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Austin home sales increased more than 20% year-over-year in July, according to the Austin Board of Realtors, but the rental market is still struggling in the face of the pandemic.
Spring and summer is typically the busiest season for Austin's real estate market. But since the pandemic hit in March, only the housing sector has seen improvements.
The Austin metro saw a 21.5% year-over-year increase in home sales last month, with the median sales price climbing more than 10%. Rentals, on the other hand, are still struggling to recover from the financial hits.
"[March to July] is our peak leasing season, so historically there are usually pretty good size gains month over month this time of year," said Cindi Reed, vice president of regional development for ApartmentData.com. "This is not typical for this time of year."
On the homefront
Recent strong home sales indicate that the local market is bouncing back, despite the ongoing pandemic.
"July was a very encouraging month for the Central Texas housing market," Austin Board of Realtors President Romeo Manzanilla said in a Wednesday press release. "[W]ith two consecutive months of positive numbers, we are growing more confident that this is sustainable and can help be the spark that gets our economy back on track."
Manzanilla attributed the recovery to Austin's "dangerously low" housing inventory, which makes the housing market "ultra-competitive," and with "historically low" interest rates.
Recent economic development initiatives may also responsible.
Laura Huffman, president and CEO of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, said demand for housing is driven by the recent arrivals of electric car manufacturer Tesla, which promises 5,000 jobs at its forthcoming Southeast Travis County Gigafactory, and defense contractor BAE Systems, which announced last week plans for a new campus at Parmer Austin Business Park that will house more than 1,400 employees.
"Even amidst the pandemic, Austin still shines as a magnet for companies that appreciate our robust business climate and abundant talent pool," Huffman said in the same release.
The median home price in the city of Austin is now $423,000, up 11.3% from last year, according to ABoR data. This growth extends to the surrounding areas, including Williamson and Hays counties, which both posted double-digit year-over-year increases in overall sales and median home prices.
A renter's market
The Austin apartment market, however, is another story.
Since March, the average monthly rent in Austin has declined by about $37, or around 3%, according to a market report compiled by ApartmentData.com.
Reed attributes this to a combination of factors, including low interest rates spurring homeownership; a large amount of new and forthcoming inventory, including at least 49 Austin complexes in the pre-leasing stage; and what she feels is a decline in the number of people moving.
Class A, or luxury, apartments, have seen a more "significant decline" in Austin, with their average monthly rent down nearly 5% in the same period. Downtown, which primarily offers Class A units, has proven to be one of the worst performing submarkets during the pandemic period.
"I have to speculate and wonder: Who wants to pay the high price to live downtown but you don't get the benefits of the urban lifestyle?" Reed said, explaining that COVID has temporarily shut down a lot of the bars, restaurants and music venues that draw people to the area.
While there are some signs that the rental market may return to its pre-pandemic state—including a slight increase in the average rent from June to July and the return of students to college campuses—the apartment industry is still vulnerable to the COVID-19 recession.
Many landlords are worried about rental collection now that stimulus funds have likely run out and evictions remain on hold.
"There's a lot of fear of what's going to happen moving forward," Reed said. "It could go either way."
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Austin FC couldn't find the stamina to fight off a 2-0 loss against LAFC for their inaugural match on Saturday.
The match, which saw No. 21 Austin FC go head-to-head with No. 2 LAFC in Los Angeles, was broadcast nationally on FOX and FOX Deportes.
Salute the support. 👏
It's only the beginning for @AustinFC. pic.twitter.com/TduorqYr2y
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 18, 2021
Eleven players took the stage as Austin FC players for the first time, with five starters making their MLS debut. "Ringleader" Alex Ring took the captain's armband and wore it well. The defensive midfielder could be seen leading his teammates through their first ever match, but it wasn't enough to stage an Austin takeover in LA.
In the signature style of Head Coach Josh Wolff, the team played with quickness and intensity, nearly connecting on several fast breaks. It was harder for them to stay in front, however, something that Wolff credits with quick decision making and a tough LAFC defense.
"We have a quick attacking team, but I think when you make quick attacks and it fizzles it's just about some decision making," Wolff said. "Are we in position to finish attacks? If not, can we reestablish our attack and get stuff better?"
The club was given some generous breaks from No. 2 LAFC, who had one or both of their star DPs out for the half. While forward Diego Rossi is out for the entire match due to a hamstring injury, Carlos Vela was accidentally pulled too soon on what turned out to be a miscommunication.
"He gave us the sign that he needed to come off," LAFC Head Coach Bob Bradley said on broadcast. "I can't say more than maybe it's my fault."
LA pulled some dramatics and slowly gained more possession throughout the half, but ATXFC's defense wasn't initially as shaky as it seemed in preseason. Jhohan Romana has pulled his weight in getting the ball out of goal, and a 34-year old Matt Besler held his own in center back.
As the second half commenced, however, it became clear that LAFC had the advantage over Austin's first major league team.
Goalkeeper Brad Stuver had his work cut out for him, fending off 24 shot attempts, 11 of which were on goal. He didn't have much time to prepare, either: in the first 30 seconds of play, Stuver had already made a save to keep the match 0-0.
LAFC finally connected in the 61st minute of play as Corey Baird shot one into the bottom right corner. The team capitalized off their momentum and put one past Stuver a second time, drawing roars of approval from the LAFC crowd.
While some last-minute attempts from Jon Gallagher and others were made, Austin FC didn't have the endurance to bring a tie. After seven additional minutes of stoppage time, the club lost their first match 2-0.
While the scoreboard tells one story, Wolff said that the team did well considering the skill of LAFC and the pressure of their club debut.
"We've got to be realistic," Wolff said. "This is the first time this organization has been in front of TV with an opportunity to show itself and I think there were some promising moments. And we're going to maximize those and continue to try to develop those, but there's lots to build on."
The team may have lost, but it still won the support of thousands of Verde fans, dozens of which made it to watch their team's first match. When Stuver and the team made it to bthe stadium, Los Verdes fans were already there to show support, and Stuver said his wife saw the same back in Austin.
"The moment that we pulled into the stadium, we saw Black and Verde fans cheering us on as we got to the stadium," Stuver said. "During warm up, you can just look around and see different groups sitting in different sections of the stadium and it's just truly amazing to see the support in our first game. We know that we want to give the fans everything, because this we play for the city and we play for them."