COLLEGE STATION, TX — A new special edition of the Texas Real Estate Research Center’s (TRERC) flagship journal, Tierra Grande, examines the ongoing challenge of housing affordability for Texas homebuyers.
“Today’s affordability challenges are the product of multiple economic forces rather than a single cause,” said TRERC Executive Director Pamela Canon. “Understanding those forces is essential to developing informed housing policy and market solutions. That’s what we’ve attempted to do with this issue of Tierra Grande.”
Following the 2007-08 financial crisis, stricter lending standards, increased regulation, and a prolonged economic slowdown significantly reduced home construction, leaving the nation millions of homes short of long-term housing needs by 2020.
The pandemic intensified those shortages. Global supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and rising construction costs constrained new home production just as historically low mortgage rates and federal stimulus programs dramatically increased purchasing power. At the same time, migration patterns shifted housing demand toward suburban and exurban communities and states like Texas, concentrating demand into a relatively small number of markets.
The result was an unprecedented imbalance between supply and demand that fueled rapid home price appreciation beginning in mid-2020. During the first half of 2026, the median home price in Texas was 31 percent higher than it was six years earlier.
Although prices have softened as mortgage interest rates returned to more typical levels, affordability continues to be strained by elevated construction costs, higher everyday living expenses, insufficient wage increases, and sharply rising homeowner insurance premiums.
Tierra Grande explores housing affordability from multiple viewpoints:
Research Economist Yanling Mayer, Ph.D. examines how housing affordability is measured and explains how the Center tracks changes in home prices. Research Economist Jorge Barro, Ph.D. analyzes the role of mortgage finance and reviews recent proposals to reform the mortgage market. Research Attorney Rusty Adams, J.D. provides an overview of Texas land use law and its influence on housing development. Assistant Research Economist Tian Su, Ph.D. explores the rapid rise in homeowner insurance costs and their growing impact on housing expenses. Research Economist Lynn D. Krebs, Ph.D. discusses property taxation and recent legislative efforts to reduce homeowners’ tax burdens. Research Director Daniel Oney, Ph.D. examines the role of rental housing and changing housing choices among Texas households.
The journal will be available online at https://trerc.tamu.edu/tg-magazine/ July 27, 2026.
Media Access:
Members of the media are invited to request a digital copy of the special issue, available under embargo until July 27, 2026. To request access, please contact:
Bryan Pope
Director of Communications
Texas Real Estate Research Center
📧 [email protected]
📞 (979) 845-2088
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ABOUT TRERC
The Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University (TRERC) is the nation’s largest publicly funded organization devoted to real estate research. Created by the state legislature in 1971 to meet the data and knowledge sharing needs of many audiences, including the real estate industry, instructors, researchers, legislators, and the public, the Center creates public content, including digital and print documents, publications, and multiple format videos that are available at the Center’s website. Subscribe to TRERC news releases and other publications here.