Texas’ Post-Pandemic Population Boom

While Texas has had a population boom “for the past decade thanks to its pro-business environment, relatively affordable housing, and friendly charm,” the “onset of COVID in 2020 brought another wave of newcomers,” according to Take Me To Texas: Post-Pandemic Population Boom by Joshua Roberson with Texas Real Estate Research Center. Between the summers of 2020 and 2021, Texas had an almost 200,000 net increase in out-of-state moves. This was second in the nation only to Florida, which had just over one-quarter million.

The inflow of Californians, for example, was significantly higher, according to the Dallas Federal Reserve. “While tech-heavy Austin has a reputation for attracting newcomers, the biggest total count of Californians belongs to Dallas-Fort Worth. Most are coming from Los Angeles,” said the Research Center report. The highest number of moves to DFW was followed by New York and New Jersey. “Before COVID, the number of New Yorkers usually totaled half of the current estimates, signifying a massive shift. Houston also received a massive boost of residents from both L.A. and New York.”

What does this look like for the housing market? 2021 home sales set new records, while inventory was tight and prices rapidly increased. In 2022, the report cited rising mortgage rates and limited housing supply as likely working against total home sales. At the same time, thanks to “Texas’ strong job potential and relatively affordable housing,” home prices look to remain high even with a potential cool-down in migration levels. Read more detail in Take Me To Texas: Post-Pandemic Population Boom.