It’s been a newsy December. A new federal tax law with a few implications for homeowners and interesting changes to the housing market created headlines throughout the month.
While the national housing market has continued a steady climb, even matching sales not seen since 2006, rising home prices and the lack of available and affordable homes is creating strain in many parts of the market. Austin, which has gone through a historic period of growth, has shown some signs of cooling, with declining year-over-year sales for the past two months.
Meanwhile, the sale of million-plus homes are on the rise. Among them, Dennis Quaid’s Austin mansion. Not among them, the mansion a former Houston Rocket All-Star put up for sale.
You’ll learn about that and more in our November real estate news roundup.
Tax Reform Means Small Changes for Some Homeowners
Congress in December passed the most ambitious tax plan in more than 20 years. Most of what’s going on is a cut to corporate tax rates. But there are items homeowners should know about, too. Curbed reports that the new law caps the deductions many taxpayers make on their federal returns based on what they pay in state and local property taxes. The new cap is $10,000, which includes property, income and sales tax. There’s also a change in the mortgage-interest deduction, which used to be capped at $500,000 and now is at $750,000, meaning it only impacts people with high value homes. And it only applies to new mortgages.
Dennis Quaid’s Austin Mansion on the Market
Dennis Quaid, an actor known for roles in “The Alamo,” “The Day After Tomorrow” and “The Parent Trap,” has put his Austin mansion up for sale. The Austin Business Journal reports that he listed the 5,000-square-foot home near Austin Country Club in the gated Marina Club area for $3.5 million. The actor has owned the home for about five years, but he’s spending more time in Los Angeles these days.
The $1M Homes Club Expands
As Austin are housing prices have risen, so has the number of homes selling for $1 million-plus. Austin logged 868 million dollar-plus home sales from November 2016 to October 2017, according to the Texas Association of Realtors. That’s a 21 percent increase from the year prior. The median price of $1 million-plus homes was $1,350,000. Inside Austin’s city limits, there were 418 homes sold for at least $1 million. That’s a 19 percent increase, the Austin Business Journal reported.
This Former NBA Star’s Home is Cheaper Than You Might Expect
Hakeem Olajuwon, the former Houston Rockets player who was dominant on the court, has put his north Houston home up for sale. But, while Olajuwon is unquestionably a legend of pro basketball, it’s not the jaw-dropping estate you might expect. The 7,271-square-foot house, built in 1983, is listed for $595,000, the Austin Business Journal reported. It’s a three bedroom, four bathroom home that has a pool and, of course, a basketball hoop.
U.S. Homes Sales on the Climb
Home sales are constrained by a lot of factors on the national scale — availability of homes, rising prices and student loan debt, to name a few. But the nation’s residential home market has been on a steady climb for years. In November, home sales increased 5.6 percent compared to the November 2016 figures. That was the fastest pace of sales in a 11 years, the National Association of Realtors reported.
Austin Home Sales Slip; Central Texas Grows
Single-family home sales inside Austin declined by 3.3 percent compared to November of last year, the Austin Board of Realtors said. Meanwhile, sales across the entire Central Texas region, which includes Travis, Hays and Williamson counties, increased by 3.7 percent. The rising cost of homes inside Austin’s city limits — up 6.8 percent year-over-year to $360,000 — appears to be causing the market to cool slightly after several years of rapid growth. Read more in our real estate report.