Luxe Austin Homes - travis county

"Half of Texas homeowners don't know they can protest taxes, study says"

CultureMap Austin shares, "some people might be surprised to find out that their taxes are negotiable — at least when it comes to real estate. Specifically, 53 percent of Texas homeowners don't know they can protest their home's property tax evaluation, according to a study by Ownwell, a service that makes homeowners' cases for them.

Put simply, since homeowners are taxed on the assessed market value of their home, an over-appraisal by the local tax office can lead to paying too much in taxes. Homeowners in this situation can lower what they owe by telling tax appraisers what they believe the real value of the home is, and the two entities will negotiate to find an acceptable number. Appraisals reflect the value of the home on January 1 of that tax…

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"Post-pandemic effects on housing market still linger across Travis County"

Community Impact writes, "This year’s appraisal valuations from the Travis Central Appraisal District show that single-family residences experienced an average 3.4% decline in market value compared to last year.

However, the median market value for a residential homestead in Travis County is still up 46%, or $163,841, since pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

The big picture

Beginning April 9, more than 488,000 Travis County property owners received their appraisal notices by mail. The notices include the market value assigned to a property as of Jan. 1, as well as the taxable value of that property based on its exemptions.

“Property owners can review their 2025 values on our website and should expect to receive their notices of appraised value over the next…

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"Construction underway at luxury Lake Travis master-planned community Thomas Ranch"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Construction is underway at the expansive Thomas Ranch luxury housing development on Lake Travis, but there’s still room for custom homebuilders to get involved with the project.

Thomas Ranch developers Areté Collective and the Wasatch Group secured a $106 million loan to finance infrastructure and initial home construction in the master-planned community late last year and have been making headway on the development’s first phase, called Loraloma, said Joe Rentfro, the project's managing director.

Homes should start rising soon in that section, Rentfro said, and its golf course, designed by David McLay-Kidd, should be playable later this year.

At full build-out, the 2,200-acre Thomas Ranch, which is situated…

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"Austin metro tops 2.5M residents"

Austin Business Journal shares, "The Austin metro gained an average of about 159 people a day from 2023 to 2024. While that may sound like a lot, it's down slightly from a growth rate of 171 a day during the previous 12-month period.

According to new figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, the metro's population climbed by about 2.3% from July 2023 to July 2024, an addition of 58,019 people that brings its total to 2.55 million — the first time it has topped the 2.5 million mark. That factors in everything including people who move here, babies born here and deaths.

At 2.3% growth, that's a slight decline from the 2.6% clocked in the previous 12-month period, when the metro — which consists of Travis, Williamson, Bastrop, Hays and Caldwell counties…

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"750-plus homes headed to Elgin to continue housing boom"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Elgin’s housing boom is set to continue after City Council approved an amendment to a previously approved development agreement that will allow the developer to build more dense housing in an upcoming master planned community.

The original development agreement for Southside Meadows, as the development is called, was approved in May 2023 and would have seen 526 single-family homes built, but that number has swelled to 763 with the amendment approved Sept. 3, according to the meeting agenda. The homes are being planned as developers descend upon Elgin to build thousands of new homes.

Developer Hariharan Kuppuraj owns the 174 acres where the master-planned community will be built along County Line Road, just south…

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"Austin home sales slip as more buyers look outside the city, report says"

CultureMap Austin writes, "It's been a long-established trend that Austinites will relocate to a much more affordable part of town, even if it means sacrificing shorter work commutes and coveted Austin zip codes. The latest real estate report from Unlock MLS and the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) shows home sales have dropped in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA, but are on a steady rise in neighboring Central Texas counties.

Residential home sales fell 3.5 percent year-over-year from July 2023, totalling 2,652 closed sales in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA. Median prices have plateaued at $450,000 for the second consecutive month. With more than 3,800 new home listings added — a 0.3 percent drop from this time last year — the total…

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"Cost of permitting set to more than double in Travis County"

Community Impact reports, "Starting Sept. 1, the cost of development review fees—paid throughout the development permitting process—will increase 141%, after county staff received approval from Travis County Commissioners on July 23, affecting homeowners, business owners and developers alike.

The why?

In an effort to streamline the permit review process and increase transparency, staff members from the Travis County Department of Development Services have revamped the county’s website and examined the department's existing systems and performance.

The last time fees were increased was nearly a decade ago, in 2016, according to staff. Both small- and large-scale projects are subject to these fees, ranging from home renovations to subdivisions.

About the…

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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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"Is it a buyer's or seller's market? Neither — but it's moving toward buyers finally"

Austin Business Journal shares, "The Austin-area housing market has reached a stalemate between buyers and sellers — and that's allowing much-needed inventory to catch up and prices to hold steady.

A few years ago it was common for some parts of Central Texas to have a week or two of housing stock. Home inventory in May was clocked at 4.9 months — 1.5 months more than a year ago. It's a level of inventory that hasn’t been seen in 13 years, according to the Unlock MLS report on the Austin Board of Realtors website. Housing experts often say six months of inventory is representative of a healthy market.

“The good news is that we are moving toward a more sustainable level of inventory, which will provide price stability for sellers and more choices for…

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"New real estate report shows big spike in active Austin home listings"

CultureMap Austin writes, "Potential homebuyers on the prowl for a house in the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown area have a lot more inventory to choose from than usual. Active listings rose to over 12,000 residential properties in May, according to the latest real estate report from Unlock MLS and the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR).

The spike in active listings is a 37.7 percent year-over-year increase from May 2023, the report said, with more than 5,200 new home listings added last month in a 16.3 percent increase from this time last year. Median prices for homes in the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown MSA dipped to $459,450 in May after they reached nearly $470,000 in April.

This glut of available housing allows buyers a greater level of…

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