Elon Musk Complains Of Housing Shortage In Austin

Elon Musk is bemoaning that there isn’t enough housing in Austin, Texas, but whether he is actively planning to alleviate that situation is unclear.

What Happened: The self-crowned technoking of Tesla Inc. TSLA shared his frustration on the housing market in Texas’ capital city Sunday on Twitter with the observation “Urgent need to build more housing in greater Austin area!” He followed that tweet with the cryptic message “Austin + +.”

Musk is focusing his corporate energies on Austin, with plans for a Tesla manufacturing plant that will employ more than 10,000 people plus a proposed factory focused on SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network service.

What Could Happen Next: What prompted Musk’s tweet on Austin's housing market is unclear. New housing developments have not been part of his publicly announced plans for his company's Austin operations.

Musk has famously proclaimed a desire to create a city called Starbase along the Gulf Coast that would encompass the town of Boca Chica and the surrounding area – however, these plans are also lacking in specific housing development options.

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Musk’s tweets are also pointing out a situation that is not news in the central Texas real estate industry.

The latest data from the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) found the median sales price for a residence in the area was $395,000 in February, up 22% year-over-year; this figure covered single-family homes, condominiums and townhomes. While Austin home prices have soared, its inventory has evaporated: February saw 2,565 new listings, down 24% from one year earlier, and 1,310 active listings, a 74% year-over-year plummet.

Austin only had 0.4-months of housing inventory in February, down by 1.2-months, and the average number of days on the market for an available property was 31 days, compared to 32 days one year earlier.

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"Across the region, a high quantity of offers, cash offers, and requests to waive appraisals or option fees are increasingly commonplace," said Susan Horton, 2021 ABoR president. "Anyone interested in buying or selling a home in the next few months should start preparing now by determining what lending options are available to you, any financial or credit changes needed to boost your approval odds, and where you’re flexible in terms of home location and amenities."

Elon Musk photo courtesy of NASA.