Last year was a record year for the sale of Texas homes for three particular reasons, according to the Texas A&M University Systems Real Estate Center.
At 356,576 homes sold throughout MLSs in 2019, research associate Wesley Miller said there was a combination of reasons for the growth:
- Low interest and mortgage rates
- Domestic migration
- Job growth and demographic changes
“Without predicting an exact number, we are expecting interest and mortgage rates to be relatively stable and stay low,” Miller said. “It depends on a lot of factors and how the 2020 economy is, but we aren’t expecting any widespread changes.”
Demographically, he said as the millennial generation is aging — with the oldest of the generation now entering their 40s — practices are changing.
“People were concerned they would never buy homes,” Miller said. “Now, the main part of that cohort has moved into their 30s, and more and more millennials are buying homes.”
Miller said Central Texas grew by 2.4 percent in the past year, while the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex slowed down by 3.1 percent in 2019, after having explosive growth for the past decade.
Led by San Antonio and Austin have led the region, and state, in growth, primarily because of technology careers, Miller said.
“When it comes to population growth and domestic migration, Austin comes to the forefront of people’s minds,” Miller said. “It occurs in all the major MSAs.”
In 2019, housing prices in D-FW didn’t increase as much as they had in the past seven or eight years, but it allowed other industries to catch up, which is still good for D-FW.
Though an increasing housing market across the state is a positive trend, he said homebuilders and developers are scrambling to keep up with the word required.
“We’re seeing that activity in terms of building permits, vacant lot development and supply factors are increasing,” Miller said. “Builders and developers are having to try hard to keep up with the demand.”
For more information, read the reports at the Real Estate Center website. The center publishes monthly reports in the Texas Urban Triangle, major MSAs and the border economy. There is also a quarterly report that focuses on commercial real estate.
