🤠🏡 Selling Austin #30

Welcome everyone! Happy Friday!

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Pay attention to your new mortgage rate with the Fed cut ✂️ 💰️and the most desirable neighborhoods in Austin 🏡 

WHAT'S INSIDE

• 🏡 YOUR GUIDE TO BUYING IN AUSTIN

• 🔢 THE DATA

• ⁉️ WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

• 🤤 HOUSE WORTH DROOLING OVER

🏡 YOUR GUIDE TO BUYING IN AUSTIN

If you’ve ever thought about buying a house in Austin but didn’t know where to start - welcome! We’re going to go over everything you need to know/think about before buying.

Let’s go from the top - Neighborhoods.
Each neighborhood in Austin has a unique feel, style and price point. Where you choose to live will depend on your priorities - walkability, city vs. neighborhood feel, size of your yard, etc.

We’ll start south of the river in:
Barton Hills, Zilker, Bouldin Creek and Travis Heights

These are some of the most desirable neighborhoods in Austin. During the pandemic they all experienced explosive growth.
Psst: between 2021 and 2022 prices in Zilker increased 48% 📈 

You’ll love these neighborhoods if this is important to you:

• Unique neighborhoods - no cookie cutter homes or HOA here

• Walkability - you’re always just a stones throw from the best food, nature and shopping Austin has to offer

  • Zilker Park, Zilker Botanical Gardens, Umlauf Sculpture Garden, South Congress food + shopping

  • You can even walk from your house to ACL 👀 

• Top school districts

• Options for suburban + urban styles -

  • Barton Hills is in line with a traditional neighborhood

  • Bouldin, Zilker, Travis Heights are more urban (think smaller lots, closer to your neighbors)

All that sounds lovely i’m sure but let’s talk price:
Here are the average sale prices:
*aggregate data for the last year

This data is a bit skewed and I’ll tell you why -

In Zilker - the average sale price of a single family home or townhome for the past year is actually closer to $1.9M. Apartments and condos bring that average down - you can find units in these neighborhoods for sale around the $300K price point.
(but watch out for the $400/mo HOA 😵)

You can also find single family homes in Zilker for $5.98M 🤤 

Okay. Should I buy here?

You might have read about housing prices falling dramatically in Austin compared to the rest of the US.

It’s true.

Hear me out. In the past year - prices in Zilker have fallen 10%. What these articles fail to mention is that Austin also had some of the largest prices increases in the US. These falling prices are:

1) no where near bringing us to pre-pandemic levels
2) are a very necessary return to our new normal

I have immense conviction in these neighborhoods partly because of how Austin is built. There is nowhere for the city to expand - it can only grow up. Every new high-rise is a testament to this. There’s a reason people say: location, location, location. As the city continues to grow - so will home prices here.

With new regulation to make the lots your house sits on smaller and smaller, land will continue to appreciate.

TLDR:

• These South Austin neighborhoods will always be in demand because of their proximity to the city

• Prices for single family homes continue to climb - entry point for a home (not condo) will be at least $1M

We’ll dive into other neighborhoods next time - stay tuned! ⌚️ 

🔢 THE DATA

I’ve always said that keeping up with the Fed is a full time job.

Here’s the scoop:

Fed Reserve Chair Jerome Power strongly hinted that a cut is coming.

He said “The time has come for policy to adjust. The timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data.”

If you’ve heard him speak before - consider this his version of jumping up and down yelling “rate cuts!!”

Okay - when?

The Fed has 3 opportunities to cut rates in 2024. September 18, November 7 and December 18.

Analysts are predicting a September 18th announcement.

How low will my mortgage be if I want to buy?

Quick refresh: The Fed does not directly affect mortgage rates. They influence them by changing the interest rate that banks charge each other for loans. This impacts the rate at which banks can lend to consumers through mortgages, auto loans etc.

Analysts predict the Fed will lower the rate by 25 basis points.
Here’s what the means for you -

Current 30-year fixed rate: 6.53%.
Post cut 30-year fixed rate: 6.28%

Seems…small.

True. The savings over the lifetime of the loan is what we pay attention to. On a $300,000 loan - you save $17,700 in interest.

More updates to come 💰️ 

⁉️ 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.

🤤 HOUSE WORTH DROOLING OVER

Speaking of Zilker, love the aesthetic and design of this build. Bonus - back on the market with a $500K price cut. Yours for $5.25M.

Thank you for being here! Reply to this email if you have any questions or just to say hello! 👋 

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