Almost every Texan considers housing affordability a problem, new survey finds

AUSTIN (KXAN) — In a contentious election year, it seems nearly impossible to find an issue that unites almost every Texan, but something nearly everyone appears to agree on right now is that the price of housing is a problem.

A survey published recently by the University of Houston and Texas Southern University found that 90% of Texans consider housing affordability a problem in their part of the state — with 44% considering it to be a big problem and 46% saying it’s somewhat of a problem. This came after pollsters talked to 2,257 respondents during the period between June 20 and July 1.

That survey also found 54% of Texans favor government policies intended to increase the amount of affordable housing for lower and middle income Texans, while 26% oppose these policies.

Steven Carrell, who works in construction and commercial development, said prices have kept his goal of buying a home in Austin out of reach — even after scouring online listings and going to open houses for more than three years.

“Houses are sitting longer on the market, it seems,” Carrell said. “The one I just looked at on Saturday, I think it was four months on market with three price decreases, and that third price decrease put it at the very top of my threshold of maybe I could afford it, so I went and took a look. But I feel like it’s a game — it’s like if I wait long enough, will the price get low enough but at some point the home will sell. Ideally, hopefully, interest rates drop as well, so that’ll probably make the prices go back up.”

Interestingly, a new report put out by the Austin Board of Realtors (ABOR) showed home sales increasing in the suburbs outside of Austin, as buyers seek out more affordable housing options where the median home price is less expensive. The July Central Texas Housing Report found sales rising in Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell Counties.

In a news release, Clare Knapp, ABOR’s housing economist, wrote, “Consistently high mortgage rates continue to impact buyer’s purchasing power, but July’s increase in sales in four of the five MSA counties shows the strength of Central Texas housing demand. With rates around 6.5%, only about half of homeowners in our market can afford a median priced home and only about a quarter of renters can afford a starter home. Home prices across the market still need to decrease to meet market conditions and meet buyers where their purchasing power is currently. It is notable that we are seeing more first-time buyers willing to make a move this year compared to last, and that is a positive sign for our market.”

Lisa Muñoz, a realtor with The Muñoz Group at Compass, said she’s seeing a similar trend among her clients who are finding better deals outside of the city, though current conditions throughout the market could create some advantages for potential buyers.

“We have more real estate inventory in Austin than we’ve had in decades, so we have almost 13,000 houses on the market,” Muñoz said Monday. “To give you a sense, back when times were tight, there were probably 1,500 homes on the market, so as you can see, there’s a lot more inventory, which you would think would be a really great place for buyers to have some options. But what we found in Austin is that affordability is a real barrier to entry for a lot of folks, so even though the market’s better for buyers than it’s been in decades, prices are still really expensive.”

She said homes are remaining on the market for an average of 65 days in the area, so that — along with the amount of housing inventory — could mean sellers might have to price their homes much more competitively.

“We are hopeful for some interest rate relief here toward the end of the year. I don’t think that that’s going to be big enough to make any sort of impact in inventory,” Muñoz said. “It feels like this is kind of our new normal, and I know a lot of sellers aren’t really excited about hearing that. But Austin has been in this sort of dreamy, unsustainable place for a really long time, and so our new normal is going to feel anything but normal.”

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