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- 🤠🏡 Selling Austin #60
🤠🏡 Selling Austin #60
Banned Building Approved in Austin 🏗️+ $2M luxury price cut 🤤
Kirtana Reddy
April 11, 2025
Hi y’all, welcome back to Selling Austin - your weekly local real estate recap.
Inside: Banned Building Approved in Austin 🏗️+ $2M luxury price cut 🤤
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(*unbiased opinion)
WHAT'S INSIDE
🤠 WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND TOWN
👋 Hi, I’m Kirtana!
I’m an ex-dentist turned Realtor - let’s work together! Email me, tweet me or send me a carrier pigeon. 🐦️
We have a bit of a deep dive this week on how the landscape of Austin real estate is going to change.
Buckle up, this is important.
If we have ever worked together you’ve heard me yap about how valuable the land underneath your property is.
Your land is about to get a whole lot more valuable (again). Here’s why:
First: passing the HOME (home options for mobility and equity) plan in 2024.
This plan reduced minimum single family lot sizes (the smallest lot you need to build a single home) from 5,750 to 1,800 sqft. This mean - more tall and skinny A/B/C unit homes.
Second: just yesterday - Austin approved 5 story, single-stair apartments. Austin is the 2nd largest city, after NYC to legalize this.
single stair rendering
Why is this important?
These buildings are also called point access buildings because of their single point of entry and exit. They were previously banned in favor of a code including at least 2 points of entry for buildings larger than 3 stories.
Single-stair buildings are common in overseas countries, and local advocates are pushing to allow the buildings to be built. Their argument - it’s cheaper to build, will be cheaper to rent and will be no less safe than large, multiple-access buildings.
single point of entry guidelines
What does this mean for you?
It was a big change to see 2-3 homes popping up on what used to be single family lots. It will be another adjustment to see NYC style walk-ups.
This will significantly impact the types of homes that are being built across the city. Proponents argue it will be a powerful tool to create more family friendly neighborhoods that are smaller-scale, more walkable and more affordable.
We’ve seen from A/B units for sale that they are not cheap. I’m hopeful but hesitant that this new amendment will make housing more obtainable. My concern is, as land values continue to increase, developers will build exceedingly expensive, luxury properties to make a profit.
We know theory and practice are not the same and will have to watch how this plays out.
⁉️ 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.
Buyer - You will see increased inventory in the coming months - Do not expect exceptional properties to sit on the market - we are seeing quick movement on prime homes | Seller - Avoid common listing pitfalls: inaccurate pricing will lose you both time and money. If you renovate - be specific and intentional. Not every upgrade has the desired ROI. | Renter - Seeing big complexes offer 6-8 weeks free |
🤤 HOUSE WORTH DROOLING OVER
Don’t all run at once but this property has had a $2,000,000 price cut since it initially hit the market at the end of 2023.
But what is really interesting - this property was purchased just 4 years ago in 2021 for $5.8M.
Even with the price cut, it’s a pretty steep climb to today’s list price: $10,750,000.
Thank you for being here! Reply to this email if you have any questions or just to say hello! 👋
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