Texas Housing Market Starting to Resemble the California Housing Market

Chris Tomlinson writes on the growing pressure and controversies surrounding housing development in Texas, a state that saw an influx of 523 new residents every day in 2019.

"Most new Texans are under the age of 40, looking to start careers and families. They want to live and work in big cities. Harris County added 605,000 people from 2010-18, and Bexar County added 271,000. Texas has added 3.8 million since 2010, exacerbating a housing shortage," explains Tomlinson.

According to Tomlinson, homebuilders aren't keeping up with demand, and developers, homebuyers, politicians, and neighborhood activists are starting to point fingers. "Another problem is that people are holding on to their homes longer. In 2010, the median homeowner in Houston moved every 15 years. But today, they stay for 23, according to data collected by Redfin, the real estate sales app."

Tomlinson includes a call for government to do more to mitigate the growing housing market challenges, including changing development codes to allow more density and smaller homes on smaller lots.

According to a report by the Urban Land Institute cited in the article, housing prices in Texas are now rising faster than inflation, population growth, and income growth.