{"id":365731,"date":"2025-11-09T00:57:35","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T00:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/365731\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T00:57:35","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T00:57:35","slug":"har-more-area-households-able-to-afford-a-home-as-prices-ease-business-real-estate-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/365731\/","title":{"rendered":"HAR: More area households able to afford a home as prices ease | Business & Real Estate"},"content":{"rendered":"

More Houston-area households were able to buy a home in the third quarter of 2025 as home prices eased and mortgage rates held steady, according to the latest\u00a0Housing and Rental Affordability Report<\/a>\u00a0from the Houston Association of Realtors.<\/p>\n

HAR’s Housing Affordability Index (HAI) shows that 39% of households in the Greater Houston area could afford a median-priced home in the third quarter of 2025, which is unchanged from the second quarter. It is an improvement from 37 percent during the third quarter of 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The median home price declined 1.9% year-over-year to $341,600, while the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate held steady around 6.5% in the third quarter. The monthly mortgage payment (including principal, taxes and insurance) was $2,510 compared to $2,550 last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To purchase a median-priced home in Houston, households needed to earn a minimum annual income of $100,400, which is down 1.6% versus the same time last year.<\/p>\n

Houston\u2019s trend aligns with statewide gains. Across Texas, 42% of households could afford a median-priced home, up from 39% this time last year. A household needed a minimum annual income of $92,400 to qualify for the purchase of a $337,500 home.<\/p>\n

Nationwide, home prices continue to climb. The national median home price grew by 1.7% year-over-year to $426,800, according to\u00a0new data from the National Association of Realtors<\/a>. NAR reports that home prices increased in 77% of metro areas in the country in the third quarter. Thirty-five percent of households nationwide could afford the median-priced home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re encouraged to see homebuying become a bit more attainable again,\u201d said HAR Chair Shae Cottar with LPT Realty. \u201cLower mortgage rates and home prices are helping open the door for more Houstonians. While affordability is still a challenge, especially for first-time homebuyers, Houston and Texas continue to be among the more affordable markets nationwide. Continued rate relief will be key in helping even more buyers achieve their goals of homeownership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rental Affordability Update<\/strong><\/p>\n

Due to steady pricing and growing wages, 45% of Houston-area renters could afford the average lease price for a single-family rental home in the third quarter, according to HAR\u2019s Rental Affordability Index. That is up from 43% the prior year. The average lease price for a single-family home was statistically unchanged at $2,200. This does not include the security deposit or cost of utilities.<\/p>\n

Highlights of the Q3 2025 Housing & Rental Affordability Report:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 39% of households in the Greater Houston area could afford a median-priced home in the third quarter of 2025, which is up from 37% last year.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The median home price was $341,600, which is down 1.9% year-over-year.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The monthly mortgage payment on a 30-year fixed-rate loan, including principal, taxes and insurance, was $2,510 compared to $2,550 last year.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Households needed to make a minimum annual income of $100,400 to buy a median-priced home, which is down 1.6% year-over-year.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The median lease price in the Houston area was statistically flat at $2,200.<\/p>\n

Editor’s note: The HAR report, lightly edited, is used by permission. Find the full report at https:\/\/www.har.com\/content\/department\/mls<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More Houston-area households were able to buy a home in the third quarter of 2025 as home prices…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":365113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[44891,4345,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-365731","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-business_real_estate","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-texas","11":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115517026825053374","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}