What is Up with New Home Prices in Brushy Creek Area? (Austin: sales, how much)

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Long story short, with two kids in Club Sports, the 6 days a week driving to Round Rock and Hutto are getting old real quick. We are thinking of moving closer to the sports, and downsize the house, but we apparently are pretty spoiled with our current situation compared to what is available.

Our situation: Bought in '05, 3,640 sq. ft. 4/3.5ba 2 story 3 car garage, 1/4 acre, with no one behind us and minimum 15' between us and neighboring homes' sides, and 15 native and "builder" oaks on lot. 1/8 mile walk to Elementary and Middle Schools. $2,200 per month at 4 7/8% PITI.

What we saw, Standard Pacific's Trailside at The Ranch at Brushy Creek, ~2,940 sq. ft. 4/3ba 1 story, 3 car garage (2 car footprint, one bay extra deep), .18 acre 60' lot, with multiple neighbors behind, 5 native oaks left. We would likely end up with $2,200-$2,400 per month PITI on the new home.

Asking price is $445,635, no incentives, and according to the sales rep, they increased prices $50K on average this year, and another $7,500 increase is coming Jan. 1. Part of the pricing, as was explained, is it reflects a shortage of workers raising wages, and homes are now taking 8 months to build a spec house drawing out their cost of money factor during construction.

This is a sample size of one, but based on The Domain at The Ranch at Brushy Creek, the above home is "cheap" because the gated section is going for $500K to $530K, on a little less than a 1/4 acre, far from the lake, flat land, and really nothing going for it, and black expansive soil to top it off.

Another example is a 3,357 sq. ft. 5/4ba 2 story 2.5 car garage with a neighbor behind for $457K, again no incentives.

WHY?

[mark311]

1. That side of RABC feeds into Patsy Sommer Elementary and Walsh Middle School which are two of the top schools in RRISD.
2. There aren't a ton of brand new builders that feed into those schools that also have community pools. Pearson Place is similar, but has similar prices.
3. A lot of North Austin area tech workers for Dell, Apple, and Cisco buy new in there. You'll see a lot of Indian families in the new areas as they like brand new homes and the commute to the tech companies isn't bad.
4. The market is crazy right now. Have you checked how much your Steiner home has increased in value since 2005?

The Leander ISD resale homes in Ranch at Brushy Creek are a much better value as are the Leander ISD homes in Avery Ranch. The RRISD sides of those hoods still demand a premium for the top elementary and middle schools. It's not worth it in my opinion as the LISD schools around there are good too. I almost bought a house in the Grove, but I bought a resale a mile away that was a much better value.

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by mark311

...
4. The market is crazy right now. Have you checked how much your Steiner home has increased in value since 2005?

I just checked, and it is about a 45% "non-Constant Dollar" increase, and close to a 22.5% increase in CPI Adjusted Constant Dollars since '05. That is better than being "underwater" any day of the week.

For your other points, thanks! We actually want the LISD side, and didn't realize we would be back in RRISD for the house(s) we looked at, and the boundary map shows that you are absolutely correct about RRISD boundaries.

We are not against resale homes, but the out-gassing of water based paints and the latest home design accents are awfully appealing too!

[woodinvilleguy]

Originally Posted by mark311

1. That side of RABC feeds into Patsy Sommer Elementary and Walsh Middle School which are two of the top schools in RRISD.
2. There aren't a ton of brand new builders that feed into those schools that also have community pools. Pearson Place is similar, but has similar prices.
3. A lot of North Austin area tech workers for Dell, Apple, and Cisco buy new in there. You'll see a lot of Indian families in the new areas as they like brand new homes and the commute to the tech companies isn't bad.
4. The market is crazy right now. Have you checked how much your Steiner home has increased in value since 2005?

The Leander ISD resale homes in Ranch at Brushy Creek are a much better value as are the Leander ISD homes in Avery Ranch. The RRISD sides of those hoods still demand a premium for the top elementary and middle schools. It's not worth it in my opinion as the LISD schools around there are good too. I almost bought a house in the Grove, but I bought a resale a mile away that was a much better value.

One might even say that the LISD schools are prefered over the RRISD schools. I know that we made that specific decision based on my wife'd experience as a tenured teacher.

