Austin Workers Head Back to Offices

[David Ivy]

The Wall Street Journal recently reported, “Austin offices are 59%-occupied—and cracked the 60% threshold last month—according to data from Kastle Systems, an office-security firm that records workers’ comings and goings by measuring badge swipes into skyscrapers and corporate campuses. Approximately 60% of Austin’s workforce is back.”

Austin’s recovery from pandemic-related job losses has been nothing short of remarkable. Austin had already returned to pre-pandemic job numbers by May of last year:

In fact, on a percentage basis, Austin's employment numbers outperformed all other U.S. metros from Feb. 2020 to Mar. 2022:

These job numbers largely explain the tremendous and continued demand for Austin metro housing that, in combination with extremely low supply, produced a roughly 55% increase in the median home price in the 24 months spanning March 2020 to March 2022.