🤠🏡 Selling Austin #17

Hi everyone, welcome and happy Friday!

Pay attention to the decreasing mortgage rates + a house worth drooling over you simply can’t miss. 🤤 

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WHAT'S INSIDE

• 🔢 THE DATA

• 🤠 WHAT’S HAPPENING IN TOWN

• 👀 DEAL OF THE WEEK

• 🤤 HOUSE WORTH DROOLING OVER

• ⁉️ WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

🔢 THE DATA

Last week, we reviewed the April economic indicators.

Yesterday - mortgage rates fell below 7% for the first time since early April.

Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist Sam Khater says - “Greater supply coupled with recent downward trend in rates is an encouraging sign for the housing market.”

The Fed will likely still need a few months of positive data that inflation is under control before cutting rates.

Read more here.

Given all the chat around record-high housing prices and a cost of living crisis, this is a pretty surprising statistic: over 1 in 3 homes are bought with cash.

You’re probably not competing with the family down the street but instead serial investors and large companies. In fact, investors purchased 44,000 homes in Q1 ‘24 and accounted for 18.7% of all homes sales in the country (the highest % in almost 2 years).

These numbers don’t take into consideration large scale investors. MetLife Investment Management predicts institutional investors may control 40% of U.S. single-family rental homes by 2030.

In a word: alarming ⏰ 

Read more: here and here.

🤠 WHAT’S HAPPENING IN TOWN

A month ago, we talked about why the value of your land was about to go way up.

Here’s the scoop:

The Austin City Council approved changes to the city’s development code.

The big changes are -

1. Denser housing: reduction of minimum lot sizes from 5,750 to 1,800 square feet.

2. Compact housing: tall commercial buildings can be built closer to single family homes.

Supporters of these changes hope this will be a light switch to the unlocking of tens of thousands of new homes in Austin. They also suggest that low to middle class homeowners can benefit by dividing and selling a portion of their lots for developers to build smaller homes on.

Read more: here and here

👀 DEAL OF THE WEEK

Neighborhood spotlight: Mueller

There are only a few neighborhoods in Austin that have been resistant to the post-pandemic decline. Mueller is one of them. A masterplan community just 10 minutes north of the city - it exploded in popularity during the pandemic. It is accessible to downtown, has a community feel (best farmers market in town) and is filled with walkable amenities (doctor, dentist, HEB, emergency, food, bars, movie theater).

Many new listings in Mueller still sell within < 7 days on the market. This listing was priced too high and has been sitting through cuts for 40+ days. This means there is a deal to be had.

Original List Price: $1,110,000
List Price: $999,999
Kirtana’s Suggestion: $900,000 - anticipate negotiation and aim to close around $925,000

The gated green space shared by the 12 homes in the cluster makes it perfect for kids + dogs!

🤤 HOUSE WORTH DROOLING OVER

Sometimes you want the comfort of home and the experience of a luxury hotel. Well. Here’s your answer - the residences at the Four Seasons.

This is a residential enclave with 100,000 square feet of private amenities and direct lake access. 2,000 acres of protected land and 3,070 feet of private waterfront. All 20 minutes from downtown.

Hate cooking? I’m with you. No worries here - skip down to a private restaurant curated by Michelin starred chef Daniel Boulud.

That’s not even scratching the amenities surface but I’ll let you see for yourself. Yours for $7,775,000.
+$5,808 monthly HOA but let’s ignore that for now.

⁉️ WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

If you’re a buyer/seller/investor/renter or just interested in real estate - this weekly newsletter will help guide your decision making and help you better understand the market.

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