I agree. Texas should do well by continuing to build. Just that the best way to capture value in Texas may not be through passive investment in residential real estate.
Mom and pop small businesses will do well in Texas if RE price is kept low and population continues to rise. Maybe it’s better to be an active business owner in Texas? Not sure.
Property investment in TX is not good since Fed started raising rates plus double digital climb of property insurance due to tycoons and forest fires. Any price gain/ rental increase is eroded by increase in property insurance even though property tax (absolute dollar term) has been declining. Better to pause, and wait for property insurance to stabilize. This year alone shot up 20-30%… even though Austin doesn’t have those natural disasters, the insurance companies spread the premium increase across TX. I suspect some increase is due to “catch up” for rapid climb in price during Covid era.
Insurance rates have roughly doubled for me in the six years I’ve owned my home but that still isn’t enough to sway anyone. I was paying $750 a year. Now I pay $1500 a year though I did raise my deductible.
SF needs a fleet of these - for the people.
https://boingboing.net/2024/10/01/the-poopcopter-is-an-autonomous-drone-that-finds-and-collects-dog-doo.html
Meta 
to CA, 
to TX
Newsom is clearly gunning for a presidential run, from his new podcasts, new hard stance against homeless, and now this.
AI reverses brain drain.
Texas and Florida will soon be seeing foreclosures. Texas overbuilt. And Florida condo fees, insurance and mandates to upgrade are killing condo prices.
Austin Home Prices Drop: What It Means for Buyers — LRG Realty.
This article says for the $16->$20 increase which is 25%, because of a lot of municipalities already had a minimum wage higher than $16 when the new law went into effect, the average increase was actually only 11%. Then because labor cost is only 30% of total cost, 11% increase in labor became 3% increase in total cost, and food price increased by 1.5% as a result (the other 1.5% absorbed by restaurant owners).
Now they are proposing $30 minimum wage in Alameda county which is a 50% increase from $20. So the 33% labor cost becomes 50%, which means an increase of 17% in total cost. Basically a $6 burger becomes $7. It’s going to be very noticeable.
Always lost from the calculations are all the small businesses which can never get started in the first place when labor becomes too expensive.
