According to real estate experts, the housing market in Texas has been undergoing its hottest season to date. The most recent quarterly housing report that has been issued by the Texas Association of Realtors (TAR), proves that home sales in the state are still on the rise, as they have been over the last few years. Keep reading to learn more, especially if you are planning on working with experts to either purchase or sell real estate anywhere in the state.
Houses in Texas Are in High Demand
With so many great places to live throughout Texas, from the great Austin Texas Hill Country that is available, to the many homes in cities like Dallas and Houston, it is no surprise that housing in the state has grown in demand.
All you have to do is look at the second quarter of 2016 to see the growth. In that quarter alone, the median home price rose to $215,000. This is a 7.5% jump from the same quarter in 2015, and this is also an all-time high for Texas. On top of that, active house listings increased by 4.1%, and the number of closed house sales increased 4.4% to reach 91,418, which is the highest volume of home sales that the state has ever seen.
Overall, these last few months have been some of the strongest in the state’s history, and houses of all price classes and types are now in really high demand, especially if they are priced below $200,000 and perfect for first-time buyers.
Affordable Home Prices
Affordable home prices and a lower cost of living are a couple of the main reasons why so many people are now flocking to the state of Texas to retire, raise a family, or jumpstart a new career. Throughout the entire state, about 45% of the houses that were on the market during the second quarter of 2016 were priced very affordably at under $200,000. Another 47% had fallen in price to reach the range of $200,000 to $499,999. Only 8% were priced at $500,000 or more.
This makes the state a very attractive place for everyone from the first-time homebuyer, to those who are retiring on a fixed income, and even those who used to live in more expensive areas of the country and want to stretch their dollars in a place with a more affordable cost of living, where they can purchase a larger home for less money.
Cities Are More Expensive
In big city areas, however, the numbers break down a little differently. For example, take Dallas-Fort Worth, where the average home price went up by 8% from one year to the next, reaching $238,000. Less than 38% of the houses there were priced under $200,000. In fact, the majority of the houses, or about 53%, range from $200,000 to $499,999, and another 9.5% of the houses are priced at $500,000 or higher.
The Texas housing market shows no signs of stopping its growth, so investors and homebuyers should get in while they can.
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AFP
