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Elon Musk is looking to lease or purchase property in the Austin area, following his various futuristic companies to the capital of Texas.
The SpaceX and Tesla CEO has been touring local property along with representatives on his behalf, confirmed realtor Cord Shiflet, who works for the local brokerage firm Moreland Properties. Looking for a residence within reach of his new Tesla factory, he's been seen in area restaurants and around town.
"Mr. Musk did recently look at a property in Austin," Shiflet said. "It seems a lot of his friends, business associates and even family members have been looking in Austin."
Musk, an automotive, space, AI, neuroscience, tunneling, hyperloop pioneer, first told the Wall Street Journal last week of his personal move to Texas, citing the location of the new Tesla Gigafactory in the Austin area and the launch site of SpaceX in South Texas.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he has moved to Texas, becoming one of the highest-profile executives yet to leave Silicon… https://t.co/GDYOnV9S5y
— The Wall Street Journal (@The Wall Street Journal)
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Between the two, it seemed likely that he might choose Austin as tech moguls continue to ditch the Silicon Valley for the Hill Country one after another. Musk also recently moved his private Musk Foundation to Austin.
Rumors buzzed of a potential move for the billionaire when, earlier this year, Musk went head to head with the state of California over Tesla's violations of COVID-19 regulations. It sparked a flame that would lead Musk to tweet he would move his Tesla headquarters to Texas or Nevada.
@GerberKawasaki @thirdrowtesla Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to… https://t.co/IDLjEvXyDW
A few months after the feud, he announced the location of his new Tesla Gigafactory, which is being built in Southeast Travis County. The under-construction $1.1 billion factory will make the new Model Y vehicle and the Cybertruck, along with the battery packs that power the electric vehicles.
While Musk has not made any announcement about moving the Tesla headquarters to Texas, "Giga Texas" is one of the most important projects he has going on, he told the Wall Street Journal.
By coming to Texas, Musk skips out billions he would have to pay in personal income taxes to the state of California.
Aside from the new Tesla Gigafactory he'd be closer to, there's also Neuralink, Musk's "Fitbit in your skull" startup, and the Boring Company, a tunneling business that's a traffic alternative for autonomous vehicles, both of which were hiring in Austin earlier this year.
Musk recently climbed the ranks of the richest people in the world, reaching the number two spot. In Austin, he would join the ranks of eight other billionaires who call Austin home. He'd knock Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies, down from being the wealthiest person in the city.
And aside from the billionaires, there are other high-profile tech moguls in the city, including recent transplant Drew Houston, CEO of Dropbox. There's also familiar star power, like Joe Rogan, who has hosted Musk on his podcast.
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Austin is one of the top metro areas where homebuyer income saw the greatest surge during the pandemic and it came at a cost to locals.
A new analysis by real estate services firm Redfin reports that affluent out-of-towers have contributed to surging home prices in metros like Austin. Due to this trend, Redfin notes, many local buyers with lower incomes have been priced out.
“For white-collar workers earning high salaries, remote work is a huge financial boon,” said Sheharyar Bokhari, Redfin senior economist. Jobs with that flexibility, Bokhari says, enable them to move from a tech hub like San Francisco to a more affordable part of the country where they can get more home for their money and even put some toward a rainy day fund.
“It can have the opposite effect on locals in those destinations–especially renters–who are watching from the sidelines as home prices skyrocket while their income stays mostly the same,” Bokhari said.
In Austin, the median homebuyer income surged 19% from 2019 to 2021, ultimately reaching $137,000. In that time, the median home price growth was 48%, just behind Boise, Idaho which was more than 50%.
But the housing market is starting to slow. Redfin says high mortgage rates and unsustainable price growth have driven demand down. In fact, Austin is among the 20 housing markets that have cooled the fastest in the first half of this year.
“People are still moving in from California and they still have enough money to buy nice homes in desirable neighborhoods, sometimes with all cash,” said Austin Redfin agent Gabriel Recio. “But the days of homes selling for 25% over asking price with multiple offers are over. Buyers are no longer as eager now that mortgage rates are up and there’s buzz in the air about the slowing housing market.”
As a result, Recio says, local and out-of-town buyers have an opportunity to buy a home at the asking price or even under.
Redfin carried out its analysis using data from the home mortgage disclosure act to review median household incomes for homebuyers who took out a mortgage, though it doesn’t include buyers who paid using all cash.
School is back in session—do you know the latest TikTok trends?
With Austin ISD resuming session on Monday, school officials are keeping tabs on the newest TikTok trends that could pose classroom disruptions and property damage.
TikTok trends swept through Austin-area schools last year with the “Devious Lick” challenge, which encouraged students to steal from school property and reportedly caused $15,000 in damages at Round Round ISD; and the “slap a staff member” challenge.
On the distraction end, a substitute teacher was dismissed from Bowie High School in December after bringing in a karaoke machine to class and singing Britney Spears’ “Toxic” for the class on TikTok.
Officials told KXAN they are staying aware of the trends as they change during the 2022-2023 school year and the district will investigate perceived threats. Since TikTok trends vary in severity, they will also evaluate to see which trends could cause harm or not.
Finally, the school district said it does not tolerate violence or bullying and will focus its efforts on protecting students both physically and digitally.
