Austin, Texas

For the city of Austin, Texas, the median annual household income is $71,000.

In the city of Austin the house worth median is $348,800. The value of homes in Austin has increased by 7.2 percent in the last year. There is a forecast that has been made that 2.6 percent is the amount house values will increase in the following year.

$210 is the per square foot list cost median in Austin. The Metro Area of Austin-Round Rock has a lower per square foot list cost median of $155.

For houses that are listed presently in Austin, $388,945 is the cost median. $1,700 is the median cost of rent. The Metro Area of Austin-Round Rock cost of rent median is very slightly lower at $1,690.

The foreclosure rate has an effect on the real estate economy. The lower the foreclosure rate, the higher the value of real estate. A very high foreclosure rate can greatly lower the value of homes, and if it’s on a nationwide scale, it could contribute to causing a recession.

Regarding the process of foreclosure, there is a first step that occurs. It is called mortgage delinquency. How is mortgage delinquency defined? Mortgage delinquency occurs when home owner does not make good on a mortgage payment.

In Austin, Texas, 0.4 percent is the percentage of mortgage delinquencies. The United States has a mortgage delinquency rate which is 4 times higher. It is 1.6 percent.

A mortgage delinquency is a very serious matter not only for the customer, but also for the bank involved. It is the first step a home owner goes through when they are heading for foreclosure on their home.

A bank will look at a mortgage delinquency seriously because it signals that the home owner could be having a hard time paying bills, and therefore could be on their way to foreclosure.

Banks intensely dislike foreclosures because they lose money when houses are foreclosed. Banks sell foreclosed homes for a loss. And there are many banks that have had a lot of  foreclosures that went out of business.

Let’s move on to commercial real estate. We are going to look at the office market in Austin, particularly the hot office market in downtown Austin.

There are so many young people moving into the city of Austin, TX. This is due to lots of jobs being offered by great technology companies including Amazon, Facebook, and Google.

Even though the rents in Austin are continually going up, they are so much less than rents on the West Coast that quite a few of these technology companies are dealing with.

The benefit having to do with lower cost of rents in Austin is huge. But put that alongside the irresistible reputation of Austin as the best place to live and work; the employers of these technology greats are so strongly focused to get into Austin.

There is limited space in downtown Austin where the race is on to secure office space. It is so limited that there are a good number of large tenants securing space before the space is delivered.

To illustrate how limited the space is downtown, the company Indeed got a lease for 300,000 square feet before delivery which is 3 years away. Yes, that’s right. Indeed won’t get to move in until 2021. The competition is ferocious when you need to sign a lease 3 years in advance. Can you imagine how tough it is to get office space?

Another big player in the competition for space in Austin, TX is WeWork. It’s 4th location with 65,000 square feet just opened up in Chase Tower. WeWork now needs more space and is actively looking.

Can you imagine what this super competition for space is doing to rental rates? Yes, they are going upward. Currently, the average rental rate that is full service is $63.94 per square foot. Last year at this time, the rate was $58.64. This is a 9 percent increase in one year.

Competition is not as fierce in the Southwest competitive set which went up 3.5 percent in the same time last year. Also it’s not as fierce in the Northwest competitive set buildings which increased 6 percent in the same time period last year.

Apartment Loan Store is proud to serve the entire Greater Austin area:

• Round Rock
• Cedar Park
• Georgetown
• San Marcos
• Pflugerville
• Kyle
• Leander