the United States from 2010-2020, according to the U.S. Census, swelling by a third in 10 years to nearly 1 million in the city itself…

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New Homestead Exemption Rule

There is a new update to the Homestead Exemption Law. 

Starting January 1, 2022, homebuyers will be allowed to file for exemption in the year they purchased the property - previously homebuyers had to wait until the following calendar year to file. 

This is great news for homebuyers who can now have the opportunity to lower their property taxes! 

How does this affect prorations? 

Previously, prorations of taxes between the Buyer & Seller, and reserves needed for the Buyer's new escrow accounts, were estimated using the homestead exemption because it was in place until the end of the year. Now, a Seller can buy a new property and move their exemption to that new property immediately. 

Source: Patten Title Company 

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The Best Cities to Relocate to Around the World, According to a New Study

The pandemic has heightened our appreciation for where we live, with many reconsidering their hometowns. Coupled with the flexibility of remote work and international borders slowly opening up, now might be the time to consider that relocation you've long dreamed of. To determine the ideal places to call home, U.K. finance site money.co.uk studied the best cities to move around the world in its Relocation Report, released this week.

Austin came in first, thanks in part to its average temperature of 68.7 degrees and average monthly salary of £3,984 (or $5,378), as well as its internet speed of 87.5 Mbps. Next up was the most populous city in the world, Tokyo, for its plethora of restaurants and parks, as well as its high life expectancy at…

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Austin home prices climb to new records despite sales slowdown in October

Although home sales in the Austin metro area tapered off in October, the region remains on track for a record-breaking year, according to the Austin Board of Realtors.

ABoR says home sales in the region slid 12.1 percent last month compared with October 2020. However, the median sale price in the area rose 24.7 percent year over year to an October record: $455,000. This is also a slight uptick from the September 2021 median home price of $450,000 in the Austin-Round Rock market. 

“We are beginning to see a glimpse into what buyers and sellers can expect in our housing market moving forward,” Susan Horton, president of ABoR, says in a news release. “More new listings are hitting the market, a trend that we have seen continuously for the past…

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A Developer’s Opulent Plans Along Lake Austin Include Luxe Condos, a Park, and a Funicular

The 145-acre Camelback property on Lake Austin, just west of the iconic Pennybacker Bridge, rises straight up a series of limestone cliffs to a densely forested ridge 380 feet above the water. It’s as close to a proper mountain as you can find in Central Texas. And what a mountain. From the top, you can see the sweeping semicircular curve of the Colorado River below, and off to the east, a gap in the hills frames the Oz-like cluster of high-rises in downtown Austin, ten or so miles away.

It’s here that property owner Jonathan Coon has built a four-story metal-frame viewing platform that rises above the treetops and affords lucky visitors one of the most commanding views in the state. The platform won’t be here for long, though: It exists…

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