Austin Real Estate Blog

The Dripping Springs Independent School District has received a donation from homebuilder Pulte Homes Inc. to help purchase 49 acres on Sawyer Ranch Road for construction of a new DSISD elementary school. Pulte Homes is developing Highpointe, a 1000 home master planned community with homes priced from $250,000 to $500,000.

Two hundred fifty of the Highpointe homes have already sold since June 2005, and many other developments in Dripping Springs are planned. The new Dripping Springs educational capacity is needed to support the rapid growth in the school district.

The City of Cedar Park, approximately 30 miles north of Austin, is experiencing record residential and commercial growth. As a result, Cedar Park city officials are proposing a bond election in November that will fund new city infrastructure. If approved by voters, the improvements would include improvements to Brushy Creek Road, improvements to RM 1431, and the improvement of turn lanes at several intersections.

Search for Cedar Park Real Estate or contact Mike Malinowski for more information.

According to Worldwide ERC and Primacy Relocation, Austin ranks 5th best large city to relocate a family. Several real estate factors were taken into consideration including home prices, indexed home affordability, appreciation rates, and property taxes. Environmental leadership, a quality that Austin prides itself on, was also considered and included air quality and watershed quality. Economic factors included sales tax, unemployment rates, population growth and job growth. Austin schools contributed to the ranking by doing well in areas such as educational levels, school expenditures per student, students in public school, and SAT/ACT percentile. Also influencing the rating were more abstract factors such as quality of life, climate factors, recreation and leisure, and arts and culture.

A new study released May 16 indicates that tech jobs in semiconductor and software will continue to grow. The study, prepared by the Simon Management Group, indicates that Austin tech sector has recovered from the recent downturn. Engineer and programmer hiring is projected to increase by as much as 20% as Austin tech companies increase spending research and development. Combine this with Austin’s reputation as a hotbed for venture capital startups and the university reaincubator effect, the future employment picture is bright.

New jobs indicate that the Austin real estate market will remain strong.

It’s home buying season in Austin. Are you ready? As Austin schools let out for the summer, many people are looking to sell their homes and realize the tremendous appreciation in the Austin real estate market over the last five years and begin the search for their special new piece of Austin real estate. Selling your home will require research and planning.

The US Commerce Department reported on May 16 that construction of new homes in the US were up 2.5% in April but building permits fell by 8.9%, the largest amount in 17 years, signaling that the real estate market is still slumping. However, the Austin real estate market remains strong in the more desirable neighborhoods.

The Austin real estate market median home price was $172,000 in 2006 which is higher than the Texas median of $143,000 and lower than the national median of $221,900. Austin has experienced a significant increase in the distribution of home sold in the $200,000+ range and a decrease in the home sold in range less the $120,000. The number of Austin homes sold in February and March 2007 is basic flat from 2006. Overall the Austin home market has seen an price increase of about 7% from 2006.