The Gardner Group Blog

The director of the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University said it appears Texas has reached the bottom of the housing market.

Mark Dotzour said the inventory of unsold new and existing homes around the state is in good shape.

"I feel now is the time to buy a house in most Texas cities," said Dotzour, in the center's online newsletter, RECON. "Housing affordability has never been higher, and I never thought I would see 5 percent mortgages in my lifetime. If you plan to live in the house for at least two or three years, now is the time to buy."

The economist also said the time is right to build a house because construction costs are low, mortgage money is cheap and there are plenty of contractors available to do the work.

Dotzour predicts mortgage rates will remain low as long as the federal government keeps purchasing most of the residential mortgages.

However, he said the housing recovery could be adversely affected by Washington's intervention in the areas of health care, taxation, cap and trade and the rewriting of accounting and legal standards.

 Austin Business Journal - by Jennifer Dawson Houston Business Journal