The Greater Good Life

The advantages of sustainable living in East Austin’s Whisper Valley

Named Austin’s 2023 Master-Planned Community of the Year by the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin, Whisper Valley is a 2,063-acre community focused on sustainability, healthy living, technology, and affordability. Developed by Taurus Investment Holdings, this innovative community has created the blueprint for residential master-planned communities of the future.

Located on rolling terrain in East Austin, Whisper Valley homes are extremely energy efficient, tech-savvy and served by Google Fiber and AT&T 5G Fiber, offering future-proof homes that are zero energy-capable.

Whisper Valley is powered by the innovative EcoSmart Solution, a green energy supply system that uses a GeoGrid to harness the renewable geothermal energy of the earth, reducing energy consumption by up to 70 percent. When paired with solar PV to generate electricity, this reduces monthly electric bills to almost nothing.

In addition to a great lifestyle, homeowners living in Whisper Valley enjoy these unique benefits :

Zero energy-capable homes lower monthly bills. Homeowners experience significantly reduced electric bills thanks to these cleaner energy sources. Savings can range from $1,250 to $3,000 a year in monthly electric bills.
30% tax credit on home’s geothermal and solar system, including the ground source heat pump (GSHP) and the solar panels, providing thousands of dollars in immediate savings in the first year of ownership.
Enhanced resilience. Protect your home from extreme weather events and lessen strain on the Texas energy grid.
Increased home value. EcoSmart adds value to your property with sustainable, future-proof technology.
Savings on equipment replacement costs. A geothermal heating and cooling system lasts 20-25 years, which is about double the life of a traditional HVAC system.
Protection against rising costs. Shield yourself from fluctuating energy prices and future-proof your investment.
Carbon emission reduction via demand reduction and on-site energy generation system by EcoSmart.
No noisy outdoor HVAC condensers. GSHPs are installed inside the home and make no noise, creating quiet and peaceful living.
Personal energy monitoring that informs homeowners about better energy behaviors that can help owners reduce their energy usage to zero and possibly generate utility bill credits
Homes are pre-wired for garage-mounted EV chargers.

In addition, Whisper Valley offers a variety of outstanding builders and innovative home designs.

New homes currently range from the high $200s to $600s with a wide range of lifestyles, from duplexes to single-family homes on homesites ranging in size from 35-foot, 40-foot, and 50-foot lots.

Pick your new home.Photo courtesy of Whisper Valley

Outstanding builders include Pacesetter Homes, GFO Home, Thurman Homes, AHA Dream Homes, and Terrata Homes. Two new builders are opening later this fall: Top national builder Richmond American Homes will be offering one and two-story homes from the low $400s, and innovative builder InstaBuilt Homes will offer two product lines ranging from the upper $200s to $400s.

700-acres of parks and green spaces

Whisper Valley features 700 acres of green space, parks, and amenities to suit anyone’s desire to exercise or just enjoy nature.

The crown jewel of the community is the future Whisper Valley Park, a 600-acre public park located within the community. Whisper Valley Park will include nature trails and picnic areas, manicured open space, playgrounds, shade structures, community gardens, a natural amphitheater for events, and more.

Bring the whole fam to the playground.Photo courtesy of Whisper Valley

The park will also become the centerpiece of a new master trail plan that will ultimately connect the City of Austin’s 4,000-acre Walter E. Long Park & Lake, the Travis County 14-mile trail system, and the East Metropolitan Park through Whisper Valley, offering an estimated 20 miles of trails.

Professionally managed organic gardens

Whisper Valley also has large organic gardens professionally managed by a community farmer that grows nutritious vegetables for residents on a first-come, first-served basis.

Start finding recipes for all those fresh veggies.Photo courtesy of Whisper Valley

Great amenities

Known as the Discovery Center, the community amenity center features a resort-style pool, fitness center, activity rooms, and a demonstration kitchen for community events, classes, and activities.

Of course Fido has his own park, too.Photo courtesy of Whisper Valley

Pocket parks and playgrounds are located throughout each neighborhood, connected by nature trails leading to a spacious dog park and Certified Wildlife Habitat.

A fun lifestyle

The community’s lifestyle director plans and hosts dozens of fun activities for all ages every month, including a monthly artisan market, fitness classes including yoga, cooking demonstrations, kids’ activities, wine tastings, food truck dinners, holiday events and celebrations, and more.

Join your neighbors for yoga and other activities.Photo courtesy of Whisper Valley

Come live the greater good life

For more information about Whisper Valley’s sustainable lifestyle and zero energy-capable homes, visit WhisperValleyAustin.com, call 512-720-7467, or plan a visit to the community Discovery Center, located at 9400 Petrichor Blvd., just off SH 130 and 973 in East Austin.

Photo courtesy of Whisper Valley

Imagine a nearly $0 energy bill.

home for sale sustainability master-planned community promoted

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