Austin Real Estate Market 2026: Best Suburbs, New Construction, Commute Times & Growth Areas

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (00:00)
Lifestyle. Yes. So we asked them, do you work from home? Do you have a hybrid work, work life, or do you have to go in five days a week? Because we try to, we really try to stress the fact that if you want to live in Georgetown, Georgetown’s a great place to live, but you’re going to be 45 minutes to over an hour. If you have to drive downtown, if you’re in the North, the North side tech worker, for example, that may be a little less, but you’re still looking at 30 to 45 minutes.

even from Georgetown. And the statement we say is, the location you choose is more important than the house itself.

Dylan Silver (02:07)
Hey folks, welcome back to the show. Today’s guests, Matthew and Alisha Wilson, are experienced real estate professionals serving clients throughout the greater Austin area. With over 20 years in industry, they bring deep market knowledge, strategic insight, and client first approach to every transaction. Alisha is also a licensed attorney in Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida. And together, they also have decades of experience in insurance as well. Together, they specialize in helping buyers and sellers navigate the

fast moving Austin market with a strong focus on suburban communities. They also host the very popular YouTube channel, Austin Suburbs, where they provide valuable insights, neighborhood tours, and other great information for folks. Matt and Alisha, thanks for taking the time today.

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (02:50)
Bye. We’re excited.

Dylan Silver (02:53)
I’d like to start off at the top by asking about the Austin area as a whole and the urban sprawl of Austin. I mentioned to you in the green room, I’m in San Marcos. Which areas of Austin or the greater Austin area are you particularly bullish on or are you seeing buyers right now particularly interested in?

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (03:14)
We’re seeing a lot of buyers interested in Georgetown, which is a northern suburb of Austin. We’ve seen a lot of people moving east as well towards Huddo, Maynor, Flaugerville, sort of the areas that we like to specialize in. There’s a ton of new construction. In fact, Georgetown actually has over 30,000 new construction homes in the pipeline. So we’re seeing a lot of activity up there.

Dylan Silver (03:41)
What’s the biggest motivating factor you’re seeing for people looking in some of these areas? Is it they have, of course, jobs, right? But is it also as well that they’re wanting to partake in, again, that urban sprawl and being able to live in Texas, but also take advantage of all the new development that’s happening and the relatively cost-effective way that they can buy these new homes?

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (04:04)
So a lot of our clients are actually relocate relocation clients and they’re selling their homes where they live and lot of them are retirees or they’re moving for jobs. So it’s very specific. are choosing Austin, they’re choosing Texas and they’re specifically these suburbs that we cover. Yeah. And I think a lot of it is they’re tired of big city living. They want some peace. They want some quiet. They want bigger homes. They want to be able to spread out.

and just enjoy the outdoors. There’s a lot of outdoor activities in the Central Austin, Central Texas market. And so it seems to be that, and also prices, of course, the pricing.

Dylan Silver (04:42)
You know, one of the things that’s been most interesting and we were speaking in the green room is all of the new construction that’s happening throughout Texas, but certainly in Austin. seems like there’s a new subdivision, a new community sprouting up everywhere. Are folks right now, especially outside of Texas, keen and aware to how much new construction there is, or is this even surprising for them?

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (05:51)
Well, if they watch our channel, they’re not surprised at all. Yeah, I mean, there are people that are surprised, though, that talk to us. We get a lot of West Coasters, Oregon, Washington, California. And when we tell them about all the opportunity and all of the new neighborhoods, they’re a little shocked because they do their online searches, but not every community advertises well. So we definitely heard people be surprised that there so many options to choose from. When our hometown, Maynard.

Dylan Silver (06:13)
Right.

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (06:20)
which is just East Austin, nobody knows Manor or Pflugerville, and there’s such a great opportunity out here. And that’s why we focus on our hometown and then the Northeast Austin suburbs because most agents aren’t focused on it. And we’re like, this is a great opportunity.

