Central Texas Table of Grace is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that exists to provide emergency shelter services to the children and youth in the foster care system. Our mission is to create a loving, nurturing, homelike environment for displaced youth, providing shelter and healthy food as well as teaching healthy habits and life skills to the youth in our care. Ways to Help Thank you ..read more

Today is the first day of early voting in Texas, leading to the 2024 primary elections on May 5. Primaries are especially important in Texas because they are so early compared to many other states. It’s time to make your voice heard. Texas REALTORS® is committed to advocating for a strong real estate industry, advancing a culture of continued learning, and staying ahead of issues concerning members and their clients. That mission works to promote and defend private property rights, land use policies that allow adequate housing supply and diversity, property tax policies that serve owners of re ..read more

At the end of this post, I’ll add one chart to make an important point about home prices and home owners’ equity during this over-long market cycle. As background for that, my complete market dashboard appears below.  The important feature of the top chart (Market Activity) is the red circle, highlighting that between September 2020 and April 2022, more homes were sold than were listed acrose the 5-county Austin-Round Rock MSA. That extreme imbalance between supply and demand led to unprecedented inventory absorption shown in the second chart (Unit Sales/Listings), and that erosion of housing ..read more

I’ll provide a more through review of the Austin-area residential market later this month, but at this point I have isolated activity involving only resale properties — houses, condominiums, and townhouses — in our 5-county metro area. Here is one snapshot of the past 60 months, looking at sales prices and average time on the market for all homes that sold each month: The changes over the past 20 months are dramatic! Average and median sale prices are down 21% and 17% respectively since their peaks in April 2022, and down 7% and 6% just since June 2023. We saw month-over-month price growth in ..read more

In Mortgage interest rates forecast, I mentioned that forecasts for home sales and prices in the coming year are mixed. Economists can interpret the same data somewhat differently and draw their own conclusions, but an article today in REALTOR Magazine points out that different market areas may well see different results. The article begins: “After two years of sharp declines, existing-home sales are poised for improvement in 2024. But first, this slice of the housing market must weather the rest of a rocky year in 2023, with existing-home sales expected to end up 18% lower than those of 2022 ..read more

As published by HousingWire, the consensus of ecomists’ forecasts call for lower mortgage rates in the coming year: Before you pop a top, though, notice that the range of forecasted rates for the 4th quarter of 2024 is from just over 6% to a little more than 7%, still about twice what we got used to in recent years. For perspective, this chart shows five decades’ history of mortgage interest rates: Continuing with economists’ forecasts from HousingWire, the outlook is somewhat mixed for the number of homes that will be sold in the coming year, and even more mixed in considering home prices ..read more

Are the Top 3 Housing Market Questions on Your Mind? When it comes to what’s happening in the housing market, there’s a lot of confusion going around right now. You may hear one thing in conversation with your friends, see something totally different on the news, and read something on social media that contradicts both of those thoughts. And, if you’re thinking about making a move, that can leave you with a lot of lingering questions. That’s where a trusted local real estate agent comes in. Here are the top 3 questions people are asking about today’s housing market, and th ..read more

2024 Housing Market Forecast [INFOGRAPHIC] Some Highlights Thinking of buying or selling a house and wondering what the new year holds for the housing market? Experts forecast home prices to end this year up 2.8% and to rise another 1.5% in 2024. And climbing prices help make homeownership a good investment. Plus, home sales are projected to increase in 2024. That’s good news because it means experts are forecasting more activity as people . If you’re planning to buy or sell, it’s helpful to know what experts ..read more

How VA Loans Can Help Make Homeownership Dreams Come True For more than 79 years, Veterans Affairs (VA) home loans have helped millions of veterans buy their own homes. If you or someone you care about has served in the military, it’s essential to learn about this program and its advantages. Here are some important things to know about VA loans before you buy a home. The Many Advantages of VA Home Loans VA home loans provide a pathway to homeownership for those who have served our nation, and they’re a great benefit for buyers who qualify. According to the Department of Ve ..read more

From Site Selection magazine: “Fresh from winning its 11th consecutive Governor’s Cup for total capital investment projects earlier this year, Texas is finishing 2023 with top billing in Site Selection’s annual ranking of state business climates…. Texas has always performed well in the business climate ranking, routinely finishing in the top five — it placed third in 2022. This year’s first-place finish is decisive with a total point score of 410, well ahead of second-place Georgia, which earned 361.” Read the article here: https://siteselection.com/issues/2023/nov/the-2023-business-climate-r ..read more