Over in Avery Ranch I heard something that sounded like blasting of rock and large machines that sounded similar to jack hammers. My impression that they were digging into rock and moving it out of the way. I never verified this was what was going on. Could have been paramilitary for all I know
Some of this may have been to get infrastructure in place such as underground pipes, drainage, sewage, etc. If this is the case, I'm sure the costs are passed on to the home buyer in some fashion. To dig a hole to plant a tree over there is next to impossible with out a machine. Same must go for light poles, community pools, etc. I'm sure this must have some impact on pricing. If you compare Avery Ranch which is about 20-25 miles away from Austin CBD to a community in Houston that is similar distance from downtown, I'm thinking an Avery Ranch home is ~10% higher. I couldn't tell guess how much higher San Antonio is. Austin city limits is more confined than Houston, so you can go 40 miles away from CBD in Houston, and get dirt cheap housing. If you go 40 miles away from CBD in Austin, well, your no longer in Austin. Same probably holds true of San Antonio. If you stay in a 10-15 mile permeter of Austin CBD, then housing is going to be expensive. Same holds true of Houston, however, Houston has a lot of areas that most of us would not live in that drag "average" housing prices down. Austin does not have this issue. I can't think of a place in Austin that I would be desperately afraid to live in. I might not go for a stroll at night, but I could probably live there. Thus, Austin doesn't have a drag on "average" price due to slums like Houston does. I feel like this notion of Austin having higher prices is really not true. Try finding a 2000 sq foot house in a nice safe hood in Houston near the CBD for under $500,000 - Good luck! Of course, this is all just MHO.