Median home price in Texas jumped 40% between 2019 – 2023

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that the median home price in Texas jumped 40% between 2019 and 2023, according to a new report from Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar’s office, the latest sign that it is becoming less and less affordable to live in most places across the state. Hegar warned on Tuesday that skyrocketing housing prices threaten the state’s economic growth, and he said a big part of the problem is not having enough homes to keep pace with demand. “My family moved here in the 1840s,” he said. “People say, ‘Oh, why’d they move here?’ Well, the same reason people are moving here in 2024. Why? For an economic opportunity for themselves and for future generations. A big piece of that economic opportunity is being able to afford and have a roof over your head.”

The new findings come as Texans say they are facing increasing barriers to homeownership and as state lawmakers search for ways to combat the soaring costs. The housing shortage is particularly acute for low- and middle-income households, the comptroller’s office found. Nearly two out of five households in Texas are cost-burdened, meaning they spent more than 30% of their income on housing. Texas is one of the worst states in the country for extremely low-income renters, with a shortage of nearly 700,000 units, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Across the state, incomes have not kept pace with increasing housing costs. In the Houston area, for instance, home prices increased by 128% over the past two decades, while the average income required to qualify for a mortgage increased by only 45%. On top of that, the pandemic created a “perfect storm” for rising housing prices, according to the report: Work from home policies drove people to the state, with the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area leading the country in population growth and net domestic migration between 2020 and 2023. Low interest rates and federal stimulus dollars helped drive demand, even as high construction costs and restrictive zoning laws stifled supply.