TEXAS — If you’re shopping for a home, a newly built house might be the way to go. According to Zillow, the interest rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage in Texas are currently 6.625%. As active listings across the state continue to climb, some Texas builders are selling their houses with lower interest rates compared to other homes on the market. Some communities have first-year rates as low as 3.25%, incentivizing folks to purchase newly constructed homes.

Austin realtor Justyn LeFebvre has seen the housing market fluctuate a lot over the past few years, but this year has been particularly interesting.

“We have a much more buyer-leaning towards market and that’s really because inventory — it’s a supply and demand, and we have a lot of supply right now,” LeFebvre said.

Since January, more than 20,000 homes across the state have been added to the active listing inventory, making it more crucial for builders to compete with other homes already on the market.

“Whether it’s giving you a two-for-one rate buydown, which means that your first year you can have a rate as low as 3%, the second year being 4% and then it reverting back to what your original rate was… that’s a huge incentive for buyers, especially as interest rates are fluctuating in the high sixes and sevens right now,” LeFebvre said.

Builders are also offering design incentives with thousands of dollars in credit for people picking out things like flooring and countertops. Financial incentives are also being put toward closing costs.

“They can manipulate their prices, just like for example, a new car dealership would,” LeFebvre said. “They can control that based upon their profit margins.”

While this is all good news for buyers, those who are trying to sell homes have a hard time competing with industry incentives.

“They’re competing against new construction, and unfortunately, the majority of them have had to sell their house more in line with where the builders are building, rather than what the market actually might dictate their home is worth,” LeFebvre said.

He said in July, the median price point for newly constructed homes in Austin Metro was about $411,000, compared to $435,000 for all homes listed in the area.