Local Housing market prices aren’t dropping

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Local housing market prices aren’t dropping.

Jay Meador, the Financial Fitness Director with the Brazos Valley Affordable Housing Corporation, works to help people at or below the medium income afford to buy a home.

Meador said the main reason why the housing market is so high is because interest rates shot up 2% in 2023, which hurt traditional buyers.

“The reason is because we have a lot of corporations coming in here buying up properties like crazy. We have people flooding here from the east and west coast with cash in their pockets buying properties like crazy and they’re making cash offers and usually above asking price on these places,” said Meador.

Sarah Norman, the president of the Bryan College Station Regional Association of REALTORS & MLS, says those interest rates are exactly what’s holding people back.

“Today we’re running in that 6 to 7%, let’s say 6.5 to 7% range, but that does make a difference to people. In 2023, we were in the price range of 3 to 5%, if 5%. So you can buy a lot of homes for that point. But now today, a little bit different because when you’re around 7%, that makes a lot of difference”

Ben Fortner, the Vice President of The Brazos Valley Affordable Housing Corp. develops entry-level housing in Brazos and Burleson Counties.

He says land, materials, and labor have all become more expensive with inflation.

“If infill lots in Bryan/College Station are too high, it does not make sense to build a small little house on it, it doesn’t work like that,” said Fortner.

Fortner says if cities would allow smaller minimal square footage, more affordable houses could be built. He also says if the city can allow houses to be built on smaller footprints, they can put more houses on that land, which would lower the cost of that land.

“That has pushed more and more people out of the ability to buy that house. This means a lot of people we want to target, aren’t going to see that dream of an affordable house, they may have to rent until their income comes to a point where they can afford that,” said Fortner.

But as rates remain high, the agency is trying to pivot clients to duplexes instead of buying individual homes.

They are also working with several non-profits, including Habitat for Humanity, OnRamp, and The REACH Project, to build what they’re calling the Brazos Valley Home Ownership Coalition.

“Where we can assist some of these folks that are just maybe just 20,000 dollars away of being away from owning their own home in terms of coming up with some money and assisting them with that so that is sort of overcomes that barrier,” said Meador.

The agency said that the number of people who want to buy a home but don’t currently qualify is getting bigger and bigger.

They hope to help by filling that gap through down-payment assistance.