Once again, our city of Austin is getting some more clickbait list-PR, rejoice! Surely many Austinites have noticed their city’s propensity for showing up in a number of lists in recent years. Mostly positive, some negative.
Did you know that Austin is the 13th best city for single men?! Or that we are the 8th best city for coffee snobs? Of course you did. Just like you nodded to yourself in agreement when you saw that I35 in Austin is the 3rd worst place to drive in America or rolled your eyes when your crossfitting co-worker bragged that Austin is the 14th fittest city in the country. Every time I see a cyclist cruise through a stop sign without even thinking about tapping the brakes I’m reminded that Austin is the 11th most cyclist-friendly city in the U.S.
This is important stuff, folks, it’s all part of why Austin is the 3rd coolest and 3rd-fastest growing big city in America, right? Or maybe not, no one can actually click their way through an entire list to figure out what criteria was used. But hey, who cares as long as we’re the 2nd best city for millenials? High-fives all around.
This particular list touts Austin as the 5th-best city for people 35 and under. Only three spots behind Arlington, TX but 10 spots ahead of Lubbock, TX. Yes, that Lubbock. Everyone pat yourself on the back and then get back to complaining about all the people moving here and how Austin just isn’t quite what it used to be.
The fact is, Austin has certainly caught many people’s attention nationwide over the past decade and the corresponding growth doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Despite the negative consequences of this growth, Austin is still a place that a whole slew of people want to live in. This translates to a very promising real estate market for sellers and investors, but an extremely competitive market for buyers that will likely remain that way for the foreseeable future.
The popularity of the city combined with the strong economy (3rd-best city for jobs) should provide the necessary insulation to prevent any significant decrease in real estate values due to national market factors like those that caused many housing market bubbles to burst following the 2008 economic recession. Would it have been better to get into the market two or five years ago instead of now? Sure, but odds are property values will continue to increase as Austin continues to find itself on more clickbait lists extolling its virtues.