Austin Ranks High on Inaugural "Cities of the Future" List

In many lists, studies and polls, Austin continues to prove that it is a city on track for continued global business success. According to the inaugural Tier 2 Cities of the Future Report , Austin ranked #11 on the overall list of cities that is capturing the attention of investors worldwide.

"Second-tier" cities across the globe are defined as cities with a population under 8 million. These cities were evaluated on 116 data points across five categories:

1. Economic Potential

2. Cost Effectiveness

3. Business Friendliness

4. Connectivity

5. Human Capital and Lifestyle

In addition to taking 11th place overall, Austin ranked eighth in the world for economic growth potential. So, in addition to Austin being named the Best City, the Healthiest City in America and the Top Market in the U.S. and Canada, it turns out Austin is also a solid investment as well.

Rounding out the top 20 international Tier 2 cities were:

1. San Francisco, CA

2. Montreal, Canada

3. Houston, Texas

4. Dusseldorf, Germany

5. Hamburg, Germany

6. Boston, Massachusetts

7. Wroclow, Poland

8. Edinburgh, Scotland

9. Seattle, Washington

10. Espoo, Finland

11. Austin, Texas

12. Manchester, England

13. Reading, England

14. Basel, Switzerland

15. Belfast, Ireland

16. Rotterdam, Netherlands

17. Nanjing, China

18. Miami, Florida

19. Dallas, Texas

20. Atlanta, Georgia

City of Austin July Housing Report

The Austin Board of Realtors just released their monthly report, and the July results are good. We see that the median sales price is up 11% in July while the average days on the market is down by 3. This means that it is still a seller’s market in Austin, Texas. If you have a property you would like to put on the market, believe it or not, now is still a good time!

Check out these other ABOR statistics below:

Interested in seeing what your home could be worth? Contact me below for your complimentary home evaluation!

Austin Named #1 of the Top 5 Markets to Watch in 2020

One year ago, Austin was ranked sixth place in overall real estate prospects and fourth place in local expectation of investor demand. All that has improved even more in 2020. According to pwc.com Guide to Emerging Trends in US/Canada real estate, Austin is now the TOP market in both overall real estate prospects and local expectation of investor demand.

The top ranked cities in overall real estate prospects for 2020:

1. Austin, TX

2. Raleigh/Durham, NC

3. Nashville, TN

4. Charlotte, NC

5. Boston, MA

The report continues to identify Austin as a top-tier 18-hour city. Some of Austin’s defining characteristics, such as its motto, “Keep Austin Weird,” its incredibly talented pool of workplace skills, its outdoor lifestyle and its ongoing commitment to expansion, both in business and in real estate, were some of the reasons for Austin’s top ranking. In addition, Austin has the highest projected population growth rate for the next 5 years among any of the 80 markets that were analyzed for this report.

Although Austin comes out on top for this year, the report did not ignore some ongoing problems that will need to be addressed if Austin is to stay at the top real estate market. Traffic congestion and housing affordability where two of the ongoing issues mentioned that will need to be intentionally addressed by city officials. But for now, Austinites can take pride that we are the very top market in 2020 for the United States and Canada, which is a feat in any season, much less during a pandemic!

Tesla's Largest Plant Coming To Austin

No matter what you think of Elon Musk or his famous brand, Tesla, a decision this past month on selecting Austin for the site of Tesla’s biggest production plant is a win for all Austinites, especially in these pandemic times. Tesla’s new plant is slated to bring on 5,000 new employees in the Austin area who will specialize in assembling two models for Tesla: its new pickup truck slated to be introduced next year, and a Tesla SUV that is already in production. Tesla plans to pay an average salary of $47,147, with entry-level positions starting at $35,000.

Incentive to Come to Austin

Musk was looking for a centralized location in the country for his new plant, and while other locations like Tulsa, Oklahoma, put up a good fight, the city of Austin won out due to its overall incentive package.

Tesla will build on a 2,100-acre site in Travis County near Austin and will receive more than $60 million in tax breaks from the county and a local school district over the next decade. Work on the plant, which will be over 4 million square feet, is already underway, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said.

Where Will Tesla Locate?

Tesla is building the factory on a plot of land east of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, next to about two miles of Texas’ Colorado river. The land is largely unused right now, although a sand and gravel mining company does operate in the center of the development.

Future site of Tesla plant in Southeast Austin

The Irony

While we are happy to have this economic boost come to Austin, the irony of Tesla choosing ATX as its largest location is that currently, Tesla isn’t allowed to legally sell its vehicles in Texas. Why? Because Texas state law requires that cars can only be sold through franchised dealers, not company stores like Tesla. We will see if that law flexes over time, but for now, Texans will only be allowed to make Teslas, not buy them!

More Efficient, Easier on the Environment

While many Tesla executives were pushing for Austin as the next choice, the ultimate reason Tesla chose Austin was to cut down on its delivery timeline to customers in the Northeast. East Coast customers will no longer have to wait for a car to be transported from Tesla’s Fremont factory in Northern California, and the company will save on fuel and transport costs as well.

What do you think about Tesla coming to Austin? Let us know in the comments below!