Aspiring home renters are learning searching for a new place to live is more challenging than they thought in Central Texas. Just ask Bree Little.
“My mistake was waiting to the end of my pregnancy to start looking to not realize how hard it actually would be to find a place,” said Little.
The new mother has been on the hunt for six months, trying to find a bigger space for her growing family. The only problem? The inventory in the market is not growing.
“There’s either a wait list or where it’s located there’s not a lot of resources out there,” said Little.
Texas had the sixth-lowest supply of affordable rental homes among U.S. states in 2020, According to The National Low Income Housing Coalition. There were only 29 such homes for every 100 low-income renter households.
“Availability of housing has gone significantly down due to so many people moving into our area,” said NeighborWorks Waco President Roy Nash.
Nash said the price of lumber and building materials increased and rent prices have skyrocketed. Many are hoping that since the pandemic is slowing down, the housing market will return to normal. However, Nash said we are a long way away from normal.
“Lumber prices in plywood prices they will probably level off here at a point. They've calm down a little bit in the last week. It’s still going to be hard because of such strong man,” said Nash.
Nash said the best thing to do is pay attention to the market and act quickly if you get the chance.
