Housing Affordability & Ownership

Housing is the single largest expense for most households and has become less affordable for all, especially renters.

Homeownership rates in Houston’s three-county region have not budged from what they were about a decade ago, and they remain disproportionately low among low-income and non-white households. More households are more likely to rent, reflecting lifestyle changes and barriers often associated with buying a home. However, because rents have risen across Houston and the percentage of affordable housing units has declined, half of Houston-area renters are burdened by housing costs.

The data

Homeownership rates ticked up in each of Greater Houston’s three counties in the pandemic’s immediate aftermath, but remain flat from a decade ago.

There were over 2.5 million housing units in Houston’s three-county region in 2023, and more than 92% of them were occupied. This is four points higher than in 2010.

In 2023, nearly 60% of occupied housing units in Houston’s three-county area were occupied by homeowners and 40% were occupied by renters.

Fort Bend and Montgomery counties have consistently outpaced the state and nation in homeownership rates, while Harris County has consistently had the lowest rates across all geographies. In 2023, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties continued their trend of higher homeownership rates, at 77% and 69% respectively, compared to Harris County at 55%, the state at 63%, and the nation at 65%.

Between 2010 and 2019, the homeownership rate dipped in each county in the Houston region, Texas, and the U.S. overall. In 2021, homeownership rates across all regions saw a modest increase driven by historically low interest rates combined with a growing trend of individuals relocating from urban areas. However, this trend stopped in 2023 in all geographies except Harris County, which saw a slight increase in homeownership rates between 2019 and 2023. As of 2023, homeownership rates have either decreased or remained flat compared to 2010.

Between 2010 and 2023, the number of occupied housing units in Houston’s three-county region increased by 35%, more than two times the national growth rate of 15%. The substantial increase in Houston-area rentals (41%) is the primary driver of the overall increase in occupied housing, though the number of housing units occupied by homeowners increased by 32% during this period as well.

Fort Bend and Montgomery counties saw the largest increases in occupied housing overall, with upticks in both homeowners and renters. This is largely because their population growth outpaced the growth of Harris County, Texas, and the nation.

Between 2010 and 2023, the number of households that rent has increased faster than households that own, which contributed to the decline in overall homeownership rates over the last decade. Between 2010 and 2023, renter-occupied households increased by 71% in Fort Bend, 35% in Harris, and 93% in Montgomery counties while owner-occupied households increased by 63% in Fort Bend County, 24% in Harris County, and 51% in Montgomery County.

Over time, growth in occupied housing across the three counties, Texas, and the U.S. is typically attributed to the growth in renter-occupied housing which generally outpaces the growth in owner-occupied housing. This trend has been especially pronounced in Montgomery County.

However, between 2019 and 2021, this pattern reversed, as historically low interest rates and the rise of remote work drove more people to buy homes. During this period, in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic — when the housing market grew at paces not seen in modern history — the number of units occupied by homeowners outpaced rental units, in some cases doubling and quadrupling.

By 2023, the trend reversed because of rising interest rates and soaring housing prices. The growth in renters once more outpaced the growth in homeowners in most areas, except Harris County. Montgomery County saw the largest increase in renters at 34%.

Homeownership by Race/Ethnicity

There are racial and ethnic disparities in homeownership across Houston’s three-county area. The practice of redlining, combined with other discriminatory yet legal housing policies intent on racial exclusion, led to the systematic exclusion of Black households from homeownership for most of our nation’s history. Despite the Fair Housing Act of 1968, we continue to see the impacts of these practices today with Black households consistently having the lowest homeownership rates across all geographic areas and years.

In the Houston three-county area, 72% of white households and Asian American households own their homes compared to 42% of Black and 55% of Hispanic households. In 2023, the homeownership rate for white households was 30 percentage points higher than Black households and 17 percentage points higher than Hispanic households in the region overall. These racial gaps in the three-county region have slightly decreased since 2010 when the homeownership rate gap was 26 points between white and Black households and 19 points between white and Hispanic households.

