Current Texas Real Estate Market - 2023+
My Name is Brad Boyd and I am the owner and broker of Brush Country Real Estate in Lytle, Tx. I have been a broker and in the business for over 25 years with my own firm and I have seen and felt a lot Ups and Downs the in the market. We are currently in a very unique time and lots of people have varying opinions of where we are and where are we going. I am including an article from the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University that provides a July 23 Spotlight for the San Antonio Area. Lytle is only about 25-30 minutes from downtown San Antonio and the market though smaller if very similar in a lot of ways. Below I will give my own version of the data and what I am seeing in the market currently.
Sales and listings have been a lot slower for a couple months now and you are beginning to see more and more reduced signs and price adjustments. This only makes sense when the interest rate increases as fast as it has and yet prices of goods and materials are not adjusting at the same pace. In the Lytle area we have a relativaly small market and have always been short on housing as more people want to live in the area than properties are available. So our market has held its values and stayed in pretty good shape throughout the Great Recession of 2007-2008. This is a different time and situation. People can not afford to sell their current home which has a low interest rate some were around 3% to buy the house down the road and pay 7+%. Also land values are still very high and buyers will have to pay near 9% to purchase some rural acreage, ranch or farm. So we are in a Mexican Stand Off where not much is happening market wide. As you can see from the article prices are beginning to drop and properties are on the market longer. We have not experienced this in a long time and so sellers are still struggling with the reality of the day. Most of the people that are selling are either builders with new inventory, estates who have no need for an inherited property, people who are moving because of their jobs or the unfortunate reality of a divorce. I am of the belief that things will get a lot tougher before they get better. Typically in times like this inventory will begin to rise slowly and stay on the market a lot longer than people want unless the seller is aggressive with their pricing. There is no indication that the interest rates will begin to moderate anytime soon. As time goes on people will adjust to these higher interest rates as the new normal but a lot of buying power has disappeared with the higher rates for buyers and it will take months for sellers to adjust. So hold on to your hat, be patient as a buyer and aggressive as a seller. If your in the South Texas Market and want a BPO, representation as a buyer, or help selling your home or ranch give me a call and I will tell you what I think is right and not what you hear.