Austin Housing Market Braces As Newcomers Continue To Move In

When Hassane El-Khoury moved to Austin, Texas, from San Jose in 2018, he knew he’d be able to get more house for his money. But even more importantly, he got more land.

The CEO of publicly-traded Cypress Semiconductor, which has an office in the Texas capital, purchased a home on five and a half acres in Austin at a cost of about “four to five times” less than what he would have paid in the Bay Area. Additionally, he found that the quality of life in Austin has exceeded his expectations.

“I am extremely happy I made the move,” says El-Khoury, who had lived in the Bay Area for a decade prior to his relocation. “From a personal and professional aspect, Austin offers what I am looking for.”

As the city’s tech ecosystem has continued to expand, buying a house in Austin is either a steal or a struggle depending on whether you are a local or transplant to the area.

To Austinites, the rapid pace of home appreciation over the past 10 years has been startling while dramatic hikes in property taxes presenting even more threats to home ownership.

But for outsiders moving in, especially from the Bay Area, home prices in Austin are a bargain. Therein lies the friction – if transplants continue to relocate, it’s inevitable that housing prices will continue to escalate. But to what degree remains uncertain.

Looking At The Numbers

For an idea of how hot the city’s housing market is, let’s look at the most recent statistics from the Austin Board of REALTORS® April 2019 Central Texas Housing Market report.