We're Recession-Proof

Hot Austin housing market leads nation in recovery from the recession

AIA Austin Homes Tour 2015 Arbib Hughey Design exterior - CREDIT ARBIB in caption IF USING

Austin places in the No. 2 spot for most-recovered housing markets in the nation. [Pictured: architecture by Arbib Hughey Design [https://www.arbibhughey.com/]]

Photo by Andrea Calo Photography

They say Austin is recession-proof, and a new real estate report backs up that sentiment. Online mortgage and loan resource center HSH.com reveals which metros have bounced back the most from the Great Recession — Austin leads the way.

Using data from the federal home price index from 1991 through the fourth quarter of 2015, HSH.com created a "home price recovery index." The data shows each market's pre-housing-crisis peak value, bottom value, and current housing value.

It should come as no surprise that Austin-Round Rock places in the No. 2 spot among the metro areas that have recovered the most since the recession. Our housing market has continued to increase dramatically over the past couple of years, and because of this, home prices in Austin are a whopping 44 percent above their pre-housing-crisis peak value. The current value is $390,070, compared to $270,780 before the recession. Only the Denver metro area has recovered more, at 45.29 percent.

Most of the metro areas in our great state have experienced major recovery. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land takes the No. 3 spot, where home prices are 43.7 percent higher than the pre-recession peak. Dallas-Plano-Irving takes the No. 5 spot, and Fort Worth-Arlington follows at No. 6. San Antonio was bumped from the top 10 by Honolulu and Oklahoma City.

To understand what these numbers mean for home prices, HSH.com offers a “home value estimator,” which allows homeowners to see how the price change in Austin has affected the value of their home. And, as you may have already guessed, if you own property in Austin, you can expect to see big numbers that indicate a great return on your investment.

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No Cap

Austin was a top destination for Gen Zers on the move for 2023

Photo by Neel Pramanik on Unsplash

Who wouldn't want to live in a Gen Z hotspot like Austin?

As Gen Z enters adulthood, many are flocking to the nation's biggest cultural hubs like New York City, Los Angeles, and now Austin, which had the one of the top 20 highest inflows of Gen Zers in 2023.

Austin's reputation as a Gen Z hot spot was unveiled in a recent report by American home improvement brand This Old House, which analyzed migration trends across multiple generations using 2023 U.S. Census Bureau data.

Austin saw an influx of 10,363 Gen Z residents last year to become the generation's No. 20 most popular city.

The city first gained traction as an up-and-coming destination for Gen Zers last year, when the "experience-hungry generation" was on the hunt for an affordable place to live with vast opportunities for entertainment, education, or employment.

Real estate marketplace Zillow seems to agree with this trend on a statewide scale; in February it declared Texas the No. 1 destination for Gen Zers on the move in 2024.

However, as Gen Z Austinites may have learned, it might take a big bite out of their paychecks to live in such a highly sought-after city. A March RentCafe housing cost analysis predicted Gen Z adults living in Austin are likely to spend more than $160,000 on rent by the time they are 30 years old.

While Austin saw big gains in its Gen Z population last year, many other big cities saw a mass exodus. Plano, for example — which gained 1,295 Gen Z residents in 2022 — lost 4,028 Gen Zers in 2023, the report discovered.

"The biggest Gen-Z exodus was in El Paso, with a drop of 5,607 — a sharp turn from 2022 when the city saw an increase," the report said. "Other cities, including Plano, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; McKinney, Texas; and Wichita, Kansas, are seeing similar declines."

The report also revealed that Austin is also one of the top destinations for millennials and Gen X, whereas both New York City and Los Angeles lost more residents among those two generations in comparison.

Austin had a net gain of 2,478 millennials in 2023, but saw net losses in its Gen X (3,240), baby boomer (1,178), and silent generation (1,390) populations.

"Gen X, baby boomers, and the Silent Generation are also moving away from major cities, particularly New York City and Washington, D.C.," the report said. "They’re heading to some of the same cities as Gen Z, including Houston and Jacksonville, Florida."

The top 10 cities that gained the most Gen Z residents in 2023 are:

No. 1 – New York City, New York
No. 2 – Los Angeles, California
No. 3 – Houston, Texas
No. 4 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
No. 5 – Chicago, Illinois
No. 6 – San Diego, California
No. 7 – Seattle, Washington
No. 8 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 9 – Dallas, Texas
No. 10 – Minneapolis, Minnesota

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