Texas ranked 45th in the nation for overall children’s well-being
Housing inventory highest in 2 years
RANKING WELL-BEING When it comes to children’s well- being, Texas ranked:
BY GEORGE WIEBE
MARKET UPDATE The Greater Houston area’s real estate market has continued to cool down, experts report. 16.9% FEWER HOMES were sold in August 2022 than in August 2021.
33 RD in education
For the fifth straight month, the Houston area’s housing market cooled down as the total number of property sales year over year declined 15.8%, according to the Houston Association of Realtors’ August market update. The decline in single-family homes from 9,918 sales in August 2021 to 8,241 sales in August 2022 is a 16.9% year-over- year decrease in home purchases. The dwindling buyers market has led to a significant boost in the single-family home months of inventory to 2.5 months, the high- est level in two years, according to HAR officials. “For the past two years, Houston housing has been like a runaway train, and what we’ve been seeing most recently is an engineer, finally at the throttle, applying the brakes so the train can pull safely into the next sta- tion,” HAR Chair Jennifer Wauhob
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BY HANNAH NORTON
in health
Texas is one of the lowest-ranked states in the nation for the well-being of children, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a national charitable foundation. The AECF’s annual Kids Count Data Book evaluates data across four categories—economic well-being, education, health and family/com- munity—through the lens of children. Texas ranked 45th this year. Texas’ ranking is relative to other states, said Coda Rayo-Garza, the director of research and data for Every Texan, a nonprofit policy organization. In 2020, 2,238 children and teens died in Texas. This equals approxi- mately 28 deaths per 100,000 adoles- cents, which worsened from the 2010 rate of 26, according to the AECF. In education, Texas was the 33rd
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in economic well-being
$341,950 was the median home price in August.
SOURCE: ANNIE E. CASEY FOUNDATION/ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
spot. The AECF reported in 2019, 70% of Texas eighth-graders were not pro- ficient in math, a decline from 2009. Similarly, 70% of fourth-graders were not proficient in reading, an increase over a decade. Texas students are still recovering from pandemic-related setbacks in math, according to the Texas Education Agency. “Texas can make sure that all children have access to high-quality education by establishing sustainable and predictable funding for schools,” wrote Kaitlan Wong, a research analyst for Every Texan.
SOURCE: HOUSTON ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
said in a statement. Inflationary prices and rising interest rates led consumers to pivot toward the rental market as the median single-family price rose 10.8% year over year, accord- ing to HAR officials. While the median single-family home value did increase over last August, the price fell from $348,740 in July to $341,950 in August.
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