With the real estate market constantly fluctuating, many homeowners are tasked with deciding to remodel or buy a new house.

The Spicewood-based Wild Hare Construction and Remodeling, owned by Jimmy Jackson II, has been serving the Austin-area for 14 years. Community Impact spoke with Jackson to learn more about the remodeling process and the benefits of remodeling.

What are some of the benefits of remodeling?

When the market is good, people are looking to remodel to get the most out of their house as they move on to the next one. Unless it’s just a minor thing, they're typically looking to move to the next house, so they're making their current house nicer to get more out of it. When the economy goes down the other way, it tends to be more of the "okay, we can’t afford to get as much house as we have here if we sell, so let’s make this house as close to what we want as we can."

Greater YMCA officials announced May 13 that the upcoming Four Points YMCA facility is expected to be complete by late 2028. The facility will be named the Schmetterling YMCA following a $15 million gift from The Schmetterling Foundation that will push construction forward.

The details: According to officials, the new facility is slated to feature:

• 9 acres of outdoor space with fitness areas
• Basketball and pickleball sports courts
• An aquatics complex with outdoor year-round swimming
• A full indoor fitness and wellness center
• Group fitness studios
• Drop-in child care and a youth maker space for science, technology, art and cooking
• A coworking lounge
• Community gathering spaces

The latest data from Unlock MLS shows signs that the housing market is ticking up in Central Texas, with higher year-over-year home sales and homes selling closer to their original listing price.

The details: Representing the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan statistical area, or MSA, the data released May 12 shows residential home sales increased 2% year over year in April for the MSA, reaching 2,648. That's the highest number of monthly home sales so far this year, up from a 0.5% year-over-year increase in March and decreases in both January and February. 

“What stands out in April’s data is the shift in buyer psychology and overall market momentum," said Vaike O’Grady, market research advisor at Unlock MLS, in a news release. "Many buyers who had been delaying their home search took advantage of the temporary dip in mortgage rates we saw earlier this year and moved quickly once conditions became more manageable."

Increasing pending and closed sales point to a market where buyers are "stepping into the market with more urgency," O'Grady said.

Check out the latest transportation projects across the Austin metro. 

Upcoming projects
Bee Cave Road AI traffic signals
Project: West Lake Hills will install nine artificial intelligence traffic signals along Bee Cave Road to try and improve traffic efficiency along the corridor.
Update: City Council moved forward with funding the traffic signals April 22.

• Timeline: TBD
• Cost: $360,000
• Funding source: city tax revenue proceeds, general fund

• Timeline: August 2024-summer 2027
• Cost: $52.4 million
• Funding source: Williamson County 2019 road bond