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

Inside: The Fed Rate Cut ✂️ + Samsung Moving In 🖥️ 
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

• 🤤 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 Fed rate cut we’ve been talking about for weeks has arrived. Here is everything you need to know:

The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.25%, the first cut in 9 months 

• Fed’s new target: 4.00%–4.25%

• Goal: keep inflation near 2% and support jobs

Great! A rate cut means mortgage rates are down right? Not exactly. It’s a bit more complicated than that -

What the cut means for buyers:

• Mortgage rates will not fall right away. Rates actually increased after the Fed’s cut.

• Over time, lower Fed rates can help, but mortgage rates are really tied the 10-Year Treasury Yield. And that rate hasn’t dipped.

• TLDR: affordability relief might take longer than hoped.

What the cut means for sellers:

• Demand may improve, but slowly.

• Small moves lowering mortgage rates could help boost activity in the months ahead.

When is the next cut?

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday signaled a cautious approach to future cuts. After the Fed announced its first rate cut this year, Powell said, “it’s challenging to know what to do.”

We’ve already had one cut and experts predict 1 to 2 more for the rest of 2025.

Read more: here, here and here.

🤠 WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND TOWN

Samsung’s massive $17 billion chipmaking project in Taylor just got another boost - a $250 million state grant from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund.

• Campus size: 6 million sq. ft.

• Jobs created: 12,000 construction + 3,500 manufacturing

• Completion target: 2026

• Taylor population: about 18,000, located 34 miles north of Austin

This funding will support the ongoing buildout of the factory and nearby housing. It’s part of the larger “Samsung effect,” which has already spurred new development across Taylor and Williamson County.

Samsung originally chose Taylor in 2021, backed by $981 million in local/state incentives.

• Around $954 million of the incentives are in the form of property tax breaks from the city of Taylor, Williamson County, and the Taylor Independent School District over the course of 30 years.

Governor Abbott called the grant a win for domestic chip supply and Texas’ leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, noting Samsung has now invested $40 billion in the state.

TLDR What this means for Taylor:

• Housing: demand will rise - workers will need places to live and will boost rental and for sale markets in Taylor and nearby commuter towns

• Jobs: aside from the factory - restaurants, retail and services will increase to support growing population

• Economy: “Samsung effect” - more infrastructure and long term stability, just like the “Tesla effect” around the Gigafactory.

🤤 HOUSE WORTH DROOLING OVER

It doesn’t get more “new Austin” than a penthouse at 44 East. The views can distract you from the $3,000+/mo HOA.

Yours for: $11,250,000

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!