With higher interest rates and home prices significantly above pre-pandemic levels, first-timer buyers face even greater challenges.
Many pay more than half of their monthly earnings for housing: 1 in 10 Texas homeowner households and 1 in 4 Texas renter households. The Sherman-Denison area has seen the sharpest affordability decline, and Bryan-College Station now has the largest gap between earnings and home prices. It now takes more than five times the median income to pay for the median-priced home.
McCue said many homeowners who bought before home prices surged during the pandemic and have the benefit of low interest rates on their home loan are struggling, especially those on a fixed income or who were barely able to afford the home they bought. “We saw a drop of 6 million units renting for $1,000 or less , and that’s the rent you’d need to find in order to not be rent burdened and paying more than 30% of your income on rent,” McCue said.