Dylan Silver (06:35)
Yeah, I think when you mentioned the Northeast Austin suburbs, I am even a fish out of water in this space. Shame on me. Walk me through, know, if folks are looking at the greater Austin area, Maine, you know, specifically, but some of these other areas that might not get as much shine as others, Maine are being won. But are there any other areas that you’re particularly bullish on?

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (06:57)
would just say the five suburbs that we try to focus on. I Round Rock is a very established suburb for sure, but Georgetown has been growing by leaps and bounds. After Round Rock, it is the second suburb that has exceeded 100,000 in population. And then as you go out east, Huddo, and even Taylor, because of the new Samsung factory, that we like to look at growth before it happens or where growth is moving.

So a lot of people want to go and get into the areas that have already been established. They already have lots of things going on, but you’re going to pay a premium for that. We like to look at where’s the growth heading and in five years will Maynard, for example, be the next Georgetown or the next Leander. And that’s what we look at. So we like to get in on the ground floor. The developments and tell our clients or our viewers to be patient. We moved to Maynard three years ago. There was no grocery stores. Now HEB.

Home Depot, Chick-fil-A. So, awesome, we bought in an area that was cheaper. We were patient. Next thing you know, the development grew around us. So, the pros and cons of new construction, if you’re patient, you’re gonna get a great deal. If you’re not, you may spend more than you want.

Dylan Silver (08:06)
Now I know traffic

is a big deal in Austin. There’s no getting around that.

When you’re looking at commuting, you know, from an area like Maynard into downtown Austin, that commute can vary. But what’s that look like on a day-to-day basis?

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (08:20)
Well, I’m glad you asked because Maynor is actually the closest suburb to downtown Austin. A lot of people don’t know this, but there’s Highway 290, which is a toll road. But 290, you travel along 290 West and it drops you right down on 35 and it’s very close. You don’t have to drive much on I-35 to get downtown. So you’re looking at 20 to 25 minutes with no traffic and maybe up to 35 with traffic.

It’s a big deal. Other suburbs, it’s a little longer. Well, and that’s why, like I said, our last video was actually about traffic. use agents want to talk about houses. We talk about development and we definitely talk about traffic. It’s a big deal.

Dylan Silver (08:59)
That’s

a huge thing. I certainly think everybody who is a Texan can relate to driving into and out of Austin and thinking, how long is this gonna take? So knowing that Maynard is within a striking distance, you mentioned like 20 minutes, that’s beautiful. For folks who are looking at kind of weighing the pros and cons of being closer to downtown versus being in the suburbs, what’s the conversation that you have with them when they’re going through that mental arithmetic?

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (09:25)
Lifestyle. Yes. So we asked them, do you work from home? Do you have a hybrid work, work life, or do you have to go in five days a week? Because we try to, we really try to stress the fact that if you want to live in Georgetown, Georgetown’s a great place to live, but you’re going to be 45 minutes to over an hour. If you have to drive downtown, if you’re in the North, the North side tech worker, for example, that may be a little less, but you’re still looking at 30 to 45 minutes.

even from Georgetown. And the statement we say is, the location you choose is more important than the house itself.

a lot of agents want to sell homes, but like Alisha said, what are your goals? What’s the lifestyle you like? You may find a perfect house, but then it’s not in the location that you want. And that’s what we want to try to focus on, location is more important than the house.

Dylan Silver (10:50)
Yeah, 100%. I relate to that specifically because you mentioned Georgetown being a little bit of a heavy commute into downtown Austin. I mentioned in the green room that I lived for a year in Denton and someone told me, it’s DFW Metro, you’ll be fine. And then I found out, my gosh, there’s a little bit of a commute from Denton into Dallas. And so, you know, even if something can be considered in the urban sprawl, the Metro area, you really do have to be careful because look, it’s a huge investment. And just because you’re within

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (11:03)
you

Dylan Silver (11:19)
a driving distance doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to be quick and easy making that commute.

I do want to pivot here and ask you guys if we can get a little bit granular into which areas you’re seeing the most development happening currently. I think it’s happening really everywhere, but are you seeing more new development happening in certain areas around greater Austin?

