A new Texas Home Buyers and Sellers Report released today by the Texas Association of Realtors revealed growing diversity in the household composition and ethnicity of Texas homeowners as well as rising housing affordability challenges across the state.
“The profile of Texas home buyers is as diverse as Texas itself, continually broadening as the demand for Texas real estate grows,” said Vicki Fullerton, chairman of the Texas Association of Realtors. “At the same time, rising home prices, lower household incomes, and tight lending standards are making it increasingly difficult for some Texans to afford a home.”
The ratio of single Texas home buyers continued to rise from the previous year’s report, with single female home buyers increasing 5 percentage points to 19% and single male buyers rising 2 percentage points to 9% of all Texas home buyers.
The report also showed a broader ethnic diversity among Texas home buyers. Among all Texas home buyers, 14% identified as Hispanic, 6% identified as African-American and 4% identified as Asian. Minorities among first-time home buyers were most likely to be Hispanic (27%), while minorities among repeat buyers were most likely to African-American (27%).
Indicating that Texans are buying later and moving earlier in life, the median age of first-time buyers increased three years to 35 years old, while the median age of Texas home sellers decreased eight years to 46 years old.
The 2017 report also illustrated growing affordability challenges across the state. The median household income among Texas home buyers declined nearly 3% year-over-year to $94,200. The median home price paid among Texas home buyers was $215,000, significantly higher than the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University’s estimate of $150,000 as a typical home price for entry-level and first-time home buyers.
According to the report, debt delayed Texans from saving for or purchasing a home for a median of three years. 44% of Texas home buyers waited six to 12 months to save for a down payment, compared to only 10% of home buyers in the previous year’s report.
“As obstacles to purchasing a home increase, soaring property taxes due to a lack of accountability when tax rates are set at the local level have made it difficult for Texans to continue to afford that home,” concluded Fullerton. “The Texas Association of Realtors supports Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 15 to bring honesty and transparency to the property tax rate setting process and facilitate property owner engagement in that process.”
