Think Austin homes are expensive? Here's what pricey really looks like
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Yearning for a cozy flat in romantic Paris? Better bring some major cash to the table, and maybe a bottle of wine to ease the sticker shock.
- Jan Buchholz
- Staff Writer-Austin Business Journal
- Email | Twitter | LinkedIn
Conversation around Austin’s housing affordability has been gaining traction as home values have appreciated significantly and lease rates have soared.
But this week I came across some data that puts things in a little different perspective.
The Freddie Mac Blog posted the costs per square-foot of housing in a few U.S. markets compared to international destinations based on information collected by website Credit Sesame.
The average cost per square foot of a home in Paris is a whopping $3,287, far outpacing the next most expensive city — London at $1,590 per square foot. The other global locations are Singapore at $1,561 per square foot, Madrid at $1,395 per square foot, Hong Kong at $1,118 per square foot and Cairo, which is fairly affordable at $574 per square foot.
New York City checks in at an average price of $1,068 per square foot — which compared to those other locations is a steal.
Even so, that’s double compared to San Francisco where the average price of a home is $520 per square foot.
Guess where it’s really cheap to live all things considered: Houston at $54 per square foot on average.
Drum roll please for the average price per square foot of a house in Austin: $137, according to the latest data from the Austin Board of Realtors.
That’s up slightly from a year ago when the average was $134 per square foot. In January 2012, that number was a modest $107 per square foot.
Yes, housing is more expensive in Austin than ever before, but it’s barely registering on the Richter Scale of housing prices from a worldwide perspective.
Jan Buchholz covers commercial and residential real estate, construction and architecture and retail and restaurants for the Austin Business Journal.
