Newsflash.  A significant portion of homes in Austin and in Northwest Hills in particular are actually sold outside the public market as private listings. While the number of private sales varies depending on market conditions and the time of year, as of July 23, 2024, a whopping 35% Northwest Hills homes are being marketed privately off of public-facing websites like Zillow or Redfin.  These private listings aren't even in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for most agents to see.  

So what exactly are you NOT seeing in Northwest Hills?

• Prices of these off market homes range from 1.1M to 3.2M
• 3 of the off market homes have five bedrooms
• 6 of the off market homes have four bedrooms
• 6 of the off market homes have a swimming pool
• 8 of the off market homes are zoned to Doss Elementary
• 2 of the off market homes are zoned to Highland Park Elementary
• 2 of the off market homes are zoned to Hill Elementary
• 3 of the off market homes are new construction
• 2 of the off market homes are on large lots close to 5 acres

Interesting, no?  If you would like to know more about any of these off market opportunities, we should chat.  

But first, let's back up and make sure we understand off market home sales. 

Major methods of marketing a home for sale

There are three general places where you can find homes for sale in Austin.  The bulk of Austin homes for sale can be found on the MLS operated by the Austin Board of Realtors where those properties can be seen and searched by other Realtors with access to the MLS.  While the public can't access the MLS, third-party aggregators like Zillow or Redfin often have agreements with the MLS which allow them to access and re-post the MLS listings on their third-party sites.  Then there is a third group of homes that are not publicly listed for sale, but are instead marketed privately using private portals and personal network connections.  This third type of sale is often called off market, pocket listings, hidden homes, private exclusive, or quiet market.  It's this third type of home sale that is often overlooked.

In Northwest Hills there are currently 26 single-family homes marketed publicly, and another 14 single-family homes are located on the private market, making a total of 4o homes available for purchase.  That means 35% of Northwest Hills homes are being sold off market.  This is a significant bump from July 2023 when 25% of Northwest Hills homes were sold privately.  But how does that compare to the city of Austin as a whole?  

If we compare Northwest Hills to the broader Austin market,  we find 3,423 homes for sale in Austin's public market and another 949 homes being marketed privately, for a total of 4,372 homes for sale.  That makes about 22% of Austin home sales hidden.  

Here's how it breaks down by some of Austin's most popular neighborhoods as of July 24, 2024:

• Westlake Hills:  170 private listings + 200 MLS listings = 46% sold privately
• Northwest Hills:  14 private listings + 26 MLS listings = 35% sold privately
• Central Austin:  134 private listings + 459 MLS listings = 23% sold privately (Brentview, Crestview, Hyde Park, Pemberton, Rosedale, Tarrytown, 78704)
• Lakeway:  136 private listings + 668 MLS listings = 17% sold privately

Wherever you are house hunting in Austin, be sure that off market homes are on your radar.

[A note on the data:  Since off market sales are not tracked by the Austin Board of Realtors, there is not an ideal way to calculate this data other than to visit each of the off market portals and do our own manual tabulations.  Certainly you will find some duplicates across the private portals so the actual percentages may be slightly lower.  That's not the case with the Northwest Hills data, however.  Since the Northwest Hills had a smaller pool of homes, we were able to scrub the duplicates.  While these numbers may not be perfect, they at least give you a sense of market trends.]  

How can a buyer be sure they are seeing ALL available homes for sale? 

Unfortunately, there isn't a way for buyers to access these off market homes directly.  If you want to see more of the homes available for sale – especially luxury homes – you should work with a Realtor that has access to private listings.  

When interviewing a Realtor, always ask how they will find properties for you, and make sure they have access to all of the private listing portals.  In Austin there are four Realtor-facing portals for searching private listings.  Three of those exclusive portals require an application, the participating Realtor must meet the prerequisite qualifications, and the Realtor must pay a substantial fee.  To ensure you see all available homes, your Realtor should be a qualified and paying member of all the portals.

In the off market arena, Realtor-to-Realtor relationships with other agents matter more than ever; so it can also be beneficial to have a seasoned agent that has been in the business for a while with contacts across a variety of brokerages.

We scour all of the portals for you.

Our professional connections allow us to source homes from a myriad of sources that you won't find on conglomerate sites.   Whether it is homes available on the Austin Luxury Network, properties marketed on the Top Agent Network, exclusive listings on Clubhouse, homes shared on ATX Pocket, listings offered for sale by owner, or homes recently withdrawn, we won't leave any stone unturned when it comes to finding the right property for you.   If you want to be notified about off market listings that might meet your criteria, please reach out.  

(July 2024)