Real estate
BY HALEY MCLEOD
Home Edition
2024
Readers, welcome to your annual CI Home Edition! This guide features news ranging from key real estate trends and new developments unique to your neighborhood to an overview of the housing industry across Texas. All of the stories were written by our team of local journalists, and all of the advertisements are from nearby businesses who support our mission to provide free, useful news—show them your gratitude by supporting local businesses. It is always interesting to see how residential real estate trends vary among our local communities, and how they change over time. We report local data on home sales in every issue, but we dive even deeper into trends and related news in our July issue. When I think about the past five years alone, the changes in the industry have been dramatic. We have a range of real estate information in our newspaper this month, including our cover story about the nightmares hundreds of homeowners and pool businesses are facing with their pools. We also have an informative Q&A with two solar panel experts, news reports on municipal utility districts and changes to Realtor fees, and details on developments coming to our area. Whether you are an aspiring or current homeowner, a Realtor, or if you own or work for a home services business, we hope you enjoy and learn from the news we report on in this issue.
What's inside
Solar panel installation, storage on the rise in Central Texas (Page 21)
Amy Leonard Bryant General Manager abryant@ communityimpact.com
Municipal utility districts becoming more popular among developers in Texas (Page 23)
Home buying, selling rules shift (Page 29)
Central Texas home valuations decline as market slows Homeowners are able to challenge their appraisal valuations annually by filing a protest with their county’s appraisal district, the deadline for which was May 15. Central Texas appraised home values Travis County
This year’s release of appraisal valuations from the Williamson Central Appraisal District indicated the overall average appraisal values for residential properties are lower than in recent years. The overview “Values have definitely come down,” Chief Appraiser Alvin Lankford of the Williamson County Central Appraisal District said during an update to commissioners on June 4. “Mainly, [it’s] because the increase in interest rates slowed the market down, but also because builders aren’t constructing as many homes as prior years.” The median value of residential homes in Williamson County for 2024 is $412,310, a small drop from the $414,869 seen in 2023, but a 12.9% drop from $473,325 in 2022. According to a news release from the Travis Central Appraisal District, the median market value for residential properties in Travis County in 2024 is $551,419, representing a 12.8% decline since 2022. Market values don’t directly result in a change in property tax bills, the release said. Instead, these values help decide a property owner’s portion of the total tax levy. The total tax amount is based on the budgets set by local governments, such as cities, counties and school districts.
Williamson County
A total of 186,206 individual protests were filed in Travis County and over 82,300 were filed in Williamson County. Each appraisal district reviews filings and evidence submitted, typically issuing a settlement. If a settlement is not accepted, a formal hearing will be scheduled. While sales and property values have stabilized since 2022, residents can expect to continue to see an annual increase of 10% to their property’s tax value, Lankford said, explaining that the increase will continue until the market value and the taxable value align, per state tax code. As of 2024, the total market value for Williamson County is roughly $171 billion, while the total taxable value is set at approximately $133 billion. What else? Clare Knapp, local housing economist with the Austin Board of Realtors, also predicts interest rates will remain flat for the rest of the year. “I don’t think that we’re going to see any significant movements in rates, especially over
$750K
$551,419
$632,208
$625K
$500K
$375K
$250K
$473,325
$412,310
$125K
$0
SOURCES: TRAVIS CENTRAL APPRAISAL DISTRICT, WILLIAMSON CENTRAL APPRAISAL DISTRICT/COMMUNITY IMPACT
this year or even moving into 2025. ... If you’re a first-time buyer waiting on the sidelines now, well, you’re missing out on building wealth, too,” Knapp said.
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ROUND ROCK EDITION
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