This extreme homeownership disparity did not happen naturally. It is impossible to separate present-day homeownership rates from decades of racist, discriminatory housing policies that prevented Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color from owning homes in the past.

As we saw above, overall homeownership rates tend to be highest in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties and lowest in Harris County, and homeownership rates by race/ethnicity follow the same pattern: Rates for each race/ethnicity are highest in the outlying counties and lowest in Harris County. However, homeownership rates for Black and Hispanic households are consistently the lowest regardless of geography, revealing deeper disparities.

Between 2010 and 2019 homeownership rates declined for three out of the four largest racial/ethnic groups in each Houston-area county. Comparatively, between 2019 and 2021, homeownership rates increased for all groups except Black households in Fort Bend County and Asian American households in Harris County. Between 2021 and 2023, the homeownership rates of white households declined. Although, during this same time Asian, Black, and Hispanic households saw a slight increase in homeownership rates across Harris County, Texas, and the United States. Rates for these three racial/ethnic groups decreased in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties.

Even though homeownership rates for Black households in Harris County increased between 2021 and 2023, compared to a decrease for Black households in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, in 2023 Black households in Harris County still have the lowest homeownership rate at 37%.

In Fort Bend County, where homeownership is consistently highest in the region, the homeownership rate gap between white and Black households was 13 percentage points in 2023. This is the smallest gap in the region. The difference in homeownership rates between white and Black households for the same year was 29 points in Montgomery County and 32 points in Harris County. Compared to 2021, this disparity has decreased in Fort Bend and Harris counties by 3 and 2 percentage points respectively but it has increased in Montgomery County by 9 points.

However, looking at a longer-term trend, racial/ethnic disparities in homeownership have not narrowed in the last decade — since 2010 this disparity has widened by nine points in Montgomery County, five points in Harris County, and two points in Fort Bend County. The gap also grew in Texas by two percentage points, but remained flat in the U.S.

Nationally and locally, there is a marked decline in Black homeownership. Reasons for the decrease in Black homeownership include lack of affordable housing and lower access to credit. National research found Black residents were more than twice as likely to receive a subprime loan as white applicants.¹

Homeownership Decreased Across Most Income Groups

One major obstacle to homeownership is having the means to afford a down payment and to maintain a mortgage, insurance, maintenance, utilities, and property taxes while balancing other expenses and debts. To illustrate the portion of households in need of housing assistance of some form, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) compiled Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) data, which provides counts of households that qualify for government housing assistance based on income. Households that make less than 80% of the HUD Area Median Family Income (HAMFI), begin to qualify for assistance at the local, state, and federal levels, though some programs are reserved for the lowest income households..

The CHAS data shows the proportion of homeowners by income group. Low-income families in Harris County are consistently the least likely to own their homes compared to the region, state, and nation. For example, 30% of households with 30% HAMFI or less were homeowners in Harris County, compared to 38% in Texas, and 36% in the U.S., according to HUD’s analysis of five-year estimates ending in 2021 from the American Community Survey.

Fort Bend County and Montgomery County see a different pattern. Low-income families in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties are more likely to own their home than their counterparts in Harris County and are higher than the state and national averages. Among households with 30% HAMFI or less, 49% in Fort Bend County and 55% in Montgomery County were homeowners, compared to 30% in Harris County.

Between 2010 and 2021 homeownership rates decreased across all income groups except for households with incomes of 30% or less of HAMFI. In Harris and Montgomery counties, the state, and the nation, homeownership rates actually ticked up for households earning 30% HAMFI. Fort Bend County was the only area to see a decrease in the percentage of 30% or less HAMFI households who are homeowners, dropping by 7 percentage points during the same period.

Houston-area home values have risen faster than the nation.

Houston has a reputation for being affordable, especially compared to other metropolitan areas. But recent trends have put that reputation at risk as housing prices in the Greater Houston real estate market have increasingly outpaced incomes.

