Lake Travis - Westlake Edition | July 2021

2 0 2 1 R E A L E S T A T E E D I T I O N

Surrounding cities’ median sales price

hot Market April

In the Greater Austin area, a combination of relatively steady home sales and diminished days on market have strengthened the market for sellers.

2016 median sales price

2021 year-to-date as of May median sales price

Percentage increase

2019

2020

2021

WILLIAMSON COUNTY Hutto $195,000

71.79%

100

3,000

$335,000

Liberty Hill

2,250

$181,000

138%

$430,779

1,500

Round Rock

$234,859

750

72.44%

$405,000

TRAVIS COUNTY Austin

$0- $249,999

$250K- $499,999

$500K- $999,999

$1M+

$0- $249,999

$250K- $499,999

$500K- $999,999

$1M+

$325,000

60%

May

$520,000

3,000

100

Manor $189,900

53.34%

2,250

$295,000

1,500

Pugerville

$238,000

51.47%

750

$360,500

missing middle housing. This involves homes such as duplexes and townhouses to buildings with eight units. They are usually walkable, meaning they are located near business or city centers that have popular amenities. These options, Parolek said, oer more aord- ability for people including rst-time buyers who cannot make cash oers in order to become homeowners. “Every market, regardless of how big the city, has been impacted pretty dramatically by the increase in costs,” Parolek said. “It’s become harder for … sort of entry-level households to purchase homes.” While Parolek agrees that single-family homes are the most abundant option for homebuyers, he said his research has shown that they are not neces- sarily the most popular option. He added that 60% of all housing throughout the country will need to be missing middle housing by 2040 in order to keep up with demand. “I think there will continue to be a demand for single-family detached [homes], but I think more and more there is a growing demand that is not being met for these missing middle housing types,” he said. “I’m not saying there is not a demand for single-family, but historically that is all we’ve been delivering, and the industry is having a hard time sort of adjusting and shifting quickly enough to meet the demand.” Smaller cities see big growth When Robin Sheppard sold her Austin home of 35 years in December, she said she did not antici- pate that she would still be searching for a house more than six months later.

$0- $249,999

$250K- $499,999

$500K- $999,999

$1M+

$250K- $499,999

$500K- $999,999

$1M+

SOURCE: AUSTIN BOARD OF REALTORSCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

Increasing tax rates, heavy trac and rapid growth within Austin played a key role in Shep- pard’s decision to leave the capital and move to San Marcos. She would still be close enough to visit friends but in a less crowded city, she said. “I had lived in Houston for many years, and I left there to come to Austin because Austin was a lot smaller and had a wonderful feel to it,” Sheppard said. “This is not the Austin I came to.” Within 2 1/2 days of listing her home, Sheppard received seven bids and accepted an oer that was $50,000 over asking and included a contingency that allowed her to live in her home rent-free for 30 days after closing. “I just thought, ‘Wow this is great; now I can go and buy myself a house and have extra left over to travel,’ … but that wasn’t the way it was,” Sheppard said. By June, Sheppard had placed bids on more than six properties that met her requirement for an acces- sory dwelling unit she plans to rent for a low cost to a friend. Despite oering $42,000 over asking on one property, she has been outbid every time. Many homebuyers who plan to move to one of the smaller cities along the I-35 corridor expect to nd more availability at a lower price point than in larger metro areas, said Patricia Fernandez, 2021 board president for the Four Rivers Association of Realtors. However, skyrocketing demand and dwindling supply have made once aordable mar- kets highly competitive.

“You can pick any town in this corridor, and it’s the same story,” Fernandez said, adding buy- ers who qualied at one point for a house worth $350,000, for example, may have to place bids for homes listed in the high $200,000 range with the expectation of paying signicantly more. “That whole middle market [is] just now getting wiped out of the playing eld.” As the population growth of cities on I-35 con- tinues to outpace supply and corporations such as Amazon and Tesla invest in Central Texas, Fernan- dez expects to see interest grow in towns east of the interstate. “[East] is the only direction you can go right now, because even as far as Waco it is the same exact market we are having,” Fernandez said. Like many searching for a house, Sheppard said that if it came down to it, she would resort to rent- ing in San Marcos if she could not nd a permanent home soon. “I feel like I’m homeless, you know; it just doesn’t feel good,” Sheppard said. “At the end of this month if I don’t have [a house], then I will rent something. … I’m not looking forward to that, but that’s cer- tainly going to have to be the next step. I can’t indef- initely be staying in other people’s homes.”

For more information, visit communityimpact.com .

LAKE TRAVIS WESTLAKE EDITION • JULY 2021