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This city is set to become most expensive outside of California

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Before you consider leaving the Bay Area over its high housing costs, make sure to research where you’re headed to prevent getting stuck in another expensive situation.

A recent Zillow report is predicting several cities to become less affordable within a few short months.


The report says Austin, Texas, will become the least affordable major U.S. city by December for home-buyers, if you take all California locations out of the equation.

“By December, even if mortgage rates stay the same moving forward, home buyers in Austin should be prepared to spend 30.1% of their income on a mortgage — above the 30% housing-burdened threshold,” the report says. “The only markets that will be less-affordable than Austin at the end of the year are all in typically pricey California: Riverside, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Jose and San Francisco.”

As reports of a Bay Area exodus surfaced during the pandemic, Zillow says Austin; along with Phoenix, AZ and Charlotte, NC; saw the highest net inbound moves in the first 11 months of 2020.

Austin was a top destination for residents who moved out of San Francisco during this time, Zillow reported.

People with San Francisco salaries moving out to Austin while remote working could explain the rising costs.

With the increase coming, Zillow recommends relieving the expensive burden from current residents by relaxing zoning restrictions and make it easier to build more high-density housing like townhomes and condos.

It’s not just remote workers who moved to Austin from the Bay Area – whole companies are relocating to the Lone Star State.

Oracle Corp. moved its headquarters from Redwood City to Austin in Dec. 2020. Tesla is building a new factory just outside of Austin, and CEO Elon Musk said he moved there to be near it.