If you're moving here from New York, you've probably already done the price math. The Manhattan co-op and condo median sits at a record $1.25 million, at roughly $1,420 a square foot. The Austin metro median sits at $412,000. At Manhattan prices, that buys you about 290 square feet.
The price is not what surprises people. What surprises them is everything around it: the taxes, the closing, the commute, and the first ninety days of paperwork. Here's the version I'd want if I were the one packing.
Taxes: the trade you're actually making
Texas has no state income tax. New York State runs from 3.9% to 10.9%, and New York City adds its own 3.078% to 3.876% on top. That is the headline, and if you live in the five boroughs, it's a big one.
The other half of the trade is property tax. Texas funds schools mostly through property tax, and across the Austin metro, combined rates run from about 1.55% to 2.35% of appraised value, depending on which city, county, school district and special districts your address sits in. A Clarksville condo I pulled up recently carries a combined rate of 2.0465%.
Here's a rough example. A married couple in the city earning $250,000 pays somewhere around $22,000 a year in state and city income tax, whether they own or rent. Buy an $800,000 house in Austin at a 2% rate and the property tax runs about $16,000 a year before exemptions. So you come out ahead, and you own the house. If you're coming from Westchester, Long Island or the Jersey suburbs, the property tax side will feel familiar, and the income tax savings are smaller without the city tax, but still real.
| New York | Austin, Texas | |
|---|---|---|
| State income tax | 3.9% to 10.9% | None |
| City income tax | 3.078% to 3.876% in NYC | None |
| Transfer and mansion taxes | Yes, at closing | None |
| Who runs the closing | Attorneys for each side | A title company |
| Building approval | Co-op board package | None, outside an HOA's rules |
Two things take the edge off the property tax.
The homestead exemption. Once you own and live in the house, file for it with the Travis Central Appraisal District (or your county's district if you buy in Williamson or Hays). It removes $140,000 of value from school district taxes, and more if you're 65 or older. On a typical Austin-area school tax rate, that works out to roughly $1,300 to $1,600 a year. It also caps how fast your taxable value can rise at 10% a year. You can file in the same year you buy. It's free and takes about ten minutes online.
The protest. The appraisal district sends a new value every spring, and you have the right to argue it down. A lot of Austin homeowners protest every single year, and you should plan to be one of them.
One more thing to check before you fall for a house in the suburbs: whether it sits in a MUD (municipal utility district). MUDs pay for the roads and pipes in newer subdivisions, and they add their own line to your tax rate. Two houses at the same price, a mile apart, can carry very different tax bills because of it.
Buying a house here works differently
No board package. Most of Austin is single-family houses and condos. No one is going to ask for your tax returns, two years of bank statements and three letters of reference. If you've been through a co-op board, this part will feel almost suspicious.
No transfer tax, no mansion tax. New York charges transfer taxes at closing, and buyers pay a 1% mansion tax starting at $1 million. At the Manhattan median, that's $12,500 before anything else. Texas has neither.
Fewer lawyers. Texas uses standard contract forms written by the state's real estate commission. A title company holds the earnest money, does the title work and runs the closing. Most buyers here close without hiring a real estate attorney, though you're always free to.
Sale prices aren't public. Texas is a non-disclosure state. Sellers don't have to report what a house sold for, so the online estimates are working with less information than you're used to. The actual sold prices live in the MLS. Lean on your agent's comps, not the website estimate.
The contract runs on an option period. You pay the seller a small option fee, and for the agreed number of days you can walk away for any reason. That's when inspections and most of your homework happen. Negotiate it carefully, because once it ends the leverage shifts.
The market is giving buyers room right now. Metro inventory sits at 5.1 months of supply, the median home takes 66 days to sell, and homes are closing at an average of 93.2% of list price. Inspections, repairs and seller credits are all on the table.
The house itself
The square footage resets your sense of scale. The Austin median buys a whole house, often with a yard. Furnish slowly. You'll figure out what the extra rooms are for.
No basements. Almost everything here sits on a concrete slab. If you're coming from a house in the suburbs, plan storage around the garage and the closets.
Foundations move. Much of Austin sits on expansive clay. It swells when it's wet and shrinks during drought, and slab foundations move with it. A foundation inspection is worth it on any house with some age on it, and yes, some people here water their foundation in August. It works.
Hail, not snow. You'll trade the shovel for hail and wind. Roof age and roof material drive insurance quotes more than almost anything else, so ask about the roof early, before you're under contract.
Summer is the season you plan around. New York has a winter you stay in for. Austin has an August. Good shade, a working AC system, and a sense of how the house handles west sun matter more here than a fireplace ever will.
Your first 90 days
- Buy a car, or bring one. Austin has buses and a rail line, but most errands here assume a car. If your household has gotten by without one, budget for it, and for insurance.
- Vehicle registration within 30 days. Travis and Williamson counties require a passing emissions inspection first.
- Texas driver license within 90 days, through the Department of Public Safety. Book the appointment early. The wait is the longest part.
- Homestead exemption as soon as you've moved in.
- Cedar fever shows up between December and February. Most newcomers lose a week to it the first winter before they figure out what it is.
Where to start looking
The biggest question I hear from New York buyers is whether they can still walk to things. The honest answer: in a few neighborhoods, yes, and you'll pay for it. Hyde Park, Clarksville, Travis Heights and parts of East Austin have coffee, dinner and a park within a few blocks. Most of the metro does not.
Pick the constraint first: walking to dinner, the commute, the school district, or the budget. Then pick the ZIP. What "central Austin" actually means breaks down the seven ZIP codes people call central and what each one costs. The Relocation Guide covers 45 neighborhoods across the metro, and the neighborhood guides go deeper on 30 of them.
And if you want an honest read on where you'd fit, reach out. I'm happy to walk you through it, including the parts of town I'd steer you away from.
Sources: Manhattan co-op and condo median and price per square foot from appraiser Jonathan Miller's third quarter 2026 report, as reported by The Real Deal. Austin figures from Unlock MLS (ACTRIS), August 2026, all property types, Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA. New York State rates are for tax year 2026. Homestead exemption amount per the Texas constitutional amendment approved by voters in November 2025. Registration and license deadlines from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. The income tax figure is a rough estimate for a married couple filing jointly in New York City and is not tax advice. Talk to a tax professional about your situation. Median sold price is not a guarantee of value for any specific property.