COLLEGE STATION – According to the Real Estate Center’s Texas Home Price Index, Texas’ major metros have so far shown no sign of price disturbance in 1Q2020 despite the coronavirus outbreak starting in March.
“This is not too surprising given the excellent first few months of housing activity in Texas up until late-March,” said Center Senior Data Analyst Joshua Roberson.
Home price index growth was greatest in Austin where it grew 5 percent since 1Q2019. Overall home price growth in Austin has accelerated during that same time frame.
Index growth in Dallas-Fort Worth continued to slow down, falling below 3 percent year over year. This means that while overall home price growth in DFW is still positive, the pace has slowed since 2017.
Meanwhile, price growth remained steady in San Antonio.
Houston home price index data will become available 40 days after the end of the first quarter.
The impact on prices due to the coronavirus is still to come. While even March monthly mean and median prices showed positive year-over-year growth at both the state and metro level, home sales were flat.
According to Roberson, this is likely due to market adjustments following initial economic shutdowns imposed by the state in late March.
The Real Estate Center has a wealth of economic information online for free.