This Zilker New Build Was Austin’s Top Home Deal

The top single-family sale in Austin last week turned the trick the hard way, with the deal closing after a price bump that flew in the face of what’s become a buyers market.

The 3,400-square-foot property at 1001 Bluebonnet Lane is a five-bed, four-bath new build that was asking $3.4 million, about $990 per square foot. It was listed on May 8 for $3.25 million, removed from the MLS on Aug. 14, and relisted the next day asking $150,000 more.

The home went under contract after 117 cumulative days on the market. Benjamin Goudy of Texas Crossway Realty has the listing. Because the deal remains in the option period, the name of the buyer isn’t available in public records yet.

The home is in the Zilker neighborhood, a centrally located area just south of the Colorado River and Zilker Park. It was built by the seller, Rivendale Homes, which bought the property last fall. It took out a construction loan on the property in February.

A prior home on the property was appraised at almost $2.2 million in 2022, with the land alone accounting for $975,000. The land value dropped to $787,500 in 2025, according to appraisal records.

Rivendale bought the property from Douglas Hector, who owned it for 28 years. Before Hector, it was owned by Austin activist Shudde Fath, the first woman to win a sex discrimination case in Texas.

Goudy didn’t respond to a request for comment, but Eklund Gomes agent Jeff Burke acknowledged that Austin luxury sector is a buyer’s market — and added that the city “is definitely slanting toward a buyer’s market for all property types.”

The shift is also smoking out some off-market listings, resulting in more listings on the MLS, Burke said.

“That translates into people wanting maximum exposure for their listings, regardless of what they are,” Burke said. “A large portion of [luxury] single-family residences are bought and sold off market, but we’re just getting more in the MLS than I think I’ve seen in a while.”

Among single-family properties listed for more than $2 million in Austin, homes that sold last week had a higher average number of days on the market, according to Unlock MLS data provided by Eklund Gomes.