Central allandale By Jackie Potts

Pflugerville

Pflugerville's housing market, which has risen and fallen with the fortunes of Dell Inc., is slowly recovering from the effects of the 2001 tech bust.

More than 400 existing homes are on the market in the area, and more than 30 percent are vacant -- 10 percent is normal -- according to local real estate agents. The high inventory, plus competition from new home developments, has made it harder to sell a house.

"Three years ago, the average number of days on the market for our team was 27. Now, it's 100," said Larry English, who owns ReMax Greater Austin, which gets 90 percent of its sales from the Pflugerville area.

English said home construction in the area, which remains above 1,000 houses a year, is affecting existing home sales. He said builders are offering incentives that put existing home sellers at a disadvantage.

"I would not say we have fully recovered until all the vacant houses have been sold," English said. "The key here is jobs."

Still, there is hope that the market is past its worst days.

Low mortgage rates helped bring a new wave of home buyers into the Central Texas market, and more than 900 existing homes in the Pflugerville area were sold in 2003, reaching levels last seen in 2000.

And city leaders and real estate developers are hoping that Texas 130, the toll highway under construction along the east sides of Travis and Williamson counties, will open new opportunities to attract new residents and, importantly, new employers.

The city's largest employer is the 16,500-student Pflugerville school district, but many of those 1,500 jobs are outside the city limits. The city is 25 square miles; the school district covers 100, including parts of North Austin, Round Rock, Manor, Taylor and Hutto.

In grocery stores, at the sidelines of soccer and baseball games, and at City Council meetings, people are talking about Texas 130 and Texas 45 North, which will connect Pflugerville and Cedar Park -- and the opportunities they will bring for retail and commercial development. Both roads are scheduled to open in 2007.

"What has held Pflugerville back all these years is that we didn't have the big roads that Round Rock and Georgetown had," said John Pfluger, a broker and descendant of the city's founder.

No town is a better example of the type of bedroom communities that sprouted up around Austin and Round Rock during the tech boom.

Pflugerville's population more than tripled during the 1990s as builders quickly put up houses for the burgeoning number of employees of Dell and other nearby companies. In 1999 alone, work began on 1,695 houses.

But when the tech boom lost steam, thousands of Dell employees were laid off, and many had to put their houses up for sale.

Like other areas of Central Texas also hit by layoffs, the number of existing homes added to the listings in the Pflugerville area saw double-digit percentage point increases after the tech bust.

In 2001, nearly 1,500 existing homes were put on the market. In 2002, 1,700 new listings were added. Last year, it rose to 1,987.

But the number of sales slid from 930 in 2000 to 800 in 2002; they rebounded to 926 in 2003.

In the region overall, sales did not slip.

Low mortgage interest rates helped the Pflugerville market recover last year, in part by drawing first-time buyers such as Mark and Shannon Willy.

The Willys and their children Callie, 5, and Mason, 1, moved to Pflugerville last September from an apartment in South Austin.

Mark Willy is the store director of the Pflugerville Albertsons grocery. He said he loves the fact that he lives 10 minutes away from his job and no longer has to commute on Interstate 35 or MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1).

Shannon Willy is a manager for Bank of America in Cedar Park. But the family chose to live in Pflugerville, citing the award-winning school system and family amenities.

"When I took the store over, I just loved the community," Mark Willy said. "I thought this would be a great place to raise a family."

The city offers "a sense of safety and security," he said. "There are lots of soccer fields and lots of activities for kids."

The Willys bought a 2,000-square-foot house in the The Park at Blackhawk, a new subdivision on the north side of Pflugerville.

Much of the new home construction over the past year has been around the area near the intersection of Pecan Street, Pflugerville's main drive, and FM 685.

Work was started on more than 1,000 houses in the Pflugerville area in 2003, and more are on the way.

The city has approved 14,000 lots as future home sites, and hundreds are already in various stages of planning and construction.

And even farther east on Pecan Street, a new master-planned community is in the works.

More change coming

Last month, Tejas Viejo Land Co. announced that it had 1,600 acres near the intersection of Pecan Street and Texas 130 under contract.

Wayne "Sandy" Rea, Tejas Viejo's president, said that Texas 130, which will stretch from Georgetown to Seguin, south of Austin, and companion toll-road project Texas 45 North, which will connect Pflugerville and Cedar Park, are the reasons why he and other developers are looking at Pflugerville in a new light.

"In every city that I've been in, everything goes out to the freeways. The restaurants, the shopping, everything," Rea said. "This will totally and completely change Pflugerville."

Pfluger, the broker, helped bring together 15 landowners to sell their properties to Tejas Viejo. The project could grow by another 400 acres.

The mixed-use development also will bring commercial and retail space to a city that hasn't seen the same retail growth that has occurred in other parts of Central Texas, including in North Austin at the city's edge.

At a recent City Council work session, city planners made a list of their top priorities for economic development. They include industrial and business park development and improving roads leading to Texas 130 and Texas 45 North. As the transportation and infrastructure gets better, retail opportunities will improve, city planners hope.

Commercial development along the Texas 45 North and Texas 130 corridors "will give us the opportunity to have a well-balanced city instead of just living on rooftop taxes, property taxes," said David Buesing, Pflugerville's acting city manager and police chief. "We will, hopefully, have businesses out there generating sales taxes to give us a well-rounded and well-balanced budget."

That prospect, plus the recovering economy, gives Buesing hope that his city is finally working its way out from under the recession.

"It's been felt by a lot of people out here," he said. "Most of these people work in Round Rock or Dell or somewhere; they don't really work in Pflugerville. With (Texas) 130 coming, we will have the opportunity to have jobs here."

Zone: N
MLS Area: PF

Zip Code 78660

As a member of the Pflugerville Recreation Center you have access to the gymnasium, fitness room (Circuit Training, Free Weights, Cardio Equipment), game room (Ping Pong, Pool, Foosball, Air Hockey), and a track.