West Lake Hills, Texas (Unnamed Copywriting)

West Lake Hills, Texas is one of the more valuable residential suburbs of Austin. Located in Travis County, it has a relatively modest history, and is moderately young, especially in comparison to some of the historically rich suburbs of the Austin area.

The town was incorporated in 1953, and was created as a small, family oriented suburb for the workers of the city. The city grew very slowly, and has continued its growth since at the same slow pace. In 1960, the population was approximately 700 people. By 1970, it had doubled to around 1400 people. It continued to grow at a similar pace ever since. In 1980, it had around 1900 residents, about 2500 in 2000, and a little more than 3100 in 2008.

What started as a humble residential area on the outskirts of Austin has changed into something quite different along the way, however. Whereas it was initially an area created for blue collar workers, it has now become one of the higher-end suburbs of the Austin area.

All of the average financial figures of the town are considerably higher than those of most of the other Austin suburbs, from median income, to per capita income, to median home price. The Median income in West Lake Hills is a little over $130,000 a year. The average for the rest of Texas is only little more than $47,000. The per capita average income for the town is slightly more than $66,000, almost $40,000 per year higher than the average per capita income of the rest of the state.

Unlike the rest of the nation, the average home price in West Lake Hills has not seen a rapid decline in the last few years. It seems as though the village, as a whole has been largely unaffected by the housing crisis and recession that has affected so many other Austin areas and suburbs. In 2000, the average home price in West Lake Hills was $300,400. By the last fiscal quarter, that price had risen to over $505,000. To put this in perspective, the average home price for the entire state of Texas is only $120,900.

The area continues to be a town that is in high demand, and the properties located within maintain a high level of desirability. It is not surprising to find multiple million dollar properties for sale in the town of West Lake Hills, however, the one trend that has been universal, even in this austere suburb, has been the decline in sales. There are two main factors to this phenomenon. First, once people have a home in the town, they typically do not want to leave, and second, as a recession hits, it becomes harder for new people to afford homes in the area.

For a town with such humble beginnings, West Lake Hills has elevated itself to a very desirable level of distinction.