10 October . 2019
Austin named No. 1 U.S. real estate market
Austin ranks as the No. 1 market in the nation for real estate investment for 2020, according to a national study by the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
While the study focused on commercial real estate development, such as Apple’s new $1 billion campus in north Austin, it also bodes well for homebuyers, since Austin also ranks as a top U.S. city for buying a new home.
Austin has frequently landed at or near the top of this annual report, based on a survey of more than 1,500 real estate professionals from across the globe. Texas’ capital city ranked No. 2 in the study in 2018, and came in at No. 1 for 2017.
The new 2020 report cites major Austin projects such as Apple’s new campus, which will initially house 5,000 employees when it opens in late 2021 or early 2022, and could ultimately be home to as many as 15,000 workers.
The report also cited the proposed transit-oriented development for the former 19-acre site of the Austin American-Statesman, on a prime downtown location overlooking Lady Bird Lake. The planned $350 million expansion of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and Dell Medical School, opened in 2016 as part of the University of Texas at Austin, were also mentioned.
“Austin has almost become a force of nature,” said Mitch Roschelle, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Austin’s explosive population and employment growth, as well as the continuing diversification of the economy, keep it near the top of the list, Roschelle said in the Austin Business Journal. He added that Austin’s population is growing at three times the national population growth rate.
While tech companies like Google and Facebook continue to lease up entire skyscrapers in business districts such as Downtown Austin and Domain North, ULI leaders have noted that Austin is growing horizontally as well as vertically. As home prices continue to rise within the city, close-in suburbs such as Lakeway and Georgetown are growing fast by offering new homes at affordable prices, with desirable school districts and recreational amenities.
Austin was recently ranked as the No. 1 large city in the U.S. for homebuyers in a report from WalletHub. SmartAsset ranked Austin as No. 2 in Texas and No. 3 in the nation for housing growth and stability.
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