Austin’s Most Expensive Home Listings of 2023

Global money is coming to Austin.

Anybody who has been following the capital city’s residential markets — or seen renderings of its latest condo projects — knows Austin’s luxury scene has boomed in recent years. But in 2023, a spate of high-end developments showed that the city is no longer just competing with Houston and Dallas. Now, it’s courting the same buyers who shop in Aspen or Palm Beach.

While it wasn’t the biggest year for sales volume or dollar amount, as higher mortgage rates pushed activity down, 2023 saw the introduction of some of the most luxurious projects in Austin’s history. Sales began at the Four Seasons Private Residences Lake Austin, where residents will ride a private funicular down to a boat slip from glassy homes overlooking the water. Sixth&Blanco combined one of Austin’s most accomplished restaurateurs and a hospitality maven with an internationally recognized architect.

Austin ain’t a college town any more.

But the condo craze has yet to swallow the highest end of the market. This year’s most expensive listings were all for single-family homes. And as the city’s commercial center of gravity shifts north, all but one of the top listings were in the same area as usual: west of downtown, right along the Colorado River.

Here are the priciest residential listings of 2023:

At the top of the list is 12400 Cedar Street, a six-bedroom, 13-bathroom home on the banks of Lake Travis. Named “Villa Del Lago,” the house sits on about 20 acres of land. The showstopper is a grotto with decorative waterfalls carved into the hillside. Not that the house is any slouch — at 15,400 square feet, it has a library, home theater, wine cellar and massage room.

Gary and Michelle Dolch of Compass have the listing. The home asked $45 million in 2022. Since then, the seller has removed some acreage from the listing and considered pulling all the waterfront land, selling just the home and pavilion.

The villa is tied with 1404 Rockcliff Road, which is also asking $19.5 million. The listing includes a 3,200-square-foot lakefront home, with a two-stall boat dock, and a 7,400-square-foot primary residence.

The spread sits on one acre of land on the shores of Lake Austin. Bridget Ramey of Kuper Sotheby’s has the listing. Ramey is also selling the fourth-most expensive home on the list, an $18.5 million mansion at 7700 Highway 130 and 7744 North Farm to Market Road 973.

Rounding out the top three is 4009 Rivercrest Drive, a Lake Austin home with about 500 feet of private shoreline. It features six bedrooms, nine bathrooms and a four-car garage. If the lake isn’t your speed, the house also has a pool with a swim up, straw-roofed bar.

Eric Moreland of Moreland Properties has the listing. The Austin agent has sold some of the city’s priciest waterfront homes in recent years, and holds two of the other top-ten listings this year.

The other two are 1717 Channel Road, three waterfront lots on Lake Austin worth a combined $16.25 million, and a garden unit at the Four Seasons Private Residences Lake Austin asking nearly $14 million.