Will Formula One Rev Austin Real Estate Up?

Over the past year I have received many calls from people who want to know how the Circuit of the Americas Race Track now completed in Southeast Austin will impact their property values.  Some are planning to put their Austin homes on the market, and they are hoping that the Formula One Track will be just one more contributor to Austin’s rising property values.  Others have no desire to sell.  Instead, they are considering doing short term single family rentals (SFR), anticipating that some of the expected 250,000 Formula One visitors will pay top dollar to stay in their Austin homes while they’re visiting for the big races. 

Still others are convinced that their real estate near the Circuit of the Americas Race Track in Del Valle will now be worth substantially more than before the track was built.  While the first two scenarios may indeed play out to be true, it is the last group of people that I feel for.  Because the truth is that the Formula One Race Track will have a huge impact on the community directly surrounding it, but increasing the values of those homes is not one of those things. 

Even a cursory look at the statistics from the Multiple Listing Service for the community of Del Valle shows this:

Year                 # of Homes Sold          Median Price of Homes

2009                140                              $104,550

2010                121                              $104,000

2011                150                              $91,422

2012                108 (so far)                  $85,000

Visit our blog for a more detailed analysis of Formula One’s impact on the Austin real estate market and the investment opportunities the race track has created.