2015 Rio Grande Valley Real Estate Trends

September 19th, 2015

New, high-end developments like Bentsen Palm are clear reminders that the Mission and McAllen, TX housing market is on solid ground and becoming more diversified.

Though Mission, TX homes haven’t been selling at the lightening speed pace seen in other areas of Texas, 2015 trends are all pointing towards a market that is strengthening. At the start of the year the home inventory in the metro sat at 12 months, down from 14 months. Inventory is a key indicator of demand, which the stats show is increasing. When demand is growing in an area one result is an increase in new builds.

Though the pace of building slowed in Q2, at the start of the year many new builds were well underway. All this building paid off in the form of new home sales, which were up 7% year-over-year. Throughout Q2 the inventory continued to decline in the Rio Grande Valley. This is helping to balance the market, and shows that more new builds within the affordable range of $150,000-250,000 are highly sought after.

Mission and McAllen, TX just tied in a WalletHub study (see below) for highest income growth between 2008 and 2014. When people make more money they are able to qualify for more on a home loan. This is reflected in the rising median and average home prices. According to the Greater McAllen Association of Realtors the average list price has steadily increased since August 2014. In April 2015 it was $242,000, which is $30,000 more than April 2014. But the higher price didn’t dissuade buyers. Pending sales in April were way up at 671 – the same time last year there were only 287 pending sales.

Homes in McAllen at the start of the year had an average price of $128,305 – well below the state and national average. But as the listing prices and sales numbers show that is likely to go up this year. Further evidence that the economy is growing in Mission and McAllen.

Two New Reports Support the Strength of the McAllen-Mission Real Estate Market

A few recent studies highlight the health of the McAllen-Mission area real estate market. First, Forbes named the Mission-McAllen-Edinburg metro the #1 place for jobs this fall. The Texas Workforce Commission just put the Mission unemployment rate at just 6.1%, which is the lowest rate since 2007. As real estate experts will tell you, a strong jobs market leads to a strong real estate market.

The other report comes from WalletHub, which just named Mission #1 for small cities and #4 overall on their list of places with the fastest socioeconomic growth. Whenever socioeconomic growth is measured Mission and McAllen area real estate for sale is definitely factored into the equation. Mission ranked #1 for Growth of Median Home Prices and Median Household Income Growth. Two other nearby cities – Edinburg and Pharr – also made it in the top five small cities.

The 2015 trends prove that the Rio Grande Valley real estate market has come a long way in the last few years, but there is still room for improvement. Many analyst are predicting that jobs will be the key for continued growth in the Mission-McAllen real estate market. As long as the area keeps attracting more businesses the home buyers will follow.