Rising wages and falling mortgage rates are helping keep homeownership within reach of average wage earners nationwide despite surges in housing prices.

Prices in the Houston metro area were up 6.3% over February 2020. CoreLogic classified Houston’s market as “overvalued.”

“Despite the drop in home sales for February — which I would attribute to historically-low inventory — the market is still outperforming pre-pandemic levels.” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun

Nationally, homeowners with mortgages saw their home equity increase by 16.2% year-over-year from the fourth quarter of 2019.

It also ranks among the top 10 states in the economy and fiscal stability categories.

The mortgage lender looked at the average salaries of successful applicants in each city, their average FICO credit scores, the average size of their loan requests and the median list price for that location.

For the ninth month in a row, Redfin is reporting more than half the homes offered by their agents are facing competition at 56%.

The website, which notes that housing costs take up about one third of average spending for households, configured data by assessing the median home value and mortgage payment to show the minimum level of income necessary.

“In the final months of 2020, single-family rents posted the highest increases in over four years,” said Molly Boesel, principal economist at CoreLogic. “However, single-family rent price reaction to the pandemic and resulting recession differed greatly across metros.”

Nine Houston agents sold homes priced between $2,715,000 and $$6,995,000 last month, according to HAR.

In addition to touring model homes filled with the latest design trends, event goers can also pick up a scratch-off ticket for the chance to win $100,000. 

The report added that vacation homes and affordable homes in small towns near major urban centers were in strong demand as a result of the pandemic.

Top-rated Waller independent school district to open their first campus in Bridgeland.

What are the best U.S. cities for retirees? A new report from 55places.com names the top 20, and five of them are in Texas.

The Houston Association of Realtors offers a look at market activity last week.

We live in uncertain times and clients these days, perhaps more than ever, are asking themselves if now is the right time to buy. Fence-sitters beware, though, says a new study from Zillow, which notes that waiting could mean