Home Prices "in" Austin vs the Burbs (Cedar Park: for sale, 2014)

[austin-steve]

Here is a chart I created showing the differential in pricing between homes with a City of Austin address, and homes in the Metro area but Not Austin.



The purple bars above represent the Average and Median Sold prices in the actual City of Austin for 2013. Average Sold price = $384,960. Median sold value = $293,000.

The gold bars above represent the Austin Metro Area (all MLS) 2013 home sold values, excluding those homes in the city of Austin. Average sold = $231,871. Median sold = $190,000.

So, if you’re “moving to Austin” and are willing to forego an “Austin” mailing address, the average prices just 10-15 miles out are $150K cheaper. Or, stated another way, if you want to live in the City of Austin, average home prices are, on average based on 2013 sales, $70K more expensive than the published average price of $314K. To be fair, this is probably true in many US cities with a vibrant urban core. It’s just become more pronounced in Austin in recent years.

What Does 2014 Look Like?
As of this writing, there are 708 single family home listings for sale in "Austin", excluding condos. The average price of those listings is $526K. Median list price is $362K. Only 25% of those listings (178) are priced at $235K or less. None of the sub-$235K homes are located in Central Austin, they are all in Austin suburban neighborhoods.

[squatt3r]

do you have data for new construction?

[Trainwreck20]

Very little new construction in the city limits, I am guessing...a bit here and there, but not sure it is enough to make a valid data set.

[squatt3r]

agree. i'm interested with the new construction outside city data.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by squatt3r

do you have data for new construction?

New construction is going to track along the same differentials of resale homes.

One thing the chart doesn't show is the differential in price per sqft, which is even more pronounced since most homes in the Austin core are smaller.

[DBS1980]

I don't dispute the main point of the data, but may I ask how you are getting those particular numbers? Is this coming from ACTRIS data? When I run similar searches/statistics in ACTRIS, my numbers for the city of Austin are different. For example, if I pull up every "house" in "Austin" that is "active", I get about 1,300 home listings. I'm new to ACTRIS though, so just wondering what we are doing different. Thanks!

[riaelise]

Are we talking about merely being in the Austin city limits (vs. hot, central neighborhoods of Central Austin and nearby)? Because I really don't think that simply having an Austin address means that the property is going to be worth more. There are several not-so-good areas of Austin and areas that are no different than their suburban counterparts or worse. There are only a few areas where anyone is going to get "the Austin experience." Everyone else will have to drive to it, or if they're lucky, take a bus to it.

Austin is not going to be one big Manhattan where it is out of the reach of most and everything in it is golden. There are still many affordable areas of Austin but those that are affordable, IMHO, aren't particularly special in comparison to suburban areas.

There are many reasons why people choose not to live in the City of Austin. Home size - people would rather get more for their dollar, and that still hasn't changed, especially if you're a family. Larger lot size. Schools. Cost - more for your dollar. The surburban cities shortcomings are being addressed (i.e. amenities/things to do, access to transit, etc.) It's gotten to the point where I don't really come into Austin any longer except for such specialty attractions such as the Thinkery and the Austin Zoo.

[austin-steve]

Here were the search parameters:
City=Austin
County=Travis
Type=House

Not a perfect "city limit" boundary search, but close enough for government work. The reason I clipped it at Travis County is because neighborhoods like Belterra have an "Austin" address, even though it's in Hays/Dripping. That's a USPS thing where address doesn't always = actual city.

For the "Not Austin", I just searched City Not=Austin, but left County alone, because Pfulgerville, Manor, parts of Cedar Park, etc are in Travis but not Austin.

So, City=Austin search results include cheaper areas like Austins Colony, as well as Circle C, Steiner, and all the core neighborhoods.

It's hard to get more granular than that due to search limitations in the MLS software.

Steve

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by riaelise

...It's gotten to the point where I don't really come into Austin any longer except for such specialty attractions such as the Thinkery and the Austin Zoo.

I think that's probably true for a lot of people. But many who elect to come to Austin do so based on their perception that the lifestyle, amenities and "vibe" they read about will be close at hand once they buy a $235K home.

The fact is that if we search right now for a home at least 1500 sqft, 3/2/2 minimum, there are only 85 search results. None are north of Stassney, South of Research or west of Mopac or 183. There is one in Scenc Brook in Oak Hill (Hwy71/290W). Everything else is East of IH35, either NE or SE, in areas with poor schools.

Steve

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by riaelise

It's gotten to the point where I don't really come into Austin any longer except for such specialty attractions such as the Thinkery and the Austin Zoo.

And I think the reverse is true too! Folks in the city who never go out to the burbs. (I'm all excited because I have an invitation to a party in Lakeway next weekend, 20+ years in Austin and this will be my first time in Lakeway. Was last in Cedar Park over a year ago.)

And I think that this trend will continue, not only will most folks in Leander/Cedar Park do most of their living/shopping/entertaining in that area and Circle C residents will increasingly find all their needs met close at hand, traffic and congestion will mean that folks along Anderson will do more of the their shopping and entertaining there, while folks south of the river will stay south. I see more and more distinct and vibrant neighborhoods emerging in Austin and in the suburbs with congestion dictating that you live near the amenities that you most value. Versus the "old days" when everywhere in Austin was roughly 10-15 minutes (or 20-25 at a stretch) from everything else, so where exactly one lived was less important.