September data showed the homeownership rate in Texas hit 70%—an all-time high for the Lone Star State.
Strong third-quarter sales fueled by historically low mortgage rates pushed the state rate above the national rate for the first time since 2012.
New home sales were up 8.2% from the second quarter of 2020. Total housing sales increased 6.3% in September. The state’s average days on market dropped to an all-time low of 54 days.
This pace is unsustainable, noted the Texas Real Estate Research Center, given the depleted housing inventory in Texas. Total months of inventory dropped to an all-time low of 2.2 months, with homes under $300,000 going below 1.6 months. Overall inventory remained low in the major metro areas, with Austin having only one month of inventory. Dallas and Fort Worth counted 1.8 and 1.6 months, respectively. San Antonio had 2.2 months, while Houston had 2.5 months.
“Constrained inventory contributed to the near-double-digit growth in the median home price, as the composition of sales shifted toward higher-priced houses,” according to the center’s Texas Housing Insight for September. The state’s median home price rose 9.9% over September 2019.
Lot development slowed in the third quarter, but single-family building permits and construction values trended upward, according to Texas Housing Insight.
Texas Housing Insight warned that Texas homeownership could suffer in 2021 as COVID-19 foreclosure protection policies expire due to the state’s higher proportion of Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Administration loans.