Austin’s luxury housing market, long known for its robust off-market sales infrastructure, is seeing a shift as more high-end homes move from private networks to the public Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This change comes amid lagging sales and an evolving real estate environment.
Austin has developed a strong system for off-market deals due to permissive state laws, high local property taxes, and what agents describe as a lenient local real estate board. Central platforms such as Clubhouse and the Austin Luxury Network (ALN) have played key roles in facilitating these private transactions.
“In other markets, both in Texas and elsewhere in the country, deals are being done off market. It’s just much more underground, and there isn’t necessarily this one unified space,” said Justin Shapiro, co-founder of Clubhouse. He added that “to our knowledge, the Austin Board of Realtors is well aware of Clubhouse and Austin Luxury Network and other platforms, and they seem to be fine with it.”
Michael Reisor, an agent at Douglas Elliman who works in both New York and Austin, confirmed the prominence of off-market transactions locally: “Off-market is used by a significant number of agents in the city. Austin’s off-market scene is pretty robust compared to others.”
Texas does not require disclosure of sale prices on real estate transactions. Combined with some of the highest property tax rates in the state, this gives luxury sellers incentives to keep transaction values private. “When you’re paying 2.5, 3 percent on your valuation, and all of a sudden you record a sale for $11 million — yikes,” said Jeanne Parker, also with Douglas Elliman.
Historically, most homes above $2 million—and nearly all above $10 million—have sold privately in Austin according to Jeff Burke at Douglas Elliman.
Currently there are about 400 single-family homes and condos asking at least $1.5 million listed on ALN; this represents roughly 30 percent of such properties available across comparable areas on MLS. Homes listed through Clubhouse make up an additional share.
However, this proportion has declined since last year and even more so since the residential boom seen in 2021.
“Your ultra-luxury listings just aren’t selling like they used to,” said Alissa Shapiro, co-founder of Clubhouse.
Austin has become a buyer’s market throughout 2025—with approximately six months’ worth of inventory available—the highest supply level since 2011. The city had one of the highest ratios of sellers to buyers nationwide last month according to Redfin data; it also matched Houston for having the largest decrease in median home price nationally per CoStar reports.
Given these conditions, some sellers are opting for greater visibility by listing properties publicly rather than relying solely on private networks. “Agents and sellers are looking for maximum exposure right now because the market is slower,” Burke noted.
Agents including Burke and Parker observed that more properties are moving from ALN onto MLS after spending time unsold within private channels.
Some agents still use ALN or Clubhouse strategically as pre-listing venues before launching publicly: “People use these platforms to test price,” explained Katie Jackson at @properties Lone Star Christie’s International Real Estate in Austin.
Clubhouse did not disclose data regarding listings or completed deals but reported continued growth among agent users. “We have new agents joining every week, which, to me, is a testament to the fact that they are utilizing platforms like ours to get deals done,” Justin Shapiro stated.
