AUSTIN, Texas — A major online real estate company is moving its headquarters from California to Texas, following in the footsteps of other large U.S. companies. 

What You Need To Know

  • Realtor.com will now be based out of its east Sixth Street office in Austin

  • According to the company, the move is due in part to a “boom” in the Texas real estate market

  • Texas Gov. Greg Abbott applauded the move and said the Lone Star State provides a home where companies “have the freedom to grow their business”

  • The move by Realtor.com is part of a larger trend of large companies leaving California for Texas

Realtor.com, which is operated by Move Inc.—a subsidiary of the Murdoch family’s mass media company News Corp, announced this week that its headquarters will move from Santa Clara, California, to Austin, Texas. 

“With the move, the company has made Austin its top hiring location and has committed to the long-term growth of its team and office footprint in Texas,” Realtor.com said in a news release. 

The company will now be based out of its east Sixth Street office in Austin.

According to Realtor.com, the move is due in part to a “boom” in the Texas real estate market. Last year, six of the top 10 most popular ZIP codes in the U.S. were in the Lone Star State. 

The housing markets in Texas’ largest metropolitan areas also saw some of the biggest improvements in affordability last year compared to the rest of the country because of an increase in housing construction across the state. 

“Austin and Texas offer a strong and growing talent pool, a powerhouse economy with unparalleled housing growth, affordability of living only matched by its aspirational lifestyle, expansive tech and academic communities, and a dynamic and vibrant city at the heart of the thriving state of Texas. There is no better place for us to call home,” said Realtor.com CEO Damian Eales in the release.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott applauded the move and said the Lone Star State provides a home where companies “have the freedom to grow their business.”

The move by Realtor.com is part of a larger trend of large companies leaving California for Texas. Some reasons for the migration are the appeal of Texas’ low taxes and the limited regulation from the state government. 

Some of the major relocations in the past five years include Tesla and social media company X—both owned by Elon Musk—and Charles Schawb.

A study looking at headquarter relocations from 2018 to 2023 found that Texas was the top state businesses moved to and Austin was the top city. The cities that lost the most headquarters were San Francisco and Los Angeles.