Wharton County, TX housing market

What this means

• Valuation. Prices are roughly in line with local incomes (+5% vs. this area's pre-2020 price-to-income norm).
• Prices. Home values are up 1.8% over the past year (U.S.: +1.2%), but still 4% below their 2022-23 peak.
• Supply. There are 6% more homes for sale than the 2017-19 norm and falling (−17% vs. a year ago), so buyers have more to choose from than before the pandemic.
• Negotiating. Buyer leverage is high (84/100; U.S.: 54): homes sell for about 1.4% below their final list price; 20% of listings had a price cut (U.S.: 26%).
• Affordability. A mortgage on the typical home takes 32% of the median household income (U.S.: 35%); it takes about $72k a year to keep the payment at 30% of gross pay. That includes about $2,412 a year for home insurance (U.S.: $1,790).
• Buy vs. rent. Buying costs about $497/mo more than renting a typical home (mortgage payment vs. typical rent).
• Disaster risk. FEMA expects about $232 a year in natural-disaster damage per $100k of building value (U.S.: $155), mostly from hurricanes. Check insurance costs before buying.
• Outlook. No clear direction: likely −8% to +8% over the next 12 months (59% chance of a rise).

Next 12 months

No clear direction

A rise is somewhat more likely than a fall, but not by enough to call. Likely change: −8.2% to +8.2% (80% range; middle estimate +1.3%), chance of a rise 59%, of a 5%+ drop 17%.

HouseVane's model, refit every month on local market signals and national ones, trained only on data known at the time. How accurate it has been.

ZIP codes in Wharton County, TX