A drone captures an aerial view of the Oak Ranch community and its future expansion. (ROBERTS COMMUNITIES)
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Nearly 200 new homes are set to come online near Tesla’s new factory.
Roberts Communities, based in Scottsdale, is expanding its Oak Ranch subdivision, located about six miles from the giga factory.
“Everybody told us, ‘Well, nobody wants to live east of the airport in Austin,” said spokesperson Ernesto Iglesias. “Ten years later, we look like geniuses.”
The developer sells manufactured homes, which are built in Texas factories and then delivered to Austin.
Iglesias says prices have increased 20-25% over the last six to eight months due to supply shortages but demand has also increased– so much so that they’re starting their phase two and three expansion eight months ahead of schedule.
“We went from forecasting eight to 10 sales a month from last year, historically, to we’ll probably double that. So, timelines shrank and it’s time to start developing additional lots,” he said.
He said phase one lots, 210, came online last summer and phase two will consist of 180.
Once all phases are complete, the community will have 1,050 total homes, according to KXAN’s media partners, the Austin Business Journal.
According to the company’s website, homes hover around $100,000 — a fraction of median home prices in Austin, which reached a historic $566,000 in May, according to the Austin Board of Realtors.
“It’s just such a high demand that we’re actually taking the secondary backup deposits and contracts,” Iglesias said.
East Austin expansion
It’s not just manufactured homes that are selling quickly in that area. Paul Smith with Twelve Rivers Realty says other homes in the area are also going faster than the rest of Austin.
“The available inventory is being eaten up extremely quickly. Right now, the median home sells in six days. The average days on market is 10 days,” Smith said.
He said price point is a big reason– homes that go for about two million in central Austin are around $400,000 in this area. But that may not last for long–appreciation is increasing quickly.
“I’ve had clients that have closed in this area,” Smith said. “They were purchasing homes for $200-$240,000 12 months ago. Now, those homes are hitting $400,000.”
He only expects that to keep increasing after Tesla’s giga factory and nearby facility are built.
“Now that you have jobs very close, you’re going to have shopping very close– those are things that you didn’t have 10 years ago in this neighborhood specifically,” he said.
That shopping includes retail planned for Velocity. Developers there told KXAN that includes an HEB.
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