In an ongoing series for Curbed Austin, real-estate analytics site NeighborhoodX is taking a close look at sales price ranges in different neighborhoods. Today, it’s checking out numbers in Steiner Ranch, which it also did in June.
As we noted then, Steiner Ranch is an unincorporated, master-planned community approximately 20 miles northwest of downtown Austin—4,600 acres of wedged in a swath of land east of a bend in the Colorado River, which forms its western border, and Highway 620, just short of Lake Travis’ southern shores.
A decidedly upscale area with requisite McMansions and other pricey real estate, Steiner Ranch is almost resort-like, with a golf course, green space, access to water activities, a private club, and 12 miles of nature trails. It’s also a popular place to raise families.
The current average listing price for Steiner Ranch is $172 per square foot. However, the individual properties that make up this average range tightly in an absolute dollar value (although higher, percentage-wise): from $126/square foot (3807 Standfield Court, a three-bedroom two-story built in 1992) to $216/square foot (2504 University Club Drive, a four-bedroom 2008 build asking $975,000).
"Our analysis of Steiner Ranch also highlights the importance of not just using price per square foot (rather than median listing price) as a metric, but of ensuring that you're comparing similar properties to each other," NeighborhoodX’s Constantine Valhouli remarked via e-mail. He cited a listings at 14800 Flat Top Road, a 13,731 square-foot-house asking $7.75 million, as an example. "At first glance, this home appears to be priced at $564 per square foot, which would be considerably higher than the upper end of the neighborhood. But the property sits on 6.8 acres of land, and this contributes to the overall value without adding to the considerable residential square footage."
• Neighborhood Market Watch: How Much It Costs to Buy a Home in Steiner Ranch Right Now [Curbed Austin]