As we encounter inflation, another financial metric looms large — housing affordability.
In Texas, housing overall remains affordable. But a new report from the Texas Real Estate Research Center reveals higher mortgage interest rates are contributing to declining housing affordability statewide in the second quarter.
The center based its findings on the Texas Housing Affordability Index (THAI), which measures the relationship between the median family income and the required income to purchase the median-priced home in a particular locale.
The higher the index, the better the affordability. A ratio of 1.00 means the family median income is sufficient to purchase the median-priced home. A ratio score below 1.00 means insufficient.
In North Texas, Dallas and Tarrant counties, Fort Worth-Arlington, and Dallas-Plano-Irving markets scored above 1.00. Denton County scored at 1.00. Collin County was below 1.00 and somewhere in the 0.80 range.
Wichita Falls and Odessa scored on the other end of the spectrum, getting scores above 2.00.
Statewide, the average THAI score was 1.22, meaning Texas remains affordable for a family earning the median income, Dr. Clare Losey, TRERC assistant research economist, said in the report
The THAI provides a tool for planners, practitioners, and other folks in the real estate industry to compare affordability over time and across regions.
What is the Texas Real Estate Research Center? The center is the nation’s largest publicly funded organization devoted to real estate research.
Report review: If you like charts, the center has several tables in a downloadable 32-page PDF. Warning: It will take a while to absorb. Hop on in, stats geeks. 🐇 🐇 🐇