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (11:42)
Yeah, I would say around Pflugerville and the Round Rock area, there are big developments like the district. That’s a huge multi-use, like residential shopping. We’re seeing a lot of that. Pflugerville has Downtown East, which is essentially there. It’s going to be their new town hall area with lots of ⁓

Dylan Silver (11:57)
Yeah.

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (12:06)
And then you have these data centers coming from all over the place. That’s You’ve got the huge Samsung plant in Taylor. There’s going to be additional plants being built in the north and the east because that’s where the space is. So tech is going to follow houses. It’s going to follow jobs. So a lot of people aren’t really paying attention to this not sexy part of the Austin suburbs and northeast. But if you’re really focused on development and jobs and where the tech side is going, north and east is where it’s at.

Dylan Silver (12:36)
I’ve also noticed this trend too, kind of like off the cuff, that if there’s a bunch of pickleball courts coming into an area, that’s somehow a harbinger that developers are in communication. It’s like, did the developers put the pickleball courts there or did the pickleball courts come first and the develop, it’s like a chicken and the egg thing.

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (12:55)
Yes. Alisha joked in one video, she said, Pickleball courts are Texas law or they should be. Right, Yeah, because a lot of the new communities that we’re seeing have pickleball courts. like, OK, it’s like a developer must. Like we have to have a community with pickleball. Round Rock, there’s a park called Old Settlers Park and they literally just added like over a dozen pickleball and tennis courts. They really are expanding the idea of outside activity, which is great.

Dylan Silver (13:21)
You know, what’s really interesting to see, honestly, because I’m from the East Coast and grateful to be in Texas. I always feel like whenever you’re in Texas, especially not being from Texas, you have to be grateful, right? Because it’s so much amazing Texan culture that you get to be a part of. in current new construction specifically, I’m starting to see some trends. Like, for instance, the pickleball courts that I mentioned,

If you see Pickleball, of course, there’s going to be some type of multifamily apartment complex coming up somewhere. But then also, too, what I’ve seen is I’m seeing new construction and I’m able to see, well, how are or how is the town facilitating this? Right. So are they going to be putting in a Home Depot and H.E.B. something along these lines? So you start to see trends there and then you also, frankly, start to see like, hey, this is this builder. You recognize the design of these homes and so forth.

As folks who are heavily focused in the new construction space, are you as well seeing that, hey, if I’m gonna be buying in this area, that’s kind of the territory of this builder or this is the territory of multifamily. Do you see it segmented like that?

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (14:31)
I have seen certain builders, for example, Perry Homes, it’s sort of a Texas builder, Texas institution. They are all over the Northeast Austin suburbs. In fact, in Maynard, they built a few years back in Shadow Glen, it’s a golf course community. They’re building an additional, was it 40 homes? 60. Or 60 homes. And we can walk our dogs to the place. Yeah, so it’s like a pocket of area that’s in an already established community.

We see them in Georgetown all over the place, Round Rock, we see them in Hutto. I mean, they’re just everywhere. you know, these home developers, they file permits and they put this stuff on the books years before. it seems as though as soon as businesses or, know, ATB, for example, as soon as they saw all these builders putting in permits in Maynard, they’re like, okay, we’re going to have enough, you know, headcount.

I think they said there’s something like 60,000 cars a day that travel on the Maynard Highway, 290, 60,000 cars a day. mean, that’s insane to me that you’re going to see that many. Well, and then like Alisha said, she’ll look up permits. And we have an Instagram channel with the same name. Every day we tell stories about all this stuff because it’s super important. Like we said, if you’re going to find Maynard like we did and wait three years for all the development to follow.

Dylan Silver (15:38)
Yeah

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (15:55)
They’re planning this like Alisha said years and years before they even break ground.

Dylan Silver (16:42)
would like to ask you, mentioned the timelines involved here. I’ve heard earlier on the show here, you’d mentioned like three years, wait three years, you might see some more development happening. For folks who are trying to predict, know, where’s the next spot? And maybe they’re not pulling permits themselves, right? Is there a way for folks to kind of predict just like the big businesses are where things are going? What would be the process for them?

