Austin Business Journal writes, "if you live in either the 78727 or 78744 ZIP code, odds are you’re renting.
That's according to an Oct. 24 study from RentCafe, which found that from 2010 to 2020, those two ZIPs transitioned from having a majority of homeowners to a majority of renters. There are now 15 ZIP codes in the Austin area with renting majorities, signifying how the evolution of Austin into a big city is changing its economic makeup.
North Austin’s 78727, which eats up a large part of town north of The Domain neighborhood, had a population consisting of about 51% renters in 2020. Its 2020 renter population of 16,285 was a 21% jump from the 13,413 who called the ZIP code home in 2011, RentCafe found. The rental search platform used data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 American Community Survey.
The 78744 ZIP — just south of State Highway 71 between I-35 and U.S. 183 — just barely made the list with a 50.2% renter majority in 2020. The raw number of renters was higher than in 78727, however, with an 18% increase to 24,353 in 2020.
Austin as a whole is about 54% renters, according to RentCafe, and average monthly rent is $1,826.
These new majority-renter ZIP codes represent areas of medium to low household income. The 78727 ZIP ranked No. 37 out of 82 on Austin Business Journal's latest list of the wealthiest ZIP codes, with estimated median household income of $83,603 in 2020, based on Census ACS data. It also ranked No. 37 with median value of owner-occupied homes of $320,000.
The 78744 ZIP code found itself in the bottom-quarter of wealthiest ZIP codes. It had median household income of $62,905 in 2020, good for No. 62 on ABJ's list. It fared worse for median value of owner-occupied homes, landing at No. 65 with $192,700.
The 15 local ZIP codes on the RentCafe list ranged as high as nearly 93% renters — that was in 78705, home to many students who live around the University of Texas at Austin. Its median household income of $24,509 in 2020 was the lowest of any in the region.
For this study, RentCafe looked at the number of renters and owners in 1,553 ZIP codes with a minimum population of 1,000 in 2011 and 2020 across the 50 largest U.S cities. It found 101 ZIPs nationwide that switched from a homeowner majority to a renter majority from 2010 to 2020.
The median sale price of a home in September in the Austin-Round Rock metro was $470,000, according to the Austin Board of Realtors. That was down from the record-setting $550,000 price reached in April and May, but it was still a 5% year-over-year increase.
Source: Austin Business Journal
Written by: Cody Baird
Published: October 25, 2022
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