Hi y’all, welcome back to Selling Austin - your weekly local real estate recap.

Inside: Tariff Talk 🫠  + Austin’s Most Exclusive Community 🤤 

Did someone forward this to you? If you want to get 5% smarter* each week, subscribe here!
(*unbiased opinion)

WHAT'S INSIDE

• 🔢 THE DATA

• 🤠 WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND TOWN

• ⁉️ WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

• 🤤 HOUSE WORTH DROOLING OVER

🔢 THE DATA

I’m an ex-dentist turned Realtor - let’s work together! Email me, tweet me or send me a carrier pigeon. 🐦️ 

The tariff talk is exhausting and frankly so confusing. Let’s be as quick as possible -

• President Trump announced he will be taxing foreign steel and aluminum imports by 25%

• These tariffs hit: Canada, Mexico, Japan and South Korea

As of yesterday 4/3/25:

The White House has clarified that the USMCA (U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement) exception will be in effect for Canada and Mexico. Canadian and Mexican products that are USMCA compliant will be tariff free. Compliance is outlined as: products wholly grown and/or with content only from Canada, Mexico, or the United States.

Does that mean house prices won’t change?

Unlikely (sorry). The truth is - there is an incredible amount of confusion and conflicting reports across key news organizations regarding the specifics of the tariffs. News changes hourly - we will continue to monitor how things play out.

How much more expensive do they predict homes will get?

• Tariffs could push home home construction costs up 2-6% over the next 12mo - these fees of course, will be passed onto buyers

• Potential new tariffs on Chinese steel can alter project budget by double digit percentages

• If builders choose to purchase materials domestically to avoid tariffs - we will have supply chain bottlenecks that can result in short term price hikes

Read more here and here.

🤠 WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND TOWN

The Marriott is getting a facelift 🔪 

More interesting than the $3M renovation price tag is what this means for the Austin market:

Even with 16,000 rooms added between 2016 and 2022 - Austin’s hospitality market is thriving. The average daily rate at luxury hotels has increased by 4% and occupancy is above the highest in Texas at 67.4%.

A big concern in the hospitality market has been the effect of the convention centers upcoming renovation. This $1.6B expansion hopes to double the size of the rentable space and is projected to generate $285M for the community.

Construction started 4/1/25 and the anticipated completion date is 12/2028.

⁉️ 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

Welcome to one of Austin’s most exclusive communities - Spanish Oaks. Here you can find multiple movie rooms (one behind a hidden door of course) and what appears to be a barber shop (?) - I can’t figure out what that chair is for.

Yours for $8,995,000

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

P.S. If you think your friends would like this newsletter, I’d love for you to share it with them!