There are still many unknowns in our market and what may be happening in the economy in the coming months. There were millions of dollars that were disbursed to businesses to assist in employee retention through the “Paycheck Protection Program”. These funds were enough to cover a companies’ entire payroll for two months lasting through June. We anticipate that many markets will suffer if the economy can’t recover in the coming months should another lockdown be required in Texas or across the country.
However, Texas and more importantly Central Texas is still very strong. We have a large tech industry and government jobs that are helping to keep many people employed. The University of Texas at Austin (UT) has released its plans for reopening for classes this Fall. They will be moving to 40% capacity in classrooms and offer 3 models of classes: Online, Hybrid, and In-Person. Due to this plan, we feel campus housing and the surrounding economies it affects should remain reasonably strong as students will be returning to campus until at least November 23rd.
Otherwise, in most parts of town and as of this writing, things are great and much better than expected. Tenants are paying rent nearly as normal and our vacant listings are moving even faster than normal this time last year. We are seeing slight dips in the outlying suburbs near Liberty Hill and Kyle. This could all be changed in a few short weeks, but we won't be able to really tell until we see if large employers keep people on staff or what their plans are for staffing as COVID remains around.
As a company, Stone Oak Management has done our best to retain tenants by offering payment plans where applicable and work with people that have never been in this situation before. Many good-paying and hard-working individuals are in a position that they have never known. Unemployed. Upper management must make some tough choices on behalf of our owners, but as always, we treat our clients’ properties as if they are our own and we treat everyone as we would want to be treated.
For all you data junkies, I have the full report that I have requested from the Austin Board of Realtors. This shows both sales and leasing data. Sales appear down, but we are still having an inventory shortage in the greater Austin area.
FULL AUSTIN BOARD OF REALTORS REPORT
Additionally, I have listed a few articles with some positive news about growth in the Austin area below. These may help to further understand our strong market in Central Texas. With the recent announcement that Travis County has approved Tesla's plans for a Gigafactory and Apple bringing their new campus to the area, we expect Austin to continue its rapid economic growth in the coming years.
Tesla Gigafactory deal approved by Travis County
Amazon expected to open delivery station in Round Rock
Kalahari Resorts & Conventions' Round Rock location on track to open in November 2020
Hutto chooses new developer for $800 million baseball field project
Lastly, we are a full-service Brokerage and our partner Matt Teifke is a Broker Associate with our firm and expert in Investment real estate. Matt holds a Master’s degree in real estate from Texas A&M. Feel free to contact him if you are considering purchasing or selling your property with us.
Author:
Jason Huval, MBA
Broker and Partner
Stone Oak Management
Have further questions about the market or Austin property management? Please don't hesitate to contact our team!
