Austin’s Priciest Home Trade Cost More Last Year

Last week’s top resi trade in Austin may have sold at a loss as the city’s luxury market continues to soften.

The four-bed, five-bath, 6,100-square-foot home at 6358 Spanish Oaks Club Boulevard was the most expensive home sold publicly in Austin last week, according to the Eklund Gomes Team. Susan Stiles, co-founder of Compass’ Trigaci Stiles Group, had the listing.

It had an asking price of $4.4 million when it went under contract on Oct. 18. The seller, Loretta Lowe, bought it last July when it was listed for $4.5 million, according to county records and Zillow.

The property’s price history suggests that Lowe sold it for a small loss, but since Texas does not require final sales price disclosure, that’s not certain.

The home built in 2012 is in the Spanish Oaks neighborhood, a guard-gated community anchored by the highly ranked Spanish Oaks Golf Club. The neighborhood is about 30 minutes west of downtown Austin.

While the Austin area has generally remained below six months of inventory this year, it’s considered a buyer’s market. There were 124 percent more sellers than buyers in July; in September, the percentage grew to 130 percent, making Austin the most imbalanced market in the country, according to Redfin.

Luxury hasn’t gone unscathed. Most of Austin’s top public sales in recent weeks have been offering price cuts, and some have beckoned sellers with location rather than luxury, with agents marketing homes’ teardown potential.

Even homes that would have sold off the market in previous years are moving to the MLS as sellers trade the property tax benefit of price secrecy for the sales advantage of high exposure.

Other Texas cities aren’t faring much better. A seller-to-buyer difference lower than 10 percent is considered a balanced market. San Antonio and Dallas both have about 100 percent more sellers than buyers, or about two sellers for every buyer, according to Redfin. Houston has 84 percent more sellers than buyers, and Fort Worth has 68 percent.