New Homes in Austin: What's Getting Built and Where

Austin's growth story has two halves. Inside the city, council is approving multifamily rezonings at a rapid clip, including six in a single September sitting. Outside the city, Georgetown and Buda are the single-family engines, with master-planned communities measured in the thousands of homes. This guide explains how Central Texas approvals work, where the homes are going, and what buyers should watch.

How a Central Texas community gets approved

Rezoning in Austin. Inside city limits, new density requires rezoning through the Planning Commission and City Council. Austin's council has been approving multifamily rezonings aggressively; on September 24 it approved six in one sitting, including Circle C Tract 110, a roughly 246-acre parcel on South Mopac Expressway where council approved more multifamily density and dropped the old requirement to build the South Bay Extension road. Valid opposition petitions can raise the bar: the former Rosedale Elementary site at 2117 W 49th went to the highest-density multifamily zoning despite one.

Annexation and MUDs in the suburbs. Outside Austin, growth runs through annexation and municipal utility districts (MUDs). Developers build water, sewer, and road infrastructure through a MUD, which homeowners repay over time through taxes. Georgetown's big communities are working through pre-annexation with in-city MUD requests right now. MUD taxes are a real line item; always ask for the total tax rate.

Plats and site plans. Preliminary and final plats create legal lots, while site plans govern multifamily and commercial. Pflugerville's Cameron Valley, a roughly 77-acre new neighborhood, got its preliminary plan approved by planning and zoning in April. The plat pipeline in Leander includes Glory Hill's 43 lots, being built by Tri Point Homes Texas, plus Lost Woods, Travisso Phase 5, and Cypress Meadows.

ETJ development. Much of the region's growth sits in cities' extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJ), where the county has limited subdivision authority. Sunfield, a massive roughly 6,000-unit mixed-residential project in Buda's ETJ, is building now. ETJ buyers should confirm which city will eventually annex the area and what that means for taxes and services.

Georgetown: the single-family frontier

Georgetown is where Austin's single-family future is being entitled. Yearwood, a 1,627-home community by Freehold Communities on a 728-acre former quarry site at Rattlesnake Road and Ronald Reagan Blvd, is working through pre-annexation with an in-city MUD request. Rock Bluff Ranch, another Freehold Capital Management project with roughly 1,953 homes including Del Webb age-restricted product, is on the same track. Expect annexation and development agreements to come back to council soon. These are multi-year buildouts, and early buyers typically get the best lot selection and pricing.

Buda: the growth machine

South of Austin, Buda is building at full speed. Persimmon, a 2,300-home master-planned community by MileStone Community Builders, is under construction. Sunfield, the roughly 6,000-unit mixed-residential project in Buda's ETJ, is also building. The Colony at Cole Springs (499 homes) and Porches at Dupre (139 homes) are underway, while The Reserve at Cole Springs and West Oak (200 townhomes) are still in the development phase. Buda offers the region's deepest bench of actively selling new-home communities.

Austin proper: density and infill

Inside the city, the action is multifamily and mixed-use infill. Beyond the six September 24 rezonings, council approved multifamily rezonings for 4302 Nuckols Crossing in southeast Austin (owner KB Nuckols, LLC), the David Chapel church property at Springdale Road and East MLK Jr. Blvd in East Austin, and a mixed-use project at 1076 Springdale plus Wonsley Grocery and Kitchen in North Austin. At the September 22 Planning Commission, the Airport and Koenig multifamily case was postponed to October 27, while Woodward Mixed Use Flats, 2020 W Anderson Lane, and the Nirvana senior living community in University Hills went through review. For buyers, these rezonings are the leading indicator of where new apartments and condos will deliver in two to four years.

Leander, Pflugerville, and Cedar Park

Leander. The Leander Springs PUD amendment is the one to watch: 1,200 apartments over a 10-plus year buildout around a new lagoon, which must be built before any multifamily certificates of occupancy are issued, plus 100,000 square feet of commercial. It is a genuine long-term play.

Pflugerville. Cameron Valley's preliminary plan approval keeps it on track, while the Rowe Loop rezoning is officially dead after council defeated it 3-4 in February, a reminder that not every proposal survives.

Cedar Park. The RR Whitestone planned development, about 100 acres east of West Parmer Lane, was adopted by ordinance in April with a 60-40 residential to nonresidential split and reduced apartment units.

Round Rock and Kyle. Round Rock has a Slate PUD amendment that would add a multifamily option on about 10.85 acres off E Old Settlers Blvd, though council outcomes are still unverified. Kyle was quiet on the official record, with October planning and zoning meetings worth watching.

What buyers and investors should watch

MUD taxes change the math. In Georgetown, Buda's ETJ, and other suburban communities, MUD debt is repaid through property taxes. Two homes with the same price can have very different monthly payments depending on the MUD rate. Get the total tax rate in writing.

Annexation is the catalyst. Yearwood and Rock Bluff Ranch are in pre-annexation now. When annexation and development agreements come back to Georgetown council, those projects shift from proposed to real. That is the moment to start talking to builders.

Austin's rezoning wave is a supply signal. Six multifamily rezonings in one council sitting means a meaningful pipeline of future apartments and condos. Renters and condo buyers should track which of these move to site plan, because that is when delivery timelines firm up.

Phasing rewards early buyers. In multi-thousand-home communities like Sunfield and Persimmon, builders release phases over years. Early phases usually offer the lowest prices and the best lots, with the tradeoff of living in an active construction zone.

A buyer's checklist for Central Texas new homes

1. Get the total tax rate, including MUD and PID assessments, before comparing prices across communities.
2. For Georgetown and ETJ communities, confirm annexation status and which city will provide services.
3. Inside Austin, track rezonings through site plan; the gap between the two is where timelines get real.
4. Ask builders about phase release schedules; buying in an early phase usually means better pricing.
5. Verify what infrastructure the MUD covers and when bonds are expected to be paid down.

Central Texas adds new communities to the pipeline every week, from Georgetown's quarry redevelopments to Buda's thousands of rising rooftops. The Housing Pipeline tracks every one of them through planning and zoning across the Austin metro and publishes it as a free weekly edition every Sunday at thehousingpipeline.com. Know what is getting built before it breaks ground.