Lake Travis is a wonderful place to own waterfront property, but people, especially those not in the central Texas area, usually grossly underestimate prices. What I intend to do here is give readers the statistics over the last six months for single family homes and lots with Lake Travis water frontage.
For a better idea of what you will be reading, you will need to know MLS areas. Looking at the map below, you see on the south side of Lake Travis Lake South (LS), Lake West (LW), Lake North (LN), Cedar Park South (CLS) and River North (RN). The south shore stats will have some Pedernales River waterfront properties as I can’t screen them out without a lot of extra work. I excluded RN as it would include Lake Austin properties. What I am getting at is that these stats will not be 100% correct, but they will be good enough to let you know what realistic values are. By the way, all of this is actual MLS data and will not include any private sales outside the system.
To get a better idea of what you are looking at, you might want to open a Google map for comparison. Click here for one.
LS runs from Mansfield Dam west of Lake Austin out to the Pedernales River. Across the river to the Blanco and Burnet County line. CLS funs from the Cypress Creek arm to the Sandy Creek arm of Lake Travis. LN then runs from the other side of the Sandy Creek arm of the lake to the Burnet County line.
OK, on to the statistics, which are from September 7, 2007 through just before noon on March 7, 2008. For Sing-family homes on the south side of Lake Travis, LW and LW, 28 homes sold. These homes averaged 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and averaged 4,076 square feet. They ranged in size from 943 square feet to 8,412 square feet. They averaged $1,706,246 in sold price and ranged in sold price from $500,000 to $4,995,000. The average price per square foot was $446 with a low of $174 to a high of $1,475 per square foot.
For single-family homes on the north side of Lake Travis, CLS and LN, 17 homes sold. These homes averaged 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and averaged 3,593 square feet. They ranged in size from 1,890 square feet to 5,614 square feet. They averaged $1,027,600 in sold price and ranged in sold price from $495,000 to $1,750,000. The average price per square foot was $285 with a low of $201 to a high of $455 per square foot.
As for Active waterfront single-family home listings, the south side of the lake currently has 63. The least expensive is an 800 square foot one bedroom and one bathroom cabin listed for $450,000. The most expensive listing is a 16,173 square foot home with 7 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms and is listed for $13,500,000. On the north side of Lake Travis there are 43 listings of waterfront single-family homes. The least expensive is a 1,509 square foot home listed for $450,000. The most expensive home is a 17,046 square foot home with 10 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms and is listed for $13,500,000.
The lower priced homes were most likely on coves that will go dry during drought conditions or in the floodplain. Some could also have been on creeks that flow into Lake Travis, not on Lake Travis itself. Again, I did not spend the extra hours it would take to go through each and every property to make sure it was actually on the lake. The same about coves or creeks will be true with lots.
OK, so what if you want to build? On the south side of Lake Travis during this 6 month period, there were 26 waterfront lots that sold. The average sold price was $371,325, with a range of $54,900 to $$1,595,000. On the north side of Lake Travis, 57 waterfront lots sold. The average price was $349,089 with a low of $32,500 and high of 1,900,000.
If you are looking at existing homes in the floodplain, keep in mind that they may or may not have ever had flood damage. Lake Travis fluctuates quite a bit. The full level is 681 feet above sea level. The lake has never been over 710 feet during the last 20 years, but the floodplain is set at 722 feet. Any home in the floodplain will be required to have flood insurance.
If you want to build, new homes have to have the first occupied level at least one foot above the floodplain. If you are close to 722, you can probably build a garage or outdoor living area below 722 and the rest of the house above. It you are way down at 700 or less, you will most likely build on stilts. In either case, your septic system, if you don’t have water at the street, may be flooded at some point, making the home not very usable. The house in the photo to the left is a bit extreme, but it is an example of a house deep in the floodplain. This one is being built in Graveyard Point, which is right by Lakeway on the south shore of Lake Travis.
The cost to build will also vary depending on elevation, topography and availability or sewer and water. Many of these lots will require a well and a septic system. If the topography is severe, which is quite possible, the cost of a foundation, driveway, sidewalk and landscaping down to the lake.
An article came out after I wrote this post talking about how expensive lake properties in and around Austin have become. This is a great read for anyone who still thinks that you can pick up a weekend house on Lake Travis for $500,000. Check out the article here.
Questions about Lake Travis real estate? Call me at 512-293-2422 or visit my Lake Travis real estate page.
