Monster Marriott

JW Marriott, Austin's largest hotel, will open sooner than expected

The JW Marriott Austin has already become a familiar sight in the city’s expanding skyline. When it opens, the 34-story hotel will be the largest hotel in Austin, the largest JW Marriott in the U.S. and the second largest JW Marriott in the world. But, even a project this big won’t shy away from moving its opening date ahead of schedule.

The hotel’s management company announced Monday that the JW Marriott Austin will open ahead of schedule on February 20, 2015. (The opening was originally slated for March 1, 2015.) But don’t be surprised if there’s not a lot of vacancy those first few nights.

“As of right now, we’re about 75 percent complete with construction,” said Jay Spurr, the director of sales and marketing for the JW Marriott Austin. “We already have more than 310,000 room nights contracted out. Most of those guests are coming the first few nights, but some nights are already booked until about 2020. And I would estimate that maybe 30 percent of those coming have never been to Austin before.”

Construction began in August 2012, and the official groundbreaking took place in October 2012. In January 2014, the hotel “topped out,” meaning it reached its final construction height. When complete, the hotel will feature more than 112,000 square feet of event space, 42 meeting rooms and 1,012 guest rooms. Designed to host business meetings and even large conventions in its spacious ballrooms, the JW Marriott is also just a short walk from the Austin Convention Center.

When it opens, the JW Marriott will employ more than 700 people. The hotel will feature three restaurants, including a Northern Italian-style restaurant, a restaurant highlighting Austin cuisine and a burger spot. There will also be a Starbucks on the property.

The new JW Marriott Austin will open on February 20, 2015.

JW Marriott Austin rendering from Congress perspective

Photo courtesy of White Lodging

The new JW Marriott Austin will open on February 20, 2015.

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real estate report

How Austin fits into Zillow's predicted housing market growth in 2025

Photo by Justin Wallace on Unsplash

Potential homebuyers in Austin may see improving mortgage rates and home prices in 2025, according to Zillow.

It looks like a few more people are about to turn their online home shopping daydreams into reality in 2025. Zillow, the famous real estate listings website, says in a press release that next year will likely bring "a gradual but bumpy decline in rates, impacting sales and price growth."

It attributes the forecast to "erratic and dramatic mortgage rate movements" throughout 2024, which will continue to affect the market. The website's housing market predictions report estimates that 2025 will see about 100,000 more sales than 2024, that home value growth will be "low and slow" at 2.2 percent, and that inventory and new listings will continue recovering from pandemic weakness.

On a local scale, Zillow's latest data shows Austin has already experienced a 3.4 percent drop in annual average home values from 2023 to 2024, which will continue fluctuating in 2025.

As of November, Zillow's home value index says the average home in the Austin metro is worth $443,995. That figure is greater than the Austin Board of Realtors' median home sales price in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, which came out to $435,000 last month, reflecting an estimated 2.4 percent increase for just the month of November year-over-year from 2023.

Pick the right season to buy
Potential buyers may see better opportunities for purchasing a home during the fall and winter, which is a typically slow season for home sales. Across 36 out of the 50 biggest U.S. metro areas, Zillow's heat market index showed a drop in competition from October to November.

"There's a strong sense of déjà vu on tap for 2025. We are once again expecting mortgage rates to get better gradually, and opportunities for buyers should follow, but be prepared for plenty of bumps on that path," said Zillow chief economist Skylar Olsen in the release. "Those shopping this winter have plenty of time to choose and a relatively strong position in negotiations."

Zillow suggests buyers may have the ability to negotiate "from a position of safety" during the slow winter months. This is especially true for Austin-area buyers, who only saw 10.4 percent of homes sell for more than their listing price in October. The website says buyers can take advantage of opportunities to buy contingent on inspections or repairs, and they may avoid bidding wars during this time.

"While the number of options available to shoppers today are lower than they will likely see in the spring, there's also less competition in the field," the report says. "The [national] share of homes that sold for more than list price was below 28 percent in October (the latest data available), continuing a downward trend that began in July."

Buyers will head to the Southwest
Eyes are also turning to the American Southwest as the top region for homebuyers in 2025, as 13 major metro areas – including Austin and San Antonio – are now considered “buyer’s markets” where buyers have more negotiating power than sellers.

However, this prediction depends on the gravity of falling mortgage rates. Homebuyers should also keep a close eye on mortgage rates in 2025, which could drop unpredictably like they have been for the last three weeks in a row. If the rates dip further than expected, that doesn’t bode as well for buyers.

“It is anticipated that a significant mortgage rate dip would bring more buyers than sellers back to the market, increasing competition and tilting negotiating power in favor of sellers,” Zillow says.

Small-home living is gaining traction
As Austin and other major cities are battling for more high density housing, buying trends are also leaning towards smaller (and more affordable) homes.

Zillow even goes as far to say that the “pandemic-era need” for large houses is officially a thing of the past.

"The term 'cozy' is appearing in more listing descriptions — 35 percent more in 2024 compared to 2023 — reflecting current design trends that have shifted away from cavernous open floor plans, toward contained spaces that have their own style and purpose," the report says.

housing market zillow