The Dallas Morning News reported last week that delinquencies are soaring for federally backed home loans in Texas. That would be consistent with the narrative we’ve heard since the start of the pandemic that layoffs and furloughs have Texans tightening their belts, in some cases, to the point of pain.
But at the same time, Texas has become one of the hottest housing markets in the nation with demand exceeding supply, prices going up in many parts of the state, and many experts predicting that home sales this fall will remain strong.
“The people who can buy a house can actually work from home, and that market wasn’t as affected as say the rental market,” said Luis Torres, a research economist for Texas A&M University’s Real Estate Center at the Mays School of Business. “And before COVID-19, the housing market was expected to have a great year in 2020. If you add low interest rates right now … that’s another pro for the housing market.”
Listen to the full interview in the audio player above.