New Construction Is Flooding Parts of Austin. Here's Exactly Where — and What Builders Are Doing to Move It.
More than one in four active home listings across the Austin metro right now is a brand-new home. As of March 12, 2026, 3,789 of the 13,888 active residential listings in the MLS are new construction — a 27.3% share that tells only part of the story. In some suburbs, builders have so thoroughly saturated the market that they have outnumbered resale sellers by a margin of three to one. And to keep sales moving, the majority of those builders are cutting prices. For buyers, this is one of the most favorable new construction environments in years. For resale sellers in the wrong ZIP code, it is a direct threat to pricing power.
Liberty Hill Leads the Metro in New Construction Saturation
No city in the Austin market is more builder-dominated than Liberty Hill. Of the 416 active residential listings there, 252 — or 60.6% — are new construction. That is the highest concentration in the entire MLS. Buyers searching in Liberty Hill today are almost certain to encounter a builder before they encounter a resale seller. The community of Santa Rita Ranch alone accounts for 87 new listings, making it one of the most active single subdivisions in the metro. Builders operating in Liberty Hill include Perry Homes, Westin, Chesmar, Highland, Coventry, Drees, and Toll Brothers, among others.
The pricing pressure in Liberty Hill is significant. Two-thirds of new construction listings in the city — 66.7% — have already had their asking prices reduced. With a median new construction list price of $596,945 and entry-level product starting around $363,000 at the 10th percentile, Liberty Hill spans a wide price band. But the dominant price action is clearly downward, and buyers who negotiate from today's already-reduced list prices are entering the conversation in a strong position.
The Northern Corridor: Jarrell, Hutto, and Kyle Are Builder Country
The northern and southern corridors of the Austin metro tell similar stories with slightly different numbers. In Jarrell, 55.6% of active listings are new construction. The median new construction price there is $279,990 — the most affordable new construction median among all major cities tracked — and 54.9% of builders in the city have already cut their prices. The entry-level threshold sits at $233,990 at the 10th percentile, making Jarrell one of the few remaining places in the metro where a sub-$250,000 new home is a realistic option. Lennar, DR Horton, and CastleRock are among the most active builders.
Hutto tells a story of even more intense builder activity. With 52.8% of its active listings being new construction and 71.6% of those listings carrying a price reduction, Hutto has the highest rate of price-cut listings among the major builder-heavy cities. The median new construction price in Hutto is $369,990. Flora, Prairie Winds, and Cotton Brook are the most active subdivisions, with Lennar and Meritage leading among builders. Buyers targeting Hutto should treat current list prices as opening offers, not final numbers.
Kyle rounds out the northern-corridor picture with 278 new construction listings representing 53.5% of all active inventory. The median price is $351,495 and 66.5% of listings have seen reductions. The 6 Creeks master-planned community leads all Kyle subdivisions with 48 active new construction listings. DR Horton, Lennar, Meritage, and Perry are all competing for the same pool of buyers, which is driving the pricing competition visible in the data.
Georgetown: The Largest Suburban Builder Market in the Metro
Georgetown's new construction market stands apart not just for its concentration but for its sheer volume. At 350 active new construction listings — the highest count of any suburb in the MLS — Georgetown is the single largest suburban builder market in Austin. New construction represents 34.5% of the city's total active inventory. The breadth of product is remarkable, with prices spanning from around $378,000 at the 10th percentile to over $899,000 at the 90th percentile.
The pricing pressure in Georgetown is acute. A full 69.1% of new construction listings in the city have had price reductions, with some of the steepest cuts seen in larger master-planned communities. Coventry Homes has averaged a 13.0% reduction across its Georgetown listings, while Perry Homes is down 11.4% on average. Wolf Ranch (49 listings) and Parkside on the River (39 listings) are the two highest-volume subdivisions, and both are showing meaningful price concessions. For buyers, Georgetown offers the widest selection of builder product in the metro alongside some of the most motivated sellers in the space.
Where New Construction Is Essentially Absent
The flip side of builder saturation is equally important to understand. Cedar Park has only 7 active new construction listings out of 161 total — a concentration of just 4.3%, the lowest in the MLS among tracked cities. That means 95.7% of Cedar Park's active inventory is resale. Buyers in Cedar Park are shopping an overwhelmingly resale-driven market where the dynamics, negotiations, and pricing pressures are entirely different from what is happening in Liberty Hill or Jarrell. Driftwood, at 7.5% new construction, and Taylor, at 15.0%, are similarly resale-dominant markets.
Austin proper — the city itself — sits at 14.6% new construction, with 549 new listings out of 3,766 total active. The city's new construction skews heavily upmarket: the median price is $739,990 and the 75th percentile reaches $1,299,000. Only 3.5% of Austin's new construction listings have seen price increases, but the more striking characteristic is the range of product, from infill townhomes in the $350,000 range to custom luxury builds well above $2 million. Builders like Intracorp (18 listings, average $947,000) and Taylor Morrison (13 listings, average $688,000) are active in the city proper, but the Austin new construction story is fundamentally different from the suburban one.
The Builder Pricing Wars: Who Is Cutting Most Aggressively
Across all 3,789 new construction listings in the Austin MLS, 56.5% have had price reductions, 36.1% are holding firm, and only 7.2% have seen price increases. That means the clear majority of builders metro-wide are in price-reduction mode. The variation by builder is significant and worth understanding for any buyer comparing options.
