Austin has a strong infrastructure for off-market deals, but a sea change in the housing market is starting to erode it.
Thanks to permissive state laws, high local taxes and, according to agents, a local real estate board that’s willing to look the other way, Austin has developed a robust network for private luxury sales, including central platforms like Clubhouse and the Austin Luxury Network.
However, market conditions are forcing sellers and agents to gauge the costs and benefits of privacy. As a result, more homes that would have traded off market in previous years are now trickling to the MLS, agents say.
An off-market oasis
Clubhouse and ALN aren’t the only subscription-based private listing sites in Austin, but they’re perhaps the most prominent. Each has hundreds of users — a fraction of the tens of thousands of agents in Austin, but a sizable contingent compared to similar groups in other cities.
“In other markets, both in Texas and elsewhere in the country, deals are being done off market. It’s just much more underground, and there isn’t necessarily this one unified space,” Clubhouse co-founder Justin Shapiro said.
That’s because agents don’t want to risk punishment from their local board of Realtors, Shapiro said. That’s less of a concern in Austin.
“To our knowledge, the Austin Board of Realtors is well aware of Clubhouse and Austin Luxury Network and other platforms, and they seem to be fine with it,” Shapiro said.
Douglas Elliman agent Michael Reisor, who works in New York as well as Austin and regularly handles off-market transactions, agreed.
“Off-market is used by a significant number of agents in the city,” Reisor said. “Austin’s off-market scene is pretty robust compared to others.”
Empowered by a lenient board, Austin’s not-so-black market also meets a strong local demand for private listings. Texas doesn’t require parties to disclose sale prices, and Austin has some of the highest property taxes in the state. As a result, Austin luxury sellers have a strong incentive to hide the true value of their home from the tax appraiser.
“When you’re paying 2.5, 3 percent on your valuation, and all of a sudden you record a sale for $11 million — yikes,” said Douglas Elliman agent Jeanne Parker.
Consequently, most Austin homes above $2 million and almost all homes above $10 million have generally sold privately, said Douglas Elliman agent Jeff Burke and other agents.
Drying up
There are 400 single-family homes and condos asking at least $1.5 million on the Austin Luxury Network, one user said. There are about a thousand such properties for sale in the same areas on the Austin MLS, meaning ALN accounts for about 30 percent of the total share of listings. Homes on Clubhouse make up another percentage.
This share of off-market sales has likely shrunk since last year, and certainly since the resi boom of 2021.
“Your ultra-luxury listings just aren’t selling like they used to,” said Clubhouse co-founder Alissa Shapiro.
Austin is a buyer’s market. The city has been pushing 6 months inventory throughout 2025, marking the highest level of supply since 2011. It had the highest ratio of sellers to buyers in the country last month, according to Redfin. It also tied with Houston for the greatest decrease in median home price in the country, according to CoStar.
As a result, some Austin sellers are giving up on off-market networks.
“Agents and sellers are looking for maximum exposure right now because the market is slower,” Burke said.
More properties are moving to the MLS after lingering on ALN, agents including Burke and Parker said.
On the other hand, at least some of these moves are planned. Many agents use ALN and Clubhouse to present coming-soon properties to eligible buyers before a public launch, according to Jackson.
“People use these platforms to test price,” said Katie Jackson, an agent at @properties Lone Star Christie’s International Real Estate in Austin.
Clubhouse declined to share data about listings or deals.
“We have new agents joining every week, which, to me, is a testament to the fact that they are utilizing platforms like ours to get deals done,” Justin Shapiro said.
Read more
Which regions have flipped from seller’s markets to buyer’s markets?
“Utter nonsense”: Move CEO Damian Eales disses private listings
Austin “strongly in a buyer’s market,” especially for luxury, condos
Austin MLS weighs in on pocket listing debate with “Flex Listings”
