Austin's housing affordability gap one of the fastest-growing in the nation Link
Housing in Austin is quickly becoming some of the least affordable in the nation.
That’s the verdict from RealtyTrac’s report released Thursday that looked at data from 1,000 counties with 258 million total residents across the country. The report shows Austin is in the same league as San Francisco, Portland, San Antonio and Atlanta as metro areas are seeing a growing gap between how much workers make and how much of that income it takes to afford a median-priced home.
The report used housing price data from the second quarter of 2014 and compared that with historical trends for each area. In Austin in May 2014 it took 31.3 percent of the income from a median-income worker to afford a median-priced home, compared to a historical average of about 26.7 percent. Historically, the national percentage is even lower, at 19 percent.
Of the cities with growing median-income-to-price gaps, Austin’s had one of the biggest jumps in the study along with San Francisco and Indianapolis. San Francisco also landed on the study’s “inherently” unaffordable list because it takes 85 percent of a median income to afford a median home, putting that California city in the same league as Nantucket County, Massachusetts (111 percent); Teton County, Wyoming (84 percent) and Pitkin County, Colorado (82 percent).
Housing affordability is a constant topic of worry and conversation among Central Texas residential real estate professionals and civic leaders, with the area’s surging growth butting up against a supply crunch that keeps pushing prices upward. There are other factors contributing to rising home prices, including lengthy permitting processes on land and development deals, and an overall lack of land to build on.
Austin voters passed a $65 million bond measure last year aimed at creating affordable housing options in the city’s core but that effort was aimed the lower end of the market while the crunch on the middle of the market continues.
Any expressed market opinion is my own and is not to be taken as financial advice
Median listing price $349K and median sale price about $265K
That seems cheap to us but their wages are lower and the cost of home ownership is higher. Land tax and insurance maybe $5000 to $8000 per annum.
It's about on par with a median house price in Brisbane when the tax and high insurance cost is factored in. Actually I would rather have the Brisbane house as the taxes on that Austin house have to be paid forever.
Adelaide and Hobart seem better value.
Any expressed market opinion is my own and is not to be taken as financial advice
Austin is a nice city and is becoming the next Silicon Valley. However, it has some unique challenges. Unlike most Texas cities, Austin's geography restricts its expansion. To the west it has the Hill Country which limits development. The north and south are already developed along the 35 corridor. So it means new development needs to go east or far north (above Georgetown) or far south (into San Antonio).
Houston and Dallas are much bigger metro areas and can keep expanding their 'wagon wheel' without foreseeable boundaries.
Austin is a nice city and is becoming the next Silicon Valley. However, it has some unique challenges. Unlike most Texas cities, Austin's geography restricts its expansion. To the west it has the Hill Country which limits development. The north and south are already developed along the 35 corridor. So it means new development needs to go east or far north (above Georgetown) or far south (into San Antonio).
Houston and Dallas are much bigger metro areas and can keep expanding their 'wagon wheel' without foreseeable boundaries.
Thanks for that. prices do seem higher than Houston or Dallas.
So the extra space that Houston and Dallas have to expand into are partly responsible for the lower development costs? Also maybe the lack of challenging geography that increases earthmoving costs substantially?
Any expressed market opinion is my own and is not to be taken as financial advice
Fraser do you realise how retarded you sound with these articles?
Austin is one of about 300 markets in the US, about one of 3,000 worldwide. No one is comparing Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane to Austin but you and the others here.
Anyone with a brain (sorry, but someone needs to tell you) is looking at a bunch of other cities before Austin, but they can't develop further out? GOOD! That's what people want. No one but retards like you and the housing industry wants that. No intelligent person I know does.
Comparing Brisbane to Austin and saying that Brisbane is better makes sense if you are a retarded tradie. Anyone with intelligence would grab the opportunity to work in a city and state and country with 15 times the population of Australia on its doorstep.
It does confirm to me that the only people fascinated by housing and home prices are retarded tradies who cannot actually do anything in business face to face without being laughed at and need to make their "money" as a rentseeker.
Fraser do you realise how retarded you sound with these articles?
Austin is one of about 300 markets in the US, about one of 3,000 worldwide. No one is comparing Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane to Austin but you and the others here.
Anyone with a brain (sorry, but someone needs to tell you) is looking at a bunch of other cities before Austin, but they can't develop further out? GOOD! That's what people want. No one but retards like you and the housing industry wants that. No intelligent person I know does.
Comparing Brisbane to Austin and saying that Brisbane is better makes sense if you are a retarded tradie. Anyone with intelligence would grab the opportunity to work in a city and state and country with 15 times the population of Australia on its doorstep.
It does confirm to me that the only people fascinated by housing and home prices are retarded tradies who cannot actually do anything in business face to face without being laughed at and need to make their "money" as a rentseeker.
Thanks, I enjoyed the laugh.
Any expressed market opinion is my own and is not to be taken as financial advice
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