Buying a home in El Paso is becoming more difficult, even as the local housing market remains more stable than those in other major Texas cities.<\/p>\n
Higher mortgage rates, limited housing inventory and wages that have struggled to keep pace with home prices are creating obstacles for first-time buyers. Meanwhile, homeowners with low-interest mortgages are reluctant to sell, leaving fewer properties available.<\/p>\n
Alex Huereca, a Realtor and 2026 president of the Greater El Paso Association of Realtors, said El Paso\u2019s stable housing market has helped existing homeowners build wealth.<\/p>\n
\u201cEl Paso has always been very steady,\u201d Huereca said. \u201cWe see other big cities going with these huge spikes when prices go super high, but then they drop a lot when the market gets tough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Data from the El Paso Realtors association shows the median sales price of a single-family home increased from $145,000 in 2016 to $268,950 in 2025, an 85.5% increase over nine years.<\/p>\n
With the median reaching $280,000 in the third quarter of 2026, home prices are now about 93% higher than in 2016.<\/p>\n
While that appreciation has helped existing homeowners build equity, it has also raised the financial barriers for first-time buyers.<\/p>\n
A market caught between buyers and sellers<\/p>\n
El Paso\u2019s median home price remains below the statewide median of $333,628, according to the Texas Realtors report.<\/p>\n
Zifeng Feng, an assistant professor in UTEP\u2019s Department of Economics and Finance, said El Paso\u2019s more modest price increases during the pandemic helped protect the market from the sharper declines experienced elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe housing price increase in El Paso is actually not that high compared to other places,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Zifeng Feng<\/p>\n
Photo provided by UTEP<\/p>\n
Feng said mortgage rates are influenced more directly by yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury securities than by the Federal Reserve\u2019s benchmark interest rate. Although Fed rate changes can influence borrowing costs, mortgage rates do not automatically rise or fall by the same amount.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people think the interest rate the Fed raised affects your mortgage immediately,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Higher mortgage rates make monthly payments more expensive for prospective buyers and can discourage existing homeowners from selling because they would have to finance their next home at a higher rate.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are reluctant to do it unless you have to,\u201d Feng said.<\/p>\n
For a buyer purchasing a $300,000 home with a 30-year mortgage, Feng estimated that higher rates could increase monthly payments by $80 to $100 compared with a year earlier.<\/p>\n
Tom Fullerton, an economist at the University of Texas at El Paso, said the reluctance to sell is contributing to declining housing inventory.<\/p>\n
\u201cA separate problem that has resulted in higher prices is higher mortgage rates that are convincing many potential sellers to keep their homes off the market,\u201d Fullerton said.<\/p>\n
According to the Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center, El Paso had 2,498 active single-family home listings in September, compared with 3,008 a year earlier, a decline of almost 17%.<\/p>\n
Michael Bray, an El Paso real estate professional with about 40 years of experience, said the shortage continues to favor sellers.<\/p>\n
The Texas Realtors report showed El Paso had about 3.4 months of housing inventory in the third quarter, down from 4.2 months during the same period last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen there is a shortage of homes, 3.4 months, then that\u2019s better for the sellers,\u201d Bray said.<\/p>\n
A balanced housing market has about six months of inventory, he said.<\/p>\n
Huereca offered a different assessment, saying market conditions depend on a property\u2019s price, location and condition.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, we\u2019re kind of on a transition or level market,\u201d Huereca said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a seller\u2019s market. It\u2019s not a buyer\u2019s market.\u201d<\/p>\n
He cited a recent $230,000 listing that received four offers within 10 days and went under contract for $235,000. Another property priced at $480,000 had remained on the market for four months.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything under $250,000, most of them are selling right away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"chart](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793471171_470_thumbnail.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Affordability<\/p>\n
For younger buyers, the challenge extends beyond mortgage rates.<\/p>\n
Fullerton said housing prices have increased faster than median household income in recent years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is fairly clear is that median housing prices have grown more quickly than median household income in the El Paso metropolitan economy in recent years,\u201d Fullerton said.<\/p>\n
Although the housing price-to-income ratio has stabilized since 2024, it remains above levels recorded before the housing affordability crisis.<\/p>\n
Feng said El Paso\u2019s low wages make saving for a down payment difficult, especially for younger workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe low income is an issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Housing costs also vary across the region. Feng said homes on the Westside and in the Upper Valley typically cost more than $400,000, while buyers may find properties around $250,000 in Horizon City and below $200,000 in parts of the Lower Valley.<\/p>\n
But lower prices can involve trade-offs.<\/p>\n
Bray said buyers moving farther from established neighborhoods must consider transportation costs, commuting times and access to services.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cheapest house is not necessarily the cheapest housing choice,\u201d Bray said.<\/p>\n
He also said El Paso needs more housing options for smaller households, including one- and two-bedroom homes.<\/p>\n
Huereca said first-time buyers have limited options when shopping for newly constructed properties.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least I haven\u2019t seen any new home on the $200,000 and below,\u201d Huereca said.<\/p>\n
New homes generally start above $225,000, Huereca said, although builders are offering incentives, including closing-cost assistance and mortgage rate buydowns.<\/p>\n
Huereca also said personal debt is affecting buyers\u2019 ability to qualify for financing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it is so much the affordability issue; it\u2019s the debt that people are incurring on credit cards and car payments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Fullerton said local builders have reported that federal immigration enforcement policies have worsened construction labor shortages, while tariffs have increased prices for materials, including lumber, steel and aluminum.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnecdotally, builders in El Paso have indicated that recent federal policies have exacerbated the affordability problem during 2025 and 2026,\u201d Fullerton said.<\/p>\n
Where homes are being bought?<\/p>\n
Huereca identified Far East El Paso, Northeast El Paso and Horizon City as some of the region\u2019s most active housing markets. He said proximity to Fort Bliss makes Far East and Northeast neighborhoods attractive to military families.<\/p>\n
Huereca said first-time buyers are older than in previous years, although people in their 20s continue entering the market.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of them are going to be over 30, more or less,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n
Bray said down payment assistance could help buyers who earn enough to afford mortgage payments but lack sufficient savings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the help that a lot of buyers need,\u201d Bray said.<\/p>\n
He pointed to the El Paso Housing Finance Corp.\u2019s Mi Casa program, which provides assistance with down payments and closing costs.<\/p>\n
Another round of financing totaling about $28 million is being prepared, with assistance expected to become available soon.<\/p>\n
Huereca encouraged prospective buyers to reduce debt and improve their credit scores before applying for mortgages.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy recommendation is to pay off your debt and increase your credit so you can get the best interest rate and you can qualify for a house,\u201d Huereca said.<\/p>\n
Feng expects El Paso home prices to remain flat over the next six months to a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot expect the price to drop in the coming years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Buying a home in El Paso is becoming more difficult, even as the local housing market remains more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139,89791,358,63147,125350,6358,27475,162536,111,50941],"class_list":["post-482573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-first-time-buyers","tag-home-prices","tag-homeownership","tag-housing-inventory","tag-housing-market","tag-mortgage-rates","tag-property-sales","tag-real-estate","tag-texas-realtors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}