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Jolly Austin community listed among top 30 friendliest American neighborhoods

Jollyville is the No. 30 friendliest neighborhood in the nation.

Homebuyers and families yearn for tight-knit communities with neighbors that will look out for each other, and one Austin-area neighborhood is going above and beyond to fulfill that role: the friendly neighborhood of Jollyville.

Jollyville's time in the spotlight comes via a new report from home improvement services website All Star Home, which named the locale the No. 29 most friendly American neighborhood. According to the findings, 13.2 percent of Google reviews for Jollyville-based businesses were described as "friendly."

The 1,000-acre Northwest Austin community is situated below TX-45 and east of US-183, split across both sides of Parmer Lane. Austinites who work in Jollyville are likely glad they work for some of the best employers in the state, including Apple (which expanded its Austin presence with a new $1 billion campus in the area) and other tech hubs like 7700 Parmer.

All Star Home also took a deep dive into the friendliest well-known businesses and retailers across the U.S. Several of the friendliest chains and big-box stores in the report have a presence around Jollyville, including the UPS Store, Great Clips, and more.

"Some trends emerged when [digging] into data for ten business types: Coffee shops, dry cleaners, and pharmacies ruled the top 10 friendliest list," the report said. "On the other hand, banks barely made it, and post offices got left off the list entirely."

Elsewhere in the report is Austin's Bouldin Creek neighborhood, which ranked No. 96 out of a total 200 cities. Only 10.53 percent of reviews for Bouldin Creek businesses were described of as "friendly."

Downtown Austin fell farther down the list, coming in at No. 165 with 8.53 percent of reviews for downtown-based businesses earning the "friendly" label.

Three other Texas neighborhoods made it into the top 10 friendliest American 'hoods: Kingwood in Houston (No. 2), South Boulevard-Park Row Historic District in Dallas (No. 5), and Fort Worth's South Hills neighborhood (No. 10).

The top 10 friendliest American neighborhoods are:

No. 1 – Magnolia in Seattle, Washington
No. 2 – Kingwood, Texas
No. 3 – Highland in Saint Paul, Minnesota
No. 4 – Rancho Bernardo in San Diego, California
No. 5 – South Boulevard-Park Row Historic District in Dallas, Texas
No. 6 – Casas Adobes in Tuscon, Arizona
No. 7 – Mount Tabor in Portland, Oregon
No. 8 – Catalina Foothills in Tuscon, Arizona
No. 9 – Rancho Penasquitos in San Diego, California
No. 10 – South Hills in Fort Worth, Texas

The study determined its rankings based on the number of positive Google reviews for businesses in 200 of the most-viewed city neighborhoods on Zillow in 2022.

The report can be found on allstarhome.com.

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local real estate report

Homebuyers can afford to be picky as Austin housing inventory rises

Photo by Avinash Kumar on Unsplash

Housing economist Clare Losey said the most significant factor affecting home sales in Austin is high mortgage rates.

The latest real estate report from Unlock MLS and the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) has revealed housing inventory is still on a steady rise in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA, creating more choices for potential homebuyers as they navigate a high interest rate market.

Residential home sales dipped by a mere 1.5 percent year-over-year from October 2023, amounting to 2,248 closed sales in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA. Median prices have also dropped to $430,000, or 3.2 percent less than this time last year. More than 3,300 new home listings were added on the market — a 7.4 percent increase from 2023 — bringing the total number of active home listings to 11,599.

According to Unlock MLS and ABoR housing economist Clare Losey, Ph.D., October's mortgage rates stood at 6.4 percent and are showing no signs of a significant drop in the near future. Even heading into 2025, Losey says potential homebuyers who are biding their time in the hopes of seeing rates plummet "may be in for a long wait."

"In the meantime, sellers must recognize that bringing buyers to the table requires a more aggressive pricing approach," Losey said. "Even in a more balanced market, buyers with limited purchasing power are struggling to meet current price expectations."

As for the overall health of the Central Texas housing market, 2024 Unlock MLS and ABoR president Kent Redding labeled recent news reports that called Austin "ground zero" for a downturn as an "extreme over-exaggeration."

"Austin led the state and nation in record-breaking home price growth and sales activity during the pandemic," Redding said. "For three years, near-zero housing inventory, numerous offers above list price and a rapid-paced market raised home prices and left little negotiating power for buyers. During this record-setting growth, ABoR and Unlock MLS consistently emphasized the unsustainability of the rapid growth, and now, our market is working to balance those extremes."

Central Texas housing trends in October 2024

In Travis County, 979 homes were sold last month — a slight 2.5 percent increase from last year. Median prices remained flat year-over-year at $510,000. Active home listings continued growing to 5,702 homes, which is 9.4 percent more year-over-year.

In Williamson County, 807 homes were sold in October, with median prices steadily dropping to $420,000. There were 1,028 new home listings on the market, showing a 4.5 percent increase from October 2023, bringing the total number of active home listings to 3,369.

Residential home sales dropped by nearly eight percent in Hays County in October, totaling 315 sales. Median prices also fell 5.5 percent year-over-year to $359,000. Active listings rose 6.6 percent year-over-year to 1,740 homes with the addition of 534 new listings on the market.

Meanwhile, 114 homes were sold in Bastrop County last month, which is 4.4 percent more than this time last year. Median prices dropped by a single percentage point year-over-year to $355,000. There were 654 active listings on the market in October, and 152 new home listings, representing a 1.3 percent slip in new inventory when compared to last year.

Only 33 homes were sold in Caldwell County in October to reflect a near 14 percent decline year-over-year from October 2023. Median prices fell to $262,990, which was a 13.5 percent decrease from last year. There were 136 active homes on the market last month, and 40 new homes added on the market.

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