MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — Waco locals are seeing higher housing prices than previous years.
- Neighborworks Waco said housing prices have more than tripled in the past 30 years.
- Grassroots Waco believes one reason we are seeing that is increase is material costs like lumber, concrete and windows.
- Nash suggests not to hold off on finalizing a home purchase. He said because salaries and wages have not gone up at the same rate as home costs, you could fall behind on being able to afford that home.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“We’ve had a little bit of inflation nationally and certainly it’s affected is here in central Texas, where housing prices have really soared,” Roy Nash said.
Neighborworks has been helping people in the community buy their first home for more than 30 years.
“The affordability for homes has just really gotten tight,” Nash said.
In those 30 years, they’ve seen hundreds of families paying more out of pocket to put a roof over their heads.
“When we first started out, I think we were selling brand new homes in the Waco area in the $60,000 range," Nash said.
"Now, those same, brand-new homes are starting around $230,000 range — almost four times as much."
Grassroots Waco says one reason we are seeing that is increase is material costs.The cost to build a home and labor has skyrocketed.
“Concrete prices have gone up, steel prices have gone up, windows, have gone up, and that’s mostly a supply and demand issue," Mike Stone said.
"For a long time, just trying to get windows was a big problem, so all of that does drive up costs."
Roy Nash says the growth in Waco does play a role in costs increasing.
“The appraisal district is raising those values for us and so it’s just part of the package," he said.
"When you have prosperity, things go up in value, and we’re experiencing that now in the Waco area like never before."
But Nash said there’s not one person to blame.
“We have such an energy in this town that’s been created by a number of factors and not just the fixer-upper effect, but a lot of new industry coming in,” Nash said.
Nash suggests not to hold off on finalizing a home purchase — he says because salaries and wages have not gone up at the same rate as home costs, you could fall behind on being able to afford that home.
