Austin Housing stock most expensive in Texas (Houston, Dallas: sales, rental)

[CptnRn]

I was a little surprised to see how much more expensive the housing stock is in Austin (& RR) compared to many other Texas cities.

Sure, the median house cost is just a relative indicator. These charts come from City-Data http://www.city-data.com/city/Texas.html but aside from the median house or condo value, it appears that most other Cities have 50% or more of the housing priced below $150,000. I guess that is what the median housing cost figure means, correct? The graphic charts seem to bear that out. Austin has relatively little to offer below $150,000.

Austin Estimated median house or condo value in 2009: $214,300
http://pics2.city-data.com/hval2008/24317.png (broken link)

Round Rock Estimated median house or condo value in 2009: $165,500
http://pics2.city-data.com/hval2008/25602.png (broken link)

Corpus Christi Estimated median house or condo value in 2009: $113,300
http://pics2.city-data.com/hval2008/24541.png (broken link)

Dallas Estimated median house or condo value in 2009: $135,600
http://pics2.city-data.com/hval2008/24581.png (broken link)

El Paso Estimated median house or condo value in 2009: $115,300
http://pics2.city-data.com/hval2008/24661.png (broken link)

Ft. Worth Estimated median house or condo value in 2009: $121,700
http://pics2.city-data.com/hval2008/24713.png (broken link)

Houston Estimated median house or condo value in 2009: $128,000
http://pics2.city-data.com/hval2008/24854.png (broken link)

Midland Estimated median house or condo value in 2009: $130,600
http://pics2.city-data.com/hval2008/25126.png (broken link)

San Antonio Estimated median house or condo value in 2009: $114,400
http://pics2.city-data.com/hval2008/25619.png (broken link)

[jobert]

You can still get a nice house in a good neighborhood for less than 200K in Austin...that is, if you don't let people tell you where to live.

[CptnRn]

Using the list "Estimate of home value of owner-occupied houses in 2009 in Austin, TX" on http://www.city-data.com/housing/hou...tin-Texas.html

Which breaks down the number of housing units in each price range I come up with 35,845 houses priced below $150,000 and 109,328 priced over $150,000. I realize that does not include rental property.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by jobert

You can still get a nice house in a good neighborhood for less than 200K in Austin...that is, if you don't let people tell you where to live.

Yes, in 2009 there were 30,120 owner occupied houses priced between $150,000 and $200,000.

[verybadgnome]

$214k seems a bit high. Was 2008 the peak of the market? Yeah median is the middle value in a range of values so it is good to look at both it and the mean (average) value in order to get a more complete picture. The average value can be skewed if there are say a few very high dollar homes pushing up that number.

From what I've seen it should be around $190k:

http://www.austinchamber.com/DoBusiness/GreaterAustinProfile/costs.html (broken link)

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

$214k seems a bit high. Was 2008 the peak of the market? Yeah median is the middle value in a range of values so it is good to look at both it and the mean (average) value in order to get a more complete picture. The average value can be skewed if there are say a few very high dollar homes pushing up that number.

From what I've seen it should be around $190k:

http://www.austinchamber.com/DoBusiness/GreaterAustinProfile/costs.html

It is not clear to me what prices those website tables are quoting. It appeared to focus on sales which is much different then this chart below.

What I quoted was labeled 2009 "Median Value" prices, the charts are dated 2008. This chart on those same pages indicates the median home sales prices have gone up since then 2009. And the median sales price has never been below $200,000 since 2005. I can't explain the differences, other then to speculate that the Chamber of Commerce probably has a vested interest in representing the cost of living here as being lower then it is.

[Austin97]

Houston and dallas are much larger from a square miles perspective. It may be that austin has done a much better job of improving the core, plus the core represents a much larger percentage of the city itself so it skews the numbers up. Also, perhaps the houses are larger in austin (unlikely).

Looking at the austin metro area, I think the median price is more in the 170's, while houston is in the upper 150's so the gap isnt as large

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Those were 2009 "Median Value" prices, this chart on those same pages indicates the mean home sales prices have gone up since then. And the median sales price has never been below $200,000 since 2005.

Ahhhh. Now I see RECA used just existing home sales in their chart. A bit misleading if you ask me.

So the next question is why are Austin prices higher than the rest of Texas?
My thought is primarily it has to do with desirability which is in almost direct correlation to Quality of Life, second are wages, and third is regulation.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

Ahhhh. Now I see RECA used just existing home sales in their chart. A bit misleading if you ask me.

So the next question is why are Austin prices higher than the rest of Texas?
My thought is primarily it has to do with desirability which is in almost direct correlation to Quality of Life, second are wages, and third is regulation.

Prices in a free market are always based on supply and demand. Most of the new building is happening outside the city because there just isnt that much free space for new housing within the city limits. I would say we have an educated work force so the median income is higher which skews demand for houses. Median income in austin is something like 60K, while in houston it is something like 40k

[AK123]

Originally Posted by Austin97

Median income in austin is something like 60K, while in houston it is something like 40k

Actually in Austin it's $50k, and about $43k in Houston.
Austin is generally much more homogeneous. In Houston (and Dallas and many other major metros for that matter) there are more extremes... but there are a lot of lows that bring down the average. At the same time, there are some of the wealthiest zips/areas in the state, though these have fewer people.

The top three wealthiest counties in the state are two suburban Dallas counties and one suburban Houston county.