1908 Antone Street Elevation
OK, so it might pale into insignificance next to the 221 other new homes coming to Mueller, but Meritage have stolen a march on the other builders. They have one vacant lot next to their former model, and they are starting construction on a home there in early 2012, hoping to be complete in April / May. Why is this important?
There’s a big availability gap right now – the resale home inventory is low and Section 6 phase A is scheduled to start selling sometime in summer (everybody’s best guess as Catellus haven’t started pushing dirt around behind the Mueller House Condos yet for roads and infrastructure). So there’s no competition for a new yard home under $400,000.
So what are they building? They are building a 1900+ sqft 3 bed 3 bathroom yard home (the 1902 plan) and the base price is currently $349,000. It is on an oversized end lot by the alley.
Large end lot
Have a look at the resale market statistics for the last 12 months in this size range in the Mueller neighborhood:
So without going into the specific features and benefits of the Meritage home, and what the upgrades required to be consistent with the neighborhood sales are, it looks like it is well priced. Incidentally, there is a resale home of this floorplan on Threadgill Street right now listed above $380,000.
The other thing to consider is the value of a new home – it would have new warranties and be built to 2011 / 2012 building standards and codes. Code is changing all the time, and one would hope for the better, as are energy rating schemes. So a 2012 3 star Austin Energy Green home has more stringent requirements than a 2008 home that met the same standards back in the day.
I spoke to Meritage today, and they have already had several calls and emails about it – it went on the market yesterday. Let me know if you want to find out more about this home. Despite the season, I anticipate it will sell within the average time on market for the above resale homes of 27 days (the median time on market is just 9 days). Get in touch if you want to find out more – 512 215 4785