Most of you have heard about the red-hot Austin real estate market. Between Elon Musk’s Tesla move and articles like this – “the biggest boomtown that America has seen in 50 years.” it is hard to miss.
The news is correct. Austin is seeing an unprecedented real estate boom, an excellent development for everyone invested in the market right now.
This article is here to talk about the other Austin real estate market – the University area housing market. Tower Realty specializes in this market and we have an in-depth knowledge of these properties. Our 15 years of experience buying and selling makes us the leader for these niche sales.
The college area housing market has seen gains in the last few years. But these gains, while significant, are not on par with the primary Austin market. It is important to discuss, especially for our current and prospective families.
Zillow’s valuations of university properties are based on the whole Austin area market. Industry experts believe these projections are inflated for college area properties.
There is no doubt that a UT area property purchase is still an excellent investment if you are looking to save thousands on out-of-state tuition. The Texas State law makes it possible for out-of-state families to gain Texas residency for their students and qualify for the very affordable Texas in-state tuition.
In most cases, your property will hold its value and likely appreciate. We recommend taking the Zillow estimate with a grain of salt when preparing your next financial steps.
There are two other emerging markets that families should be aware of.
1. Main Austin Area
The first is the main Austin area (outside of the UT Austin area). Many Tower families purchase in this market because of the investment potential. You can still use these properties as your child’s address for residency purposes. In recent years, many out-of-state families have invested in this market.
In the past few years, it has been increasingly challenging to find properties in the college area. The supply and demand are uneven, with many potential buyers looking outside of the traditional UT neighborhoods. It becomes even harder to find a property closer to the deadline for Texas residency through UT. (This date is determined by UT and is the 12th day after the official roll call, which typically falls around September 11th.)
Many Tower families will invest in more than one Austin property with us, even after gaining residency for their student.
2. College Station / Texas A&M
The next emerging market we have started working with the past few years is the College Station, Texas A&M area. These properties tend to be less expensive and are an excellent investment for the family that wants a Texas address but needs a lower price point than Austin. This year, we sold quite a few College Station properties to Texas A&M and UT Austin out-of-state families and anticipate this market to grow into 2022.
The months leading up to a college decision are a perfect time to start researching your options. Tower Realty has some resources that will help you.
- Get our free guide to UT Austin neighborhoods. The guide details the campus area neighborhoods.
- Read the Frequently Asked Questions on our website.
- Watch our video on establishing residency through a property purchase.
- Use our Texas tuition calculator to calculate how much you will save per semester, depending on the year you will be eligible for in-state tuition.
- Visit the residency page at the UT Austin site (or the college you are researching if it is outside of Austin)
- Lastly, you can contact us with any residency-related questions. If we don’t answer right away, please leave your contact information, and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
