All Forum Posts by: Neil Narayan

Also Austin unemployment rate is lower than the national average. 

https://www.statesman.com/stor...

@Stephen Stokes so are your planning to liquidate your investments in Austin and move to a more resilient city? If yes, please share which one so we can all benefit. If not, why not since you are so negative on Austin?

Austin has had one of the most resilient job markets during the pandemic. It ranks third in the nation for fewest jobs lost since February 2020. A wave of relocations to Central Texas, which includes many tech companies, has grown during the pandemic, while giants such as Google Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Tesla Inc. continue to grow here.

Austin saw 6,202 tech job openings in March, an increase of more than 1,400 from the month prior and the fourth-largest month-over-month jump in the CompTIA listing.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, though, the number of open tech positions actually shrank in March, bucking the national trend.

https://www.bizjournals.com/au...

It sounds like you didn't click-through and read the full article. 

Appraisals shooting up faster than a speeding bullet. Prices plowing through the pandemic like a locomotive. Values leaping by bounds in tall condo buildings. Look, up in the air, it’s Austin’s super housing market — and it will remain relatively sky-high for years to come, experts agree.

More than a dozen economic and residential real estate experts interviewed believe this is not a bubble that’s in danger of bursting.

“A bubble bursting means demand will go away, and with job growth in Austin the way it is, it’s hard to see how that will happen,” said Kara McGregor, senior vice president of business development at Independence Title Company.

Indeed, Austin’s ability to keep the masses coming is cited as the No. 1 reason why this appreciation trend is sustainable. Employers have proven for over 40 years that they will keep this economy in overdrive. The chance of a $900,000 home dropping to a $450,000 value — which happened in California during the 2008 downturn — simply won’t happen here soon, experts say.

But what if the unthinkable happens? Let’s say a recession combined with a global public crisis hits us. Been there, did that in 2020 and it only propelled prices higher — just as the past two recessions have done because people seek a safe, less-expensive port such as Austin during an economic storm. When the tech bubble burst at the turn of the century, housing didn’t suffer notably. Even when the housing bubble burst in 2008, Austin kept chugging, relatively speaking.

"When we analysts think about bubbles we think of annual market averages in the mid 40% for over a decade as the sand states — California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida — had prior to the financial meltdown," said Mark Sprague, state director of information capital at Independence Title. "Those markets did not have low rates, but they did have easy financing and high levels of speculation — 35% to 45%. Presently, the number of speculators is low — less than 10% — in this market because of the premiums being paid by homeowners. "

https://www.bizjournals.com/au...

@Mike De Lota 2 tenants were moving to Austin due to job relo, the other one sold their home and wanted to lease for now. 2 of them in a normal market would have bought a house instead of renting as they have strong credit and assets.  Lot of the applicants that i received are renting as they can't buy in this market 

I agree, I rented out 3 homes this week (1 in Leander and 2 in Pflugerville). All went in a couple of days with multiple applicants and above list. Very string housing demand even on the rental side. 

Zoning process can be slow and cumbersome in Austin. Right now the permitting offices are backloaded with all the new build permits so I would estimate at least 2-3 months

More and more jobs are being added to the labor market as companies continue to invest in Central Texas.

In February, the Austin metro added 6,700 jobs and continued to backfill positions lost at the onset of the pandemic, according to a March 30 analysis by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. By the end of February, the metro had regained 75% of the 137,000 jobs cut in March and April 2020.

The Austin metro maintained its rank in February as the third-strongest labor market among the 50 largest metro areas in the country, according to the Chamber's analysis.

https://www.bizjournals.com/au...

In a new survey from commercial real estate services company CBRE, commercial real estate investors rank Austin first among U.S. metro areas for investment prospects in 2021. Austin knocked Los Angeles off its previous first-place perch. Dallas-Fort Worth comes in at No. 2, with Los Angeles holding down the No. 3 spot.

Austin appeared at No. 3 in CBRE’s 2020 survey and No. 11 in the 2019 version. Dallas-Fort Worth ranked second in 2019 and 2020, while LA ranked first in those two years.

CBRE says markets such as Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth “will see intense competition for good-quality assets from all types of investors.”

https://austin.culturemap.com/...