For Austin, Texas, home-builder Leonard Bullard, late 2020 and early 2021 felt like a California gold rush.⁠ ⁠ As out-of-state buyers flocked to the Texas capital, Mr. Bullard’s firm Urban ATX operated at maximum capacity, scooping up dirt and building luxury homes as fast as it could. At one point, Mr. Bullard had 55 homes above $2 million in the pipeline. Now, he’s down to 25 in various stages of development and wants to cut that number in half amid a market slowdown.⁠ ⁠ “I haven’t bought a piece of property since the spring,” said Mr. Bullard, who, like other luxury builders in Austin, is facing the harsh reality of a market with too much expensive real estate available and too few buyers.⁠ ⁠ Considered one of the hottest real-estate markets in the country just a few months ago, Austin saw its luxury home sales plunge 37.6% during the three months ending August 31, compared with the prior year, according to data from real-estate brokerage Redfin. By comparison, U.S. luxury home sales fell 28.1% during the same period.⁠ ⁠ Amid slower sales, inventory is rising—a predicament for developers who raced to build bigger and more expensive homes for the pandemic’s influx of wealthy buyers. In September, the number of listings for newly-built homes above $1 million surged 266% compared with the number during September 2021, according to data from Independence Title Co. While ultraluxury properties, including those on Lake Austin, have been insulated from the slowdown, homes between $3 million and $5 million that flew off the shelves last year are now taking 30 to 60 days or longer to sell.⁠ ⁠ “There’s a glut of projects stacking up,” said Chester Wilson of Greater Austin Builders.⁠ ⁠ Read more via the link in @wsjrealestate's bio.⁠ ⁠ 📸: BERGAGONZALEZ/SAM BURCH ARCHITECT (RENDERING)