Micah's Read of the Week, Vol. 71
How Austin Became One of the Least Affordable Cities in America, Tweet Thread of the Week, Wholesome Story of the Week, Recipe Corner, and more.
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How Austin Became One of the Least Affordable Cities in America
The capital of Texas has long been an attractive place to call home. But with an average of 180 new residents a day arriving, its popularity has created a brewing housing crisis that is reshaping the city.
Austin got the New York Times treatment this week. There’s a lot of doom and gloom in the piece about rising housing prices.
Home sale prices in the city of Austin skyrocketed to a record median of $536,000 in October, up from about $441,250 a year ago. And they have more than doubled since 2011, when the median sales price was $216,000, according to the Austin Board of REALTORS, a trade group. Rentals, too, have surged, with the average cost of an 864-square-foot apartment now $1,600.
With the University of Texas flagship campus, gentle rolling hills and a vibrant music scene, Austin has long been an attractive place to call home. But surging prices have created a brewing housing crisis that is reshaping the city of nearly 1 million people, and pushing mostly low-income Black and Latino residents like Mr. Nuñez away from cultural centers, transportation hubs, grocery stores and other amenities that come with urban living, activists said.
“This has become the tale of two Austins,” said Susana Almanza, a longtime activist. “The rich keep building in our neighborhoods and the poor keep getting displaced. It doesn’t end.”
If it feels like Austin is booming, that’s because it is, and the numbers back it up.
From March 2020 to February 2021, despite the pandemic, Austin nearly led the nation in new construction, with close to 42,000 new residences, according to a housing report by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research.
The city, which saw an increase of nearly 160,000 people over the last 10 years, “can’t build homes fast enough,” said Rob Gordon, manager and real estate agent with the realty company, JBGoodwin.
Much of the city’s expansion has been attributed to the recent arrival of tech titans, including Apple, Amazon and AT&T — and more recently Tesla, whose chief executive Elon Musk, already a resident with a rocket site in South Texas, said that the company would move its headquarters from Palo Alto, Calif., to Austin.
Those big moves — joining other major tech companies, like Dell and IBM, already fixtures in the region — have meant an infusion of a younger and more affluent population, giving rise to the city’s new moniker of “Silicon Hills.”
Literally, no one calls Austin “Silicon Hills.”
Anyway, if you’re looking for the reason housing is skyrocketing, look no further than jobs. Seriously. That’s the reason. We have the jobs. And they are good tech jobs that pay well. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out.
The high-paying jobs have accelerated the area’s economy. Over the last 10 years, jobs in high-tech, which tend to pay in the six figures, rose nearly 62 percent in the Austin metropolitan area, for a total of about 176,000 positions, accounting for 17 percent of all jobs and far surpassing the growth of all other industries, according to the Austin Chamber of Commerce.
And since 2010, the median household income has jumped from $55,744 to $80,954, according to the chamber.
Those high salaries have pushed up the price of housing, including rentals, the cost of which surged 38 percent over the last decade, more than other fast growing Texas cities like Dallas and San Antonio, according to a 2020 Root Policy Research housing market analysis.
TL;DR: Jobs. Jobs. Jobs.
So what does this mean to me?
We didn’t need the NYT to break the news that Austin (and Texas) is a desirable place to live. And the tech jobs aren’t going to stop coming to town. So what does it mean for those of us who live here?
It means the best time to buy in Austin was yesterday. Get in the game now.
The first step to any home search, especially in a super competitive market is pre-approval. Interest rates are still at historic lows, but appear to be headed higher.
Now is a great time to start planning for the next year and beyond. If your plan for 2022 includes looking for a new home, the best thing you can do is start the conversation now. Let’s talk.
Schedule a risk-free mortgage consultation with me right now HERE. Or get started in just a few clicks at micahwiener.com.
Thank you for your support. Happy Holidays!
Now, for something funny…
Tweet Thread of the Week
Presented without comment because I’m too busy cackling to type.
Surprisingly Wholesome Story of the Week
Check out this fun piece about two players on one of America’s most hated professional teams: Lakers’ Malik Monk, Austin Reaves bond over small-town Arkansas roots
The headline says small-town, but seriously, these are some REAL small-town Arkansas dudes.
Reaves described Newark as “a no-stoplight town,” and his graduating class was about 50 people. When Monk transferred to Bentonville as a sophomore, a high school with a larger enrollment than Lepanto’s entire population (per the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette), he said: “I seen way more cars than I ever had seen in my life.”
“It’s not just that we both made it to the NBA; it’s that we play for the biggest organization ever to play the game,” Monk said. “I don’t think anything like this will ever happen again.”
The crux of the long odds: Reaves hails from Newark, while Monk was born in Lepanto — both have populations of fewer than 1,200 people, with only about 77 miles between them.
Off the court, they’ve been fast friends.
They’re looking forward someday to getting together in their home state to ride on four-wheelers, or dress up in camo for a duck hunt — “typical Arkansas stuff,” Monk explained.
“Typical Arkansas stuff” normally doesn’t include playing for the L.A. Lakers. Good for these dudes.
Recipe Corner
Thanksgiving Daiquiri
Here’s a cocktail to make with the end of that can of cranberry sauce still floating around your fridge leftover from Thanksgiving.
Ice
1 ounce whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 1/2 ounces rum (light, dark or a combination of the two)
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
3/4 ounce chai syrup (see headnote)
Chill a cocktail coupe.
Fill a cocktail shaker two-thirds full with ice. Add the cranberry sauce, rum, lime juice, and chai syrup. Shake vigorously for 20 seconds, then double-strain into the chilled coupe.
NOTE: To make the chai syrup, combine 3 tablespoons of sugar and 2 cups of Oregon Chai Tea Latte Concentrate in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil; once the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from the heat. Cool completely before using or storing (in the refrigerator, for up to 2 weeks).
Instant Pot Texas Chicken Green Chili With Cider
Even though the weather doesn’t feel like December, it’s chili szn. The Instant Pot’s highest and best use is chili. Seriously, this chili is ready in 30 minutes. Make a double batch this week, freeze half, and thank me later.
1 28-ounce can tomatillos
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds green chiles (Hatch, Anaheim, poblano, whichever you prefer) roasted, peeled, stemmed, seeded, and diced (see note)
1 cup apple cider
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon salt
Optional garnishes: chopped cilantro, lime wedges, shredded cheese, sour cream, sautéed seasonal vegetables (corn, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, okra), crumbled tortilla chips, or avocado slices.
Add the tomatillos to a food processor and pulse until chopped but still a little chunky. Alternatively, pour them into a bowl and break up the tomatillos by squeezing them with your hands. Set aside.
On the medium sauté setting, sauté the diced onion in the oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute more, until fragrant.
Add the tomatillos, green chiles, apple cider, apple cider vinegar, chicken, and salt to the Instant Pot. Set to cook on high for 15 minutes, manually release the pressure, and serve with garnishes as you see fit.
More Micah
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