Austin’s new-construction landscape in 2025 is experiencing something remarkable: a controlled cooling that feels less like a letdown and more like a long-awaited exhale. After the frenzied bidding wars and razor-thin inventory of 2021—when Austin emerged as “the hottest market in the U.S.” amid surging commercial real estate investment and out-of-state corporate relocations—both builders and buyers have settled into a more measured rhythm.
Rather than halting projects, developers have embraced a moderate pace, a nod to the city’s persistent population growth and robust economy. Over the past year, new-home inventory has hovered around five months’ supply (about 1,400 listings per month at the current sales rate), inching close to the balanced market threshold that gives buyers and sellers near-equal negotiating power.
Is this shift permanent? Maybe not. But it is recalibrating expectations. At the heart of this fresh equilibrium lies a simple, vital truth: Austin is still growing. Tech firms expand or relocate, new residents arrive in search of cultural vibrancy, and the city’s enduring draws—lakeside recreation, live music and an entrepreneurial buzz—remain irresistible. Many homeowners cling to the historically low interest rates they secured over the past few years, making them reluctant to sell. As a result, the new-home sector has emerged as a fitting hero, filling gaps in a market once defined by scarcity.
Today, the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area ranks among the country’s fastest-growing hotbeds of development: third in multifamily construction and first in single-family builds. New construction now accounts for nearly one-third of all homes on the market—a historically high share propelled by the dearth of existing stock and builders’ commitment to putting new product on shelves. The region’s supply of new homes has reached what many experts consider a textbook definition of balance.
Practically speaking, that balance gives everyone room to breathe. Buyers can finally exhale; sellers must remain realistic. Some builders have offered price reductions while others sweeten the deal by covering portions of closing costs or by featuring cutting-edge design details. These tactics bore fruit with a surge in closings at the end of 2024. Indeed, by March 2024, Austin ranked seventh nationwide for new-construction home sales. Housing starts for single-family homes ticked up around 8% year-on-year in late 2024 and local construction employment stayed positive—each reflecting confidence in Austin’s ongoing draw.
Luxury Leads the Way
This renewed faith in new construction extends to the ultra-luxury bracket, where buyers swoop in for premium views and lakeside locales without the delay of custom builds. “Up in the hills or near the lake, you’re looking at a very limited geographic area where supply is always constrained,” explains Sean Kubicek of Moreland Properties. “You have expensive land costs, you face jurisdictional obstacles and sometimes there are site limitations. So, if you want something new in a prime spot, you’ll either wait years for approvals and construction or find an existing high-quality, finished project.” For the privilege, expect prices that regularly eclipse $5 million.
In addition to immediate availability, new luxury homes often house amenities unmatched by older, established properties. Eric Moreland of Moreland Properties points out that builders “aim to include amenities that stand apart from any resale property—things like a separate catering kitchen, extra garage bays or an oversized primary closet.” One of Moreland’s new hillside waterfront listings, priced at $8.9 million, showcases a sprawling suite of perks: a dedicated games room, media room, wet bar, sauna-equipped fitness studio, poolside cabana, guest casita and multiple garages.
Designs themselves are also moving in flashier directions to meet buyers’ expectations. According to Kubicek, the well-loved “warm, organic modern” style is merging with something bolder. “There’s been a bigger trend toward what I call the Roaring 20s aesthetic—more ostentation, more statement,” he says. Kubicek currently represents a stylish Westlake home that demonstrates this shift with grand gabled volumes connected by a glass bridge, set off by striking stone features.
Not a Lot of Lots
With new luxury builds striking all the right chords with buyers, and builders maintaining unshakable faith in Austin’s market, the city’s high-end development future might seem limitless—except for one pressing obstacle: space, especially in the coveted hillside and lakeside neighborhoods of western Austin. That limitation makes local zoning debates crucial in deciding how and where these projects find room to grow. Opinions, however, are split. Some residents champion denser development—particularly multifamily or townhome structures—to relieve Austin’s ongoing housing crunch. Others worry that escalating growth will undermine the area’s established charm. Builders find themselves at the crossroads, striving to meet City Hall’s call for sustainable expansion while navigating homeowners’ concerns about congestion and aesthetics.
In practice, many new-build projects are, in fact, teardowns. “We just don’t have a lot of empty parcels for sale on the west side,” says fellow Moreland Properties agent Greg Walling. “So it’s often a matter of demolishing older homes to make room for the new.” Demolition can mean sacrificing some local heritage, but it also clears the way for fresh design and modern functionality—amenities that increasingly appeal to the city’s younger, forward-thinking buyers.
So where does that leave the prospective buyer looking for new construction? With options. True, the pace of construction and the city’s nuanced regulations can limit the selection. Yet the combination of more balanced inventory and softened price points has revived opportunities that were unthinkable at the height of 2021 mania. Those with precise demands—proximity to downtown, access to green space or a one-of-a-kind architectural flourish—may still face stiff competition. But the days of making an offer without an inspection or pleading with sellers to simply look one’s way have largely receded.
It may not sound thrilling—normalcy rarely does—but for Austin, normal is exactly what the market needed.
Moreland Properties is a member of Forbes Global Properties, an invitation-only network of top-tier brokerages worldwide and the exclusive real estate partner of Forbes.
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