New Year’s Eve wasn’t just about fireworks in Austin — the luxury home market sparked to life for a moment when a deal closed on Dec. 31 for the city’s second-priciest home of 2024.
The 8,200-square-foot estate, on the shores of Lake Austin, at 13330 Shore Vista Drive, was last listed at almost $17 million, or about $2,060 per square foot. The property includes a two-slip, covered boat dock with a kitchen, fireplace and pizza oven outside. Inside, a cylindrical staircase and elevator give access to the five-bedroom home’s three stories, including a primary bedroom in a wing of its own, two home offices, a greenhouse, three-car garage and a “wellness center.”
The seller was the estate of Abilene independent insurance agent William Kiker, public records show. Kiker, who died in 2021, bought it from Moody International Companies CEO Brett Moody.
Kuper Sotheby’s broker Bridget Ramey had the listing.
It was one of four deals that closed between Dec. 30 and Jan. 5, according to the Eklund Gomes luxury report. Two of the sales also hit in the eleventh hour, one for a $3.2 million listing south of Westlake Hills in Woodhaven on Dec. 30, and another for a $2.65 million home, just east of Westlake Hills in West Rim, on Dec. 31. The fourth deal was closed on Jan. 6 for a modern home previously listed for rent but last asked $3.5 million, in Barton Creek Bluffs, near Bee Cave.
The total volume was $26.3 million, up $11 million from the previous week, with a 34 percent increase in average price per square foot at $1,007, the report said. The homes’ days on the market jumped from 65 days to 79.
The new year is “off to a roaring start,” Michael Reisor of Douglas Elliman’s Eklund Gomes team wrote, saying momentum in the luxury segment is expected to continue, as buyers are “out and ready.”
Eleven homes listed over $2 million hit the market last week, the report said. A low weekly conversion rate of 1.476 serves the latest sign of Austin’s continued buyer’s market on the luxury end, with 271 active properties listed over $2 million.
“Unfortunately the Trump bump and Fed-cutting bump we all thought were coming in demand have not yet set in, and inventory is increasing in the luxury segment,” the team’s founder Fredrik Eklund said.
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