Once Regarded as ‘Weird,’ Austin Is Making Gains in Luxury Home Sales

Austin, which once embraced the Keep Austin Weird phrase, has taken another step toward being responsible — like having larger mortgages.

In the latest report from the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University, the Austin area is experiencing a surge in luxury home sales and slowly erasing the region’s reputation of being hip and bohemian.

Teslas are continuing to replace old-school Volkswagens.

Already, the number of luxury home sales — homes that sold for $1 million or more — have doubled since 2018. Austin has surged to No. 2 in Texas in luxury-home sales after trailing the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land region since 2018.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is still the king, leading each year since 2018. But the margins are getting closer and Austin is barely leading the Houston region through May.

In the first five months of 2022, Austin has sold 1,561 luxury homes, 17 more than Houston. D-FW sold 1,906.

“What makes this all the more remarkable is that Austin’s population is only about one-sixth the population of Houston and one-seventh that of DFW,” Joshua Roberson, lead data analyst with the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University, said in the report.

Year-to-date sales are on pace to surpass pre-pandemic sales, but it’s too early to tell if there is enough momentum to exceed 2021 sales, he said.

“In-state migration, particularly among higher-income households, has propelled luxury home markets. And booming DFW and Austin have provided steady growth for the state’s overall luxury market.”