Housing prices in general have soared all over the area as it tried to compensate for the large influx of growth, which since has stabilized. In the city of Austin, prices are reflective of any medium-sized city. Travel just west of the city into the Hill Country and the prices jump into the hundreds of thousands. Go east into the flat lands and you can find a new home for under 100K. North and south are in the middle of these ranges. Some think the eastern area as a place where the Central Texas boom forgot, but it is changing. Major corporations are building in the area and we have a brand new airport (built from a retired air force base, Austin Bergstrom Airport). Don't think for a minute that every home has cattle grazing on the front lawn (some do, and I find them on my property at times). All subdivisions have restrictions for livestock and you have to travel away from the city to find an area that allows it (for new construction). There are many working farms, though, and you will pass livestock in fields wherever you go (well, not in downtown of course!).