After Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed the company’s plans to move its headquarters to Austin, Texas from Palo Alto, California last week, some residents of the Austin area cited concerns about the rising housing market and the potential to be displaced.
As Austin, Texas’s median housing prices have risen over 40 percent in the last two years, hitting about $549,000 USD in September, some residents are airing their concerns about the addition of Tesla to the mix, according to Reuters.
The rising market comes as a number of other large tech companies have built their own locations in the area over the past few years, including Apple Alphabet (Google) and Oracle.
Tesla Cybertruck July 2021 Update: Production in Austin After Model Y https://t.co/dMvBy9zHks
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) July 26, 2021
Trish Webb, a 47-year-old South Austin resident and Hospital Administrative Assistant, shared growing concerns about the difficulty of purchasing a house – let alone having to compete with geographical transplants.
While on her lunch break on Friday, Webb said, “I’m really happy for all the jobs this will create, but my family is already unable to buy a house right now, and it will only get worse with Tesla.”
Others expressed concerns amidst the California housing market’s continued growth, with many residents of Austin noting how it could change the culture of Austin.
Reed Chorry, 26, said, “All these Californians coming here is also changing the culture, and I’m worried it will become too much.”
With reports of homes being purchased in cash at double asking prices by Californians, many are worried about getting priced out of the market.