[woodinvilleguy]

Originally Posted by mark311

1. That side of RABC feeds into Patsy Sommer Elementary and Walsh Middle School which are two of the top schools in RRISD.
2. There aren't a ton of brand new builders that feed into those schools that also have community pools. Pearson Place is similar, but has similar prices.
3. A lot of North Austin area tech workers for Dell, Apple, and Cisco buy new in there. You'll see a lot of Indian families in the new areas as they like brand new homes and the commute to the tech companies isn't bad.
4. The market is crazy right now. Have you checked how much your Steiner home has increased in value since 2005?

The Leander ISD resale homes in Ranch at Brushy Creek are a much better value as are the Leander ISD homes in Avery Ranch. The RRISD sides of those hoods still demand a premium for the top elementary and middle schools. It's not worth it in my opinion as the LISD schools around there are good too. I almost bought a house in the Grove, but I bought a resale a mile away that was a much better value.

Also, I'm not sure I understand the Indian comment. Is there are reason why that would be pointed out? I've lived in this neighborhood for 5 years now and I seem to notice a great cross section of the Austin population.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by woodinvilleguy

Also, I'm not sure I understand the Indian comment. Is there are reason why that would be pointed out? I've lived in this neighborhood for 5 years now and I seem to notice a great cross section of the Austin population.

Just that it seems the Indian families are driving demand higher in the brand new home sections (Standard Pacific Grove for example) in RABC as they seem to prefer brand new housing. A house that we looked at on a new street in the Grove had 7 houses out of 12 sold and 6 of those 7 were owned by Indian families. It's just a piece of information that a realtor isn't allowed to tell you about the demographics in the new sections.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by woodinvilleguy

One might even say that the LISD schools are prefered over the RRISD schools. I know that we made that specific decision based on my wife'd experience as a tenured teacher.

The reason that they're not preferred anymore is just because of the location of the middle school (Stiles). It's just too far away. Great school, but too far away in the wrong direction.

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by woodinvilleguy

Also, I'm not sure I understand the Indian comment. Is there are reason why that would be pointed out? I've lived in this neighborhood for 5 years now and I seem to notice a great cross section of the Austin population.

I have been to India twice during my time at Dell, and made some good friends, so I can say that to me that would be part of the mix in the neighborhood, just like anyone else. One thing my wife mentioned though was three of the four houses behind the one we were "viewing" had drying racks on their back patios, and as it turned out, the clothes on them were likely from Indian families. I applaud saving energy, however if this were an "Open House" type of situation, it could be a "mark" against the home from those not used to seeing that in upscale neighborhoods. On the other hand, the drying racks could have been used by "insert ethnicity here" for all I knew if they were empty.

For us though, it would be similar to the times we have asked a neighbor to keep their dog indoors during Open House days we held so no one would be bothered by the constant barking their puppy put forth upon the world. Thank goodness the puppy grew up and doesn't bark anymore in case we need more Open Houses soon! And in a situation with visible clothes drying racks, it is a similar request to not have them visible during select days or times.

[riaelise]

Buying now means you'll be paying a lot more. When you purchased in '05, you "bought low" and if you sell now, you're "selling high". Which is great, if you don't want to turn around and roll that money into another home that is likely smaller and costs more. I'm in a similar situation as you, having a decked out house in a pretty convenient location. I also have a smaller mortgage. While we would definitely (finally) make money if we sold, any newer neighborhood would likely mean that we would have to take on a bigger mortgage. We don't want to spend more money on housing. Also, buying a new home means you're definitely overpaying, schools or no schools. $445K for a moderately sized home on a small (.15 IS SMALL) lot, lacks views, doesn't really differ much from any other lower priced masterplanned community, is in my opinion overpaying.

[woodinvilleguy]

Originally Posted by mark311

Just that it seems the Indian families are driving demand higher in the brand new home sections (Standard Pacific Grove for example) in RABC as they seem to prefer brand new housing. A house that we looked at on a new street in the Grove had 7 houses out of 12 sold and 6 of those 7 were owned by Indian families. It's just a piece of information that a realtor isn't allowed to tell you about the demographics in the new sections.

Ah OK, was just wondering.