Perry Homes leads in active listings among volume builders with 185 homes across the metro, and 87.0% of those listings have experienced price reductions. Coventry carries 85 listings with an 83.5% price-cut rate — among the highest of any major builder. Westin Homes shows 84.6% of its 78 listings with reductions. Dream Finders is at 90.0% across its 10 active metro listings. At the other end of the spectrum, DR Horton — the metro's most active builder by listing count at 207 homes — shows only a 36.7% price-cut rate while 23.7% of its listings have actually seen price increases, suggesting a more disciplined or lower-priced-entry strategy that is generating more organic demand without requiring as many concessions.
LGI Homes stands out as one of the most stable builder brands in the data: 81.0% of its 42 listings show no price change, and only 14.3% have been reduced. Starlight Homes shows the highest rate of price increases among volume builders at 28.6%, suggesting selective upward movement in specific locations or price points. These builder-level patterns matter for buyers who are deciding between comparable product from different brands — the same neighborhood and price range can yield very different negotiating leverage depending on which builder holds the listing.
Price Per Square Foot: What the Data Reveals by Market
The percentile price data reveals the true cost structure of new construction across the metro's distinct submarkets. In Elgin, the median new construction price is $299,990 at $175 per square foot — among the most affordable combinations in the metro. San Marcos carries a similar median of $334,990 but a lower per-square-foot figure of $192, reflecting larger floor plans. Jarrell's median of $279,990 at $170 per square foot represents the best value on a cost-per-square-foot basis among well-supplied builder markets.
At the premium end, Lakeway's median new construction price is $781,950 at $366 per square foot, and Leander shows a wide spread — median of $649,000 but a 90th percentile reaching $1,099,450 — reflecting the mix of entry-level and luxury product in that market. Spicewood skews heavily upscale with a median near $930,000 and a 90th percentile above $2.4 million, but with only 35 total new construction listings it remains a boutique market. Austin's per-square-foot range, from $215 at the 10th percentile to $899 at the 90th, underscores just how wide the city's new construction market has become.
What This Means for Buyers Right Now
The Austin new construction market on March 12, 2026 is buyer-favorable in ways that are both broad and specific. Broadly, the fact that more than half of all new construction listings metro-wide have already had at least one price reduction means that asking prices are not anchored in the same way they were during the market's peak years. Builders are motivated, and the data makes that motivation quantifiable. Specifically, buyers targeting the northern suburbs — Jarrell, Hutto, Liberty Hill, and Kyle — are entering markets where the volume of builder product is high, the competition among builders is fierce, and the price-reduction rates are telling. Those conditions create genuine negotiating room not just on price, but on rate buydowns, closing cost contributions, and option upgrades.
For buyers focused on Georgetown, the story is similar but with a larger selection. The city's 350 new construction listings cover more price points, more builders, and more community types than any other suburb in the MLS. The tradeoff is that buyers need to do more work to find where value is concentrated. The combination of high listing volume and a 69.1% price-cut rate is a clear signal: Georgetown builders are not simply holding the line and waiting for the market to come to them.
Resale-dominant markets like Cedar Park and Austin proper operate under different dynamics. In Cedar Park, the near-absence of builder competition means resale sellers face less direct pricing pressure from new inventory. In the city of Austin, new construction is a premium, upmarket play rather than a volume strategy, and buyers in that segment should evaluate builder product on its own merits rather than expecting the same leverage found in the outer suburbs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is new construction the most concentrated in the Austin metro? Liberty Hill currently has the highest new construction concentration in the Austin MLS, with 60.6% of its 416 active listings being builder inventory. Jarrell follows at 55.6%, Hutto at 52.8%, Kyle at 53.5%, and Buda at 52.1%. These markets represent the core of the Austin metro's builder-saturated zone and offer buyers the most direct access to new construction options and the most competitive builder pricing conditions.
Are Austin-area builders actually cutting prices? Yes — and significantly. Across all 3,789 new construction listings in the Austin MLS as of March 2026, 56.5% have had at least one price reduction. In markets like Georgetown (69.1%), Liberty Hill (66.7%), and Kyle (66.5%), the majority of new construction listings are already below their original asking prices. Individual builder brands vary: Perry Homes shows an 87.0% price-cut rate across 185 metro listings, while DR Horton holds only a 36.7% reduction rate among its 207 listings. Buyers should treat current list prices as negotiating starting points, not final numbers.
What is the most affordable new construction market in the Austin area? Jarrell currently offers the lowest median new construction price in the metro at $279,990, with entry-level product available at $233,990 at the 10th percentile. Elgin is comparable at a median of $299,990. San Marcos offers a median of $334,990. All three markets have significant active new construction inventories — 144, 147, and 147 listings respectively — meaning buyers in these price points have genuine options, not just a handful of listings. The abundance of supply combined with active price reductions makes these the most financially accessible new construction markets in the region.
How does new construction in Austin proper compare to the suburbs? Austin city's new construction market is fundamentally different from the suburban builder markets. With only 14.6% of its active listings being new construction, the city is a resale-dominated market. The new construction that does exist in Austin proper skews heavily upmarket, with a median price of $739,990 and a 90th percentile above $2.5 million. Builders in the city are offering infill townhomes, luxury custom builds, and higher-density product — not the master-planned volume housing that defines the suburban corridor. Price cuts in the city are less common (only 44.3% of listings), and the per-square-foot cost range of $215 to $899 reflects enormous product diversity.
Which builders have the most active new construction listings in the Austin market? DR Horton leads all builders with 207 active new construction listings across the metro, followed by Lennar at 404 listings — making Lennar the single highest-volume builder in the data. Perry Homes has 185 active listings, Meritage has 172, and Taylor Morrison has 110. Century sits at 101 and Pulte at 112. These volume builders are competing across multiple submarkets simultaneously, which creates pricing pressure within their own portfolios as well as across brands. Buyers comparing builder options in markets where multiple of these builders are active — Georgetown and Liberty Hill, for example — will find the most competitive conditions.