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (17:05)
Yeah, I think they would just go online. permits are public information. You can look those up. There’s permits in each individual city. And then there’s also a Texas website that you can look at permits. that’s what I do. sometimes I’ll go to the city of, and I’ll go to their meeting notes, because every city has minutes for their meetings. She’s a nerd.

Yeah, and a lot of that stuff, I’ll just download it to my computer, it into AI and say, you know, pick out the top residential developments that are coming in this particular city. And you’d be amazed. I you don’t have to do the reading of thousands of pages anymore. You can stick it in AI and then like community impact. They do local stories. We follow a lot of local newspapers, journalists, it’s Austin Business Journal. They’re always keeping up with what’s going on.

and we’re members of NAR. So NAR gives a lot of great information for agents who are part of the organization. So we try to keep up with what’s going on and locally you get a lot more information than if you just like Alisha said do a Google search.

Dylan Silver (18:13)
Now I know that from relocating, helping folks relocate from out of state into Texas, that’s definitely a niche in and of itself. And with your channel, I imagine a lot of people are finding you online. Was there an aha moment, bonus question for you guys, was there an aha moment that you had where you said, okay, we’re onto something here. We’ve really carved out this niche where folks are finding us from out of state and we’re their trusted eyes and ears on the ground.

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (18:37)
Well, our story is we relocated from Florida to Texas. That is our relocation story. So firsthand, we did it ourselves. Yeah, we had, I mean, we thought about the questions that we had when we were moving and we started talking about that in our videos and it felt like that’s what landed with people and that’s what made people start calling us. Like, hey, I had a question about traffic and you did a video about what the traffic is like from all of these Austin suburbs.

I mean, these are little things that only locals are going to know. Moving costs. ⁓ We had a big U-Haul truck. We had to find an Airbnb that could support it so we could protect our property because it was like two days later than the closing of the house. So all these little things you don’t think about. But do you have the key for the lock on the back of the truck? mean, like little bitty things like that.

Dylan Silver (19:08)
Yeah.

That’s a, mean, I’m thinking about all this right now. I’m running through the mental arithmetic of what you have to do to move states and driving, right? And one of the things that I think people don’t think about is, you physically have to move everything, but then also too, you’re a fish out of water in this new place. So it can be a little bit overwhelming. And that’s why having folks like yourself who can take the stress out of it for people are so valuable. And I’m sure your clients echo that sentiment.

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (19:53)
Absolutely. They’re very appreciative of all the things and I’m I don’t know if you know about disc profiles, but I’m a high C on the disc profile, which means I can get into the weeds on things. So I think about every little thing, you know, where where do you get your toll tag? Because there are people who don’t realize that Texas loves toll roads. Great is we have a few clients that are scheduling come out here in May.

Dylan Silver (20:11)
my god

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (20:18)
So we’ve already done the work. They already have a ton of houses. Alisha’s already pulled the seller disclosure notices. mean, basically when they come down here, they know what neighborhood they want, what city they want, what kind of house they want. That’s what we try to do as agents is to basically, if you’re coming down here May 4th, by the time you’re down here, we know the three or five houses, if they’re still available, that’s what we’re gonna see. That is what we wanna do for our clients is to take that stress out, give them all the information upfront.

Nice enjoyable trip and we’ll take them out for lunch exactly

Dylan Silver (20:50)
We are coming up on time here. Any new projects that y’all are working on and then as well, what’s the best way for folks to reach out to you?

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (20:57)
So right now we’re working on our website to actually put the new construction communities. We have an interactive map and our website is austin-suburbs.com and you can actually see which new construction communities are in which suburb and information about that community. So it’s a lot easier to search that way because a lot of new construction communities do not advertise on like Zillow or Redfin or those type of websites. So you can reach out there or our

YouTube channel is at Austin suburbs. So those are the two ways you can reach out and Instagram as well at Austin suburbs, right?

Dylan Silver (21:33)
Thank you guys so much for your time today. Thanks for joining us.

Matthew And Alisha Wilson (21:36)
Appreciate it, thank you.