Why is the Austin Real Estate Market Booming?

 
Austin has been a boom town for decades due to our robust job growth. As long as we can remember, Austin has been listed as one of the "Fastest Growing Cities in the US" (and is often listed as #1.) Our high quality of life, relatively low cost of living, educated job force, and "weirdness" all contribute to this. However, Post-COVID has seen an unprecedented boom. Why?

Continued Job Growth

Tesla, Apple, Google, Facebook, Indeed, & VRBO are all companies who have increased their presence in Austin dramatically in the recent past. These are also all highly recognizable companies. You probably haven't heard of QSAM Biosciences, Eleiko, Alpha Paw, Sentry Kiosk, Ametrine, 8VC, Truelytics, or Digital Realty Trust. These are only a few of the "other" major companies who have relocated their HQ to Austin very recently. https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2021/02/08/these-headquarters-have-moved-to-austin-in-2021.html

Relative Affordability

Even though we're rapidly appreciating, Austin is still a relative bargain. It makes sense that we would be considerably cheaper than The Bay Area, Manhattan, or Seattle. The fact that we're considerably less expensive than Denver or Portland indicates that we have room to grow. More details are available here.
 

Historical Housing Shortage

Austin was already in a housing shortage before this recent boom. The broader market has consistently been in the <3 Months of Inventory range for 5+ years, which is considered a seller's market. We already needed to play catch-up prior to the boom, and the inventory problem has only worsened after the boom.

Lower Tax Burden

Austin has a comparatively high tax rate, but Texas has no state income tax. Many tech-heavy states (like California) have very high state income tax rates. When you compare the overall tax burden between Austin and these states, Austin wins by a decent margin.

Remote Workers

Due to COVID, many workers (and almost all tech workers) now work remotely, from home. Many tech companies have announced that this change will be indefinite and are allowing their employees to live anywhere in the US (or world) that they would like. These remote workers now place a high priority on physical space and are looking at less expensive markets where they can buy a larger home and still maintain a high quality of life. Austin tops many of their lists as an option. This demand is new and unexpected, and it was caused 100% by the changing dynamics caused by COVID.

Is Austin in a Bubble?

We don't think so. True bubbles are relatively rare in real estate markets. Beyond that, the buyers in Austin are largely owner-occupants with 20% or more down payment in their homes. These owners are unlikely to dump a property if there is a temporary flattening (or drop) in values. This boom is very different than 2007 (during which Austin fared incredibly well) and unlike any of the true bubble markets in Las Vegas, Phoenix, etc that did exist before the 2008 crash. More on this is available here.

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2300+ Client reviews!

Elizabeth Michael was awesome to work with! As a first time home buyer, she was able to explain the process clearly and professionally, from our first meeting, all the way through closing.

She was very communicative and we never felt we were left in the dark. She fought for us when we needed her to fight for us, and her advice was invaluable. She absolutely excels at navigating the Austin real estate market.

She was also able to recommend a great lender, insurance agent, etc., which made it feel like we had a whole team working for us. I’d recommend working with Elizabeth to everyone I know.

We worked with Julie Stoakley to purchase a home since moving back from Florida. We were impressed with her knowledge of the incentives and mortgage strategies. We never felt lost in communication on where we stood in the buying process. We purchased a home with an incentive and with her knowledge we were able to obtain clarity and an understanding for it. She also helped us in negotiating repairs from the inspection process and were able to get a brand new roof! I would definitely recommend Julie to my friends and family!

Crystal Hirst understands market conditions and how to position. She does her research well and helped us price our house to “SELL”. Indeed it sold much faster than our expectation, while multiple other units in the area, and in fact on the “same street”, still remain unsold. Ultimately Crystal brought us multiple interested buyers and we achieved higher than asking because of this multi-party interest that Crystal generated. We enjoyed our experience, her professionalism and excellent communication. We highly recommend Chrystal Hirst as your realtor.

Crystal Hirst understands market conditions and how to position. She does her research well and helped us price our house to “SELL”. Indeed it sold much faster than our expectation, while multiple other units in the area, and in fact on the “same street”, still remain unsold. Ultimately Crystal brought us multiple interested buyers and we achieved higher than asking because of this multi-party interest that Crystal generated. We enjoyed our experience, her professionalism and excellent communication. We highly recommend Chrystal Hirst as your realtor.

I have been thoroughly pleased with my experience with Bramlett Residential and my realtor Tyson Hombroek. Tyson provided outstanding service in helping me with the sale of my house. He is very professional and on top of the market. We stayed in constant communication and he was helpful in answering all my questions I had. This was a great experience. I highly recommend them.

Kasey Gilliam was very professional and communicated through the whole home buying and searching process. highly recommend working with her. She has great expertise in Austin and lead very helpful with all of our home buying questions and concerns!

Vicki Duran from Bramlett was extremally informative and made the whole sales process effortless. I used her to not only purchase my home 4 years ago but also for the sale of the same home. Communication is key for me and Vicki was available at any time to answer questions and to keep us looped in during negotiations and or pending offers. Her attention to detail really stans out and had her clients best interest in mind at all time.

I highly recommend Vicki to anyone looking to purchase a home or sell their home, having used her for both I know you will be glad you did.

Elizabeth is AMAZING!!! She went above and beyond to secure me an absolutely beautiful home. HIGHLY recommended.

Elizabeth is amazing at her job. She found my roommates and me a great house and made the whole process very easy 10/10

Elizabeth was great and easy to work with and helped me a find a tenant quickly. She was prompt in communication and I would highly recommend her to everyone finding a new tenant

Elizabeth has helped me find a home not once, but twice! She’s incredibly responsive and communicative- Both times I’ve worked with her, she has prioritized what I’m looking for, been super realistic and honest, and is always my advocate. I’m so grateful for her hard work!

Elizabeth was extremely helpful in our process of buying our first home. She was extremely responsive, friendly and made the home buying process extremely simple and easy. Thanks again Elizabeth you’re the best!

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