Christophe Gateau/Getty Images
- Housing prices near Tesla's new Austin-based Gigafactory are surging.
- Home prices in the county where the factory will be built were up 53.7% compared to last year.
- CEO Elon Musk officially announced Tesla's HQ move to Texas on Thursday after much speculation.
Housing prices surrounding Tesla's new Austin-based Gigafactory are increasing as Tesla also prepares to move its corporate headquarters to Texas.
In September, home prices in Travis County, Texas, where the factory will be built, were up 53.7% compared to last year, selling for a median price of $363,000, according to Redfin. That's more than a 26% increase compared to Austin, Texas as a whole.
Tesla confirmed the new factory's location in July 2020 after a bidding process involving several other southern cities, Insider reported. Tesla was offered $65 million in tax rebates over 10 years to take over a concrete plant. The plant will become a 5 million-square-foot factory for Tesla's Cybertruck, Semi truck, and Model 3 and Y.
Tesla said plans to hire up to 5,000 workers at a starting wage of $15 an hour for many of the low-skill manufacturing roles, according to Insider.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk made the announcement that the company would relocate its headquarters to Texas at its annual shareholder meeting on Thursday.
Homes for sale in the areas surrounding the plant have already started listing their proximity to the factory. A four-bedroom, three-bathroom house for sale in Austin, Texas is advertising a "great location- 13 min from Tesla," on Redfin.
"I think there will be a premium on being close to Tesla HQ, especially since a portion of engineering jobs will have to be in person," said Daryl Fairweather, Redfin's chief economist, told Austin's local news station KXAN in an email.
Redfin defines Travis County as a "very competitive" area for home buyers. The most popular homes can sell for about 12% above the list price and go pending in around 19 days, according to data from the real estate website.
Musk has already moved himself to the Lone Star State after fighting with California over its coronavirus restrictions, Insider reported. Musk already moved his charitable foundation to Texas, too, further fueling speculation that a new factory would soon follow. SpaceX, Musk's other venture outside of Tesla, also has a launchpad in Texas.
Musk was the highest-paid CEO in the country in 2019. The move allows the CEO to see a bit more out of his paycheck as Texas has no income tax compared to California which has some of the highest rates in the US.