Austin, TX

Austin’s housing market tumbles as developers abandon neighborhoods

Published

2 years ago

June 12, 2024

Austin’s housing market tumbles as developers abandon neighborhoods

Home prices in the former pandemic boomtown of Austin, Texas, have slowly started to climb back in March and April, according to Redfin data, but are far from their 2022 peak, as the market is flipping in favor of buyers and the city experiences troubles with developers abandoning projects.

In April, the latest data available on Redfin, the median sale price of a home was $567,000, up 0.4 percent compared to a year earlier but down 16 percent compared to the peak of $667,000 reached in May 2022. Austin, once one of the hottest markets in the U.S.—and one of the most overvalued—experienced the biggest drop of any metropolitan area in the country following the pandemic.

In May 2024, according to data compiled by ResiClub using the Zillow Home Value Index, home prices in Austin were down 18.7 percent compared to the May 2022 peak.

The groundwork for apartments undergoing construction on March 19, 2024, in Austin, Texas. Austin’s home prices are still down more than 16% compared to their pandemic peak in May 2022.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

The only other cities that experienced price drops beyond the 10 percent mark from their pandemic peak were New Orleans, Louisiana (-13.7 percent); Lake Charles, Louisiana (-11.7 percent); and Boise, Idaho (-10.4 percent).

The U.S. housing market experienced a modest price correction between late summer 2022 and spring 2023, driven by the increasing unaffordability of buying properties in a higher mortgage rates environment.

In Austin, which saw a huge influx of residents during the pandemic driving up prices, the correction was a much more dramatic phenomenon. Prices slid down as coastal and remote workers started leaving the city after the end of the pandemic and new construction projects got on the way, increasing Austin’s inventory.

While a historic lack of supply at the national level has contributed to keeping prices from plunging and is now leading their slow comeback in Austin too, there’s no doubt that the city is not the same place it was during the pandemic years.

Software giant Oracle Corp. announced a month ago that it would be moving out of Austin and creating its “world headquarters” in the city’s archrival, Nashville, Tennessee. The company had arrived in the Texas capital only in 2020.

In recent months, Austin has seen developers abandon several construction projects, as reported by Austin realtor Jeremy Knight in a series of videos on YouTube. In a previous comment to Newsweek, Knight explained that many of these projects started in 2020-2021 as the market was beginning to skyrocket.

“There was a lot of demand with more people moving to Austin. Unfortunately, the city of Austin has a lot of red tape and logistics to get through. Many of these projects take years to get greenlit,” he said.

“Now add the delays with workforce during the pandemic, the backlog, and developers rushing to buy in Austin, and then a turn in the market of 21 percent peak to trough. The valuations many of these developers put on these projects no longer make sense. Now add the fact that interest rates have doubled and nearly tripled since the projects started. Many of these small developers are facing headwinds.”

In a recent video, Knight said that over 57 percent of the inventory on the market is now vacant.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Source link

Related Topics:Austin Featured housing housing market texas

Click to comment

Austin, TX

Southwest Airlines to open a new Crew Base in Austin, Texas

Published

5 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Southwest Airlines to open a new Crew Base in Austin, Texas

Southwest Airlines announced today that a new Crew Base for Pilots and Flight Attendants will open in March 2026 in Austin, Texas, creating more than 2,000 new jobs based at Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) and positioning the airline for continued growth in Central Texas.

Most Employees at the new Base will be Captains, First Officers, and Flight Attendants, supported by new Base Leadership and supporting staff. Southwest is also planning to add a recurring training facility for Flight Attendants as part of its ongoing business transformation.

Bob Jordan, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Vice Chairman of the Board, said: “This investment demonstrates our commitment to Austin and to our Customers.

“As the largest carrier at Austin Bergstrom International Airport, we appreciate the vision of Governor Abbott and Mayor Watson in clearing the way for Austin to become an even bigger part of our future.”

Southwest is Austin’s largest air carrier with more than 130 peak-day departures that served approximately 6.7 million Customers in 20241.

Next March, new service begins to popular leisure destinations, including Fort Myers, Fla., Palm Springs, Calif., and Steamboat Springs (Hayden), Colo., bringing the total of nonstop destinations from Austin to 53.

Southwest also will begin daily service between Austin and Cincinnati, Ohio, next June, and has increased seasonal service in markets such as Pensacola, Fla.

Southwest expects to open the new base in early March, starting with approximately 335 Pilots and 650 Flight Attendants. By mid-2027, the base will reach its expected size of 2,000 total Employees.

Source link

Austin, TX

Austin opens cold weather shelters ahead of freezing temps

Published

17 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

Austin opens cold weather shelters ahead of freezing temps

As the Austin area prepares to plunge into freezing temperatures Sunday night, the city is initiating its Cold Weather Shelters protocol.

Those wanting to use the emergency shelters, which open when overnight temperatures reach 35 degrees or lower, must register between 6-8 p.m. at One Texas Center (OTC) on Barton Springs Road, according to a release from the city. Those interested and in need of transport can reach the OTC via bus lines 1, 7, 10, 20, 30, 105 and 801. Anyone who can’t pay bus fare but needs shelter will still be allowed to ride, a Facebook post from the city said.

Following registration, CapMetro shuttles will take guests from the OTC to a cold weather shelter. The addresses for these shelters are kept confidential due to “safety, privacy and capacity concerns,” according to the Austin American-Statesman.

The Statesman also reported that shelters provide meals and allow leashed, friendly pets.

All parks and libraries are meanwhile serving as warming centers during regular operating hours, except for Austin Public Library’s Old Quarry Branch and Willie Mae Kirk Branch.

Source link