Luxe Austin Homes - TX

"Crane Watch: Symphony Square tower tops out; Lots more housing, warehouse space planned"

Austin Business Journal reports, "Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC's Symphony Square mixed-use project in downtown Austin is inching toward completion.

Since October, both 1121 at Symphony Square, the development's seven-story office building, and The Waller, its 32-story residential tower, have topped out, said Jon deVita, development associate at Greystar.

South Carolina-based Greystar is seeking certifications that will set the project apart in the areas of sustainability, connectivity and health and wellness, said Matt Stevenson, Austin-based senior director of development.

When complete, 1121 at Symphony Square will have 129,000 square feet of class A office space, with floor plates ranging from 13,500 to 30,000 square feet, deVita…

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"Not just 'another luxury golf community': Thomas Ranch could add thousands of homes, urban node west of Austin"

The Austin Business Journal reports, "a massive master-planned community could be coming to the border of Travis and Burnet counties.

Salt Lake City-based Areté Collective LP announced Dec. 4 plans for Thomas Ranch, a 2,200-acre neighborhood that could rise along State Highway 71 near Spicewood. It would feature a dense urban core that developers hope to anchor with a major grocer, plus thousands of housing units across multiple types of residences and price points, a school, health care options, a resort hotel and a golf course designed by the mind behind the newest addition to the world's oldest course — The Castle Course at Scotland’s St. Andrews Links.

“What we are trying to do is build an inclusive, livable community,” Areté Collective…

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"Mortgage Rates Dip Further—So Why Are Home Prices Still So High? The ‘Sticky’ Problem, Explained"

Realtor.com writes, "with Thanksgiving behind us and much Christmas merriment ahead, one might presume that home shoppers have shelved their house hunt until the new year. But no, the housing market is as hopping as ever—and even full of surprises of late.

“Housing data in the week that includes the Thanksgiving holiday show that the housing market continues to evolve, but not always as expected,” explains Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale in her weekly analysis.

In our column “How’s the Housing Market This Week?” we’ll break down what’s happening with the latest real estate statistics, and what it means for homebuyers and sellers.

Home price growth ticked up

In November, home prices hovered at a national median of $417,000,…

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"Home Prices Fall and Listings Soar: Could It Be a Great Time To Buy Despite High Mortgage Rates?"

Realtor.com writes, "as the housing market barrels toward the end of the year and all of its holiday trimmings, potential homebuyers are likely wondering what’s in store for the coming season.

Home shoppers looking for lower asking prices can officially check that off their wish list. November’s median home list price of $417,000 was much more wallet-friendly than June’s record high of $449,000, according to a recent report from Realtor.com®.

Yet the volatile real estate landscape is not quite ready to bring only glad tidings. High mortgage rates—which, as of Wednesday, hover at 6.58% for a 30-year fixed-rate loan—are a stark reminder that many buyers might still struggle on the affordability front.

“Even though prices are down month to…

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"Travis County considers increasing development fees"

Austin Business Journal reports, "developers working in Travis County may face increased construction and permitting fees in the months ahead.

Travis County Commissioners Court is considering increasing existing development fees and implementing new ones for a variety of services including traffic impact analysis, on-site sewage facilities and floodplain permits, in addition to requests for variances and exceptions associated with development review.

If passed, this would be the first change to the county’s development fee structure since 2016 and generate millions in annual income for the county.

With already long wait times for county development review, which increase the cost of new construction, commissioners stress that any additional…

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"Texas condominium and townhome sales stabilize, median price rises from 2021 to 2022"

PRNewswire reports, "Texas condominium and townhome remained steady between July 2021 and June 2022, compared to the same period the previous year, according to the 2022 edition of the Texas Condominium Sales Report released today by Texas Realtors. The number of condominiums sold across the state slightly decreased 0.2% to 17,164 sales, while townhome sales remained virtually the same at 11,575 sales (compared to 11,579 last year).

The report analyzes condominium and townhome data statewide as well as the Austin-Round Rock, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, El Paso, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission and San Antonio-New Braunfels metropolitan…

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"The 10 best cities for finding a hybrid job that pays $100,000 or more―they’re not all on the coasts"

CNBC writes, "even as more workers report to an office than did a year ago, hybrid work that allows them to work from home at least part of the time remains the dominant trend.

More than half of people with remote-capable jobs expect to work in a hybrid arrangement by the end of the year, according to Gallup, and online searches for hybrid jobs are up by 130% in the last year, according to IT-recruiting firm Frank Recruitment Group.

As far as being able to work from home, at least some of the time, and commanding high pay goes, several major tech hubs still lead the way. More than a quarter of hybrid jobs in San Francisco and Seattle pay more than $100,000 per year, according to a report from SimpleTexting, a text message marketing service.

…

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"Will Plunging Mortgage Rates Spark a New Homebuying Rush? Here’s What the Latest Housing Statistics Say"

While mortgage rates are rarely great conversation fodder over Thanksgiving dinner, this Thanksgiving is a whole different story. If there’s a homebuyer or seller at your table, you can bet your good gravy the topic will pop up.

After all, mortgage rates have more than doubled throughout 2022, blasting past the 7% threshold and hitting a 20-year high in late October.

Yet in the past two weeks, there’s been an astonishing reprieve.

We’ll take a look at the latest statistics that have made the American dream of homebuying such a roller-coaster ride this year in our column “How’s the Housing Market This Week?” And lo and behold, the overall message this Thanksgiving week is actually good news.

Mortgage rates fell again

The headliner is…

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"Report shows Southwest Austin home prices up, number of sales down for October"

The latest Austin Board of Realtors report shows prices in the Southwest Austin housing market continue to increase while the number of sales continues to decrease.

Although the Austin housing market continues to show signs of stabilization, with fewer sales and more available inventory in the markets, prices continue to be higher compared to last year, according to the October ABoR report.

“Austin’s housing market is still growing, just at a different pace,” ABoR President Cord Shiflet said in a press release. “We’re entering the time of year that is historically a quieter time for home sales. With more available inventory than our area has seen in a decade and price growth stabilizing, buyers have more options today than ever before. Now is the time for…

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"Fed Says: Don't Get Too Excited About Rates Just Yet"

There's no question that last week was an exciting one for rates. On Wednesday, the average 30yr fixed was fairly close to the highest levels since 2002. The following afternoon, it had fallen more than half a percent to the lowest level in nearly 2 months--the biggest single day drop on record.  

While rates are still very high relative to anything but the past 8 weeks, it was a promising step in the right direction.  It raised hopes for a bigger picture shift after the fastest rate spike in 40 years.  

As the new week got underway, rates managed to hold onto their newfound gains relatively well and with minimal volatility on average.  Things may have been better were it not for a concerted effort on the part of the Fed to remind the market not…

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