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Austin's luxury real estate market brought in $4.1 billion in 2024

There's no shortage of million-dollar homes on the market in Austin.

Courtesy of Realty Austin

A new 2024 report from Texas Realtors has revealed the number of homes that sold in the state for $1 million or more increased 10 percent from last year to reach its second-highest peak ever recorded.

According to the report's findings — which calculated sales data from November 2023 to October 2024 — Texas' luxury real estate market accounted for $21.4 billion in economic activity. The period from November 2021 to October 2022 still holds the current statewide record, which is $22.6 billion.

A total 12,888 homes sold for at least $1 million during this time, which represented nearly 16 percent of all Texas residential home sales.

May 2024 was the busiest month for Texas' luxury home sales. Nearly 1,580 homes were sold that month for $1 million or more. Meanwhile, January was the slowest month with only 610 million-dollar homes sold.

"The high end of the Texas real estate market continues to evolve," said Christy Gessler, Chairman of Texas Realtors, in a press release. "As prices rise, more homes cross the million-dollar threshold. Some are highly valued for their size or amenities, but with many, the key factor is location."

Luxury real estate performance in Austin
The report further revealed that the third-highest share (19.1 percent) of Texas luxury homes were located in the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan statistical area, amounting to nearly $4.1 billion.

A total of 2,461 luxury homes were sold in the Austin metro from November 2023 to October 2024, which is only five more homes sold than last year. These million-dollar real estate purchases accounted for 23 percent of all residential sales dollar volume in the metro.

The median size of a million-dollar home that sold in Austin last October came out to 3,440 square feet, whereas the median size of all residential homes sold for the month was only 2,002 square feet.

In a similar vein, the average price-per-square-foot for a luxury home sold in Austin in October came out to $510, whereas the price-per-square-foot for all residential homes sold in the area was only $256.

Austin's share of high-end homes can be located in various affluent areas, from West Oak Hill to the private Austin Country Club community, or even near a Hill Country suburb like Bee Cave.

Previously, Austin ranked as the No. 10 U.S. city with the most million-dollar homes on the market.

Luxury real estate in other Texas metros
Austin came in third to Dallas-Fort Worth, which constituted 38.7 percent of all million-dollar home sales in Texas, and Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land (26.2 percent).

In Dallas-Fort Worth, 4,992 luxury homes were sold from October 2023 to November 2024, raking in $8.5 billion in total sales dollar volume. Meanwhile, 3,371 luxury homes were sold in the Houston metro to bring in $5.7 billion, the report said.

Here's how the average price-per-square foot and median home size compared across these two Texas metros in October 2024:

$394 – average price per square foot for a million-dollar home in Dallas-Fort Worth
$389 – average price per square foot for a million-dollar home in Houston
4,212 square feet – median size of a luxury home in Dallas-Fort Worth
4,406 square feet – median size of a luxury home in Houston

Additionally, 5.1 percent of all million-dollar homes sold statewide were located in San Antonio-New Braunfels. That means 656 luxury homes were sold in this metro, which brought in $957 million. In a one-month analysis for October 2024, the median size of a million-dollar home sold in the Alamo City came out to 4,118 square feet, which sold for an average price of $357 per square foot.

Elsewhere in Texas, just under 11 percent of the state's luxury home sales were located outside the four biggest metros — a total of 1,408 homes.

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Howdy, Neighbor

City of Austin checks in for new short-term rental rule debates

Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash

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Austinites may be friendly, but the city as a whole fosters many conflicting feelings about vacation rentals. A January memo from assistant city manager Veronica Briseño alerts the City Council that some proposed changes are coming regarding regulating short-term rentals (STRs).

The changes will have to go through several filters first: public meetings plus separate Planning Commission and City Council meetings in February and April. The memo says "the changes will apply to a significant number of properties throughout the City."

It's difficult to summarize or forecast concerns associated with STRs, because they vary widely depending on changing factors. It's not just who's visiting and how well they behave, but whether or not the homeowners are properly licensed, what each platform's changing policies are, and of course how well either can enforce these things.

Austin has taken swings at creating a system that works, but some court rulings have rendered them unenforceable. Here are some (not all) topics mentioned in the January memo and attached working ordinances:

Changing STR provisions to make them an additional (accessory) use to all residential uses, in zoning terms
Adding density caps on STR owners and operators
Allowing "existing STRs to continue provided that the STR does not become a nuisance and property ownership remains the same"
Making sure STRs fit into their quiet, residential neighborhoods
Avoiding increasing affordability issues
Giving more options for enforcement
Encouraging preserving rather than demolishing buildings in accordance with the HOME Initiative

Before any public meetings, there will be a virtual info session Tuesday, January 21, from 11 am to 1 pm. There will also be three more in-person sessions (listed in at the same link) January 22, 23, and 27 in various locations.

The first meeting scheduled is for the Joint Planning Commission and City Council on Tuesday, February 4, at 1 pm at City Hall. A full schedule of meetings publicinput.com.

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