For our ongoing series Homes in the Range, real-estate analytics site NeighborhoodX is taking a close look at sales prices ranges in different Austin neighborhoods.
Today's analysis focuses on the Holly neighborhood. Bounded by Chicon Street on the west, Pleasant Valley Road on the east, East Seventh Street on the north, and the Colorado River/Lady Bird Lake on the south, the East Austin area is one of the most contested zones in the city.
For years a bastion of working-class, predominantly Latino citizens who carved out a multigenerational community in the face of the city's early 20th-century segregation policies, the neighborhood been fighting for itself for several decades—first against being a dumping ground for environmental hazards (a power plant and a leaking gas tank farm) and then against gentrification as its proximity to downtown and the riverfront became a valuable commodity.
The analysis below, then, needs to be seen through that lens.
While the average asking price in Holly was $335/square foot, there was a considerable range: from $245/square foot (2707 East Third Street) to $716/square foot (2211 East Fifth)—but with a significant caveat that underscores some of the challenges of real estate data, especially for dynamic neighborhoods in transition.
Almost all of the listings at the upper end of the price/square foot range for the neighborhood were higher than average because they sat on large plots of land and the listings were largely positioned on the strength of expansion or development possibilities.
Examples of this are 2211 East Fifth Street (double, corner lot measuring 8,253 square feet), 2509 Hidalgo Street (6,621-square-foot lot), and 404 North Pleasant Valley Road (7,927-square-foot lot).
The price per square foot figures appeared much higher because the lot size and the development potential were worth more than the inherent value of the building itself.
Also worth mentioning are a property at 1915 Canterbury Street ($426/square foot) is zoned for a second structure as well as commercial zoning. Below that, 2615 East Second Street is a compact house on a 6,969-square-foot lot ($405 per square foot). A listing for a 2006 condo at 2124 East Sixth Street ($298,700 for 890 square feet) is in line with the average price of $335/square foot for Holly.
For a full, interactive chart of NeighborhoodX's analysis, click on the link below.
• Austin—Homes in the Range: Holly (April 2016) [NeighborhoodX]