PEOPLE
2023 HOME EDITION
Clare Losey Housing economist helps others ride the waves of Austin market Clare Losey joined the Austin Board of Realtors as its housing economist in May. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a PhD in August 2021 and previously worked at the Texas Real Estate Research Center. This interview has been edited for clarity and consistency. BY DARCY SPRAGUE
WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE AUSTIN? I attended [The University of Texas] for undergrad and just really fell in love with Austin, and I love just the outdoorsy aspect of it. I think folks here tend to strike a happy medium; they tend to nd jobs that they’re at least reasonably passionate about, but yet they have hobbies on the side that they really enjoy. WHAT DO YOU DO AS A HOUSING ECONO MIST FOR THE ABOR? Much of what I do is focus just on digesting what’s happening both in the overall economy and then the housing market itself. And within the housing mar- ket, it’s very much segmented in the sense of looking at di erent price levels; looking at, for instance, a ordability; looking at single-family homes versus single-family rentals; looking at single-family homes versus condos, townhomes, etc. The point of doing that is then to try to impart that information, not only to Realtors and agents, but also just households across the Austin area. WHAT WOULD YOU TELL SOMEBODY WHO DOES NOT KNOW A LOT ABOUT HOUSING? First and foremost, just that housing plays such a vital role, both in individual households’ lives and just in the broader economy. So on the subject of the former, of course, everyone needs a place to live, needs an a ordable place to live in that denition. That component of a ordability di ers across income levels, di ers according to households’ tastes and preferences. But there’s also the component that housing is a major contributor to the broader economy and in the sense too that we want to ensure that our housing supply is su cient for our popu- lation. When I use the word su cient, I’m not
only speaking to the supply itself, the number of housing units currently on the ground and continuing new construction—both single family and multifamily—but also su cient in the sense that it is a ordable across a variety of income and price levels. On the subject of a ordability, that rings especially important over the long term in the sense that we want to continue to attract a diverse array of households into the Austin area. We certainly don’t want to become a city in which homes are only a ordable to those with higher incomes. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE MARKET? I’d say right now, the market is still adjusting to broader macroeconomic conditions and signi- cantly higher mortgage rates, … the impasse over the debt ceiling that has since been resolved, … and overall ination, and just expectations for the Federal Reserve to continue tightening mone- tary policy, i.e., raising the costs of borrowing, including potentially mortgage rates. So overall, I would just say that the Austin housing market is continuing to adjust to those broader conditions in the overall economy and trying to nd that equilibrium. ANYTHING ELSE PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW? It can be a more daunting time to step into the housing market. I’m speaking here now of rst-time buyers. … But research has consistently shown that homeownership is the primary mechanism by which households in the U.S. build wealth. So I would encourage folks [who can a ord to buy a home] to think about just the wealth-building aspects of homeownership, especially for lower-income households.
Clare Losey joined the Austin Board of Realtors in May.
HOUSING MARKET CONTEXT Although Losey said the housing market can still feel daunting for homebuyers, it is showing signs of regulation after record high prices and amid high interest rates. $467,500 median house price in Austin area in May 15% decrease in home prices year over year 8%-9% decrease in purchasing power for homebuyers nationally from May 2022 to May 2023 “IN AUSTIN, THE MODERATION IN HOME PRICES HAS HELPED TO MITIGATE THE DECLINE IN PURCHASING POWER.” CLARE LOSEY, ABOR HOUSING ECONOMIST 6.4% average May 2023 mortgage rate 3%-4% decrease in monthly mortgage payments
SOURCE: AUSTIN BOARD OF REALTORSCOMMUNITY IMPACT
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LEANDER LIBERTY HILL EDITION • JULY 2023
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