Those wondering, “is now a good time to buy a house in Houston?” will find that the answer is never a simple yes or no. In 2023 the median home value in the U.S. was $340,200 The median home value in Harris County was $287,100, which was just below the state median value of $296,900. However, the median home values in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties — at $384,100 and $359,800, respectively — were well above the national median value.

Between 2010 and 2023, median home values increased by 35% across the nation compared with 66% in Texas. Despite this faster growth, the median home value in Texas is consistently lower than in the U.S. Locally, the median home value rose 56% in Fort Bend County, 55% in Harris County, and 61% in Montgomery County between 2010 and 2023.

The House Price Index in the Houston area has risen fastest in Harris County

The Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (HPI) measures average price changes in repeat sales or refinancing on the same properties and serves as a timely indicator of house price trends. It provides a way to compare single-family house prices across different geographic regions that controls for distortions in the market.

In 2023, the HPI was highest in Harris County among Houston’s three counties and 17% higher than in Fort Bend and 25% higher than in Montgomery counties. Although median housing values are higher in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties compared to Harris County and the nation, the relative lower HPI indicates lower average housing prices in repeat sales or refinancing.

The index trends in Houston’s three-county region and Texas generally follow the national trend, but the national HPI surpassed our region just before the 2008 housing crisis, signaling that housing prices at the national level were rising faster than in our region. However, the Houston region eventually caught up: between 2010 and 2023, the HPI increased 128% across Texas, 115% in Montgomery County, 116% in Fort Bend County, 98% in Harris County, and 99% in the nation. More recently, between 2020 and 2023 alone, HPI increased 42% across the state, 40% nationally, 43% in Montgomery County, 43% in Fort Bend County, and 27% in Harris County.

Houston-area housing costs have increased for renters but declined for homeowners since 2010

Is rent expensive in Houston? While rent is still less expensive than the average housing payment with a mortgage, rents in Houston’s three-county area are higher than the national and state averages. Gross rent is the contract rent plus the estimated average monthly cost of utilities.

Median gross rents in the region were higher in 2023 than in 2010. They climbed fastest between 2010 and 2019 and then were relatively flat between 2019 and 2021 (except in Fort Bend County where median rents fell about 10 percent). The cost of rent then increased once again in 2023, compared to 2021, across all geographies.

Overall, among Houston’s three counties, Fort Bend had the highest median gross rent, growing 21% to $1,839 in 2023 from $1,516 in 2010. The median gross rent in Harris County increased to $1,403 from $1,165, up 20% since 2010. During the same time period, median gross rent in Montgomery County rose 28% to $1,508 in 2023 from $1,179 in 2010. For comparison, gross rent rose 26% for the average Texan and 18% for the average American during this time period. As rents increase, opportunities to save for homeownership become more difficult.

Additionally, median housing costs for homeowners across the three-county area are higher than the national and state average. These cost estimates include the total sum of payments made for mortgages, real estate taxes, insurance, utilities and fees.

Interact with the chart to explore differences in households with a mortgage and ones without.

In 2023, the median monthly housing cost for the average homeowner in Houston’s three-county region was lower than it was in 2010 (except in Montgomery County where costs increased less than 1%).  Compared to increasing rents, the median monthly housing cost for homeowners decreased by 10% in Fort Bend County, 12% in Harris County, 3 across Texas, and 15% across the country between 2010 and 2023.

More than half of Houston-area renters are burdened by housing costs

How is housing affordability defined? The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development considers affordable housing as not more than 30% of income. If a household spends 30% or more of their income on housing costs, they are considered to be housing cost-burdened. Households that are severely cost-burdened spend 50% or more of their income on housing costs. These thresholds, established in the 1980s by the federal government, indicate when housing is considered affordable.

Renters are more likely to be burdened (spending 30% or more on housing) by housing costs than homeowners. While this has been true for at least a decade, this trend has worsened in recent years — particularly for the most vulnerable residents.

The total number of housing cost-burdened owner households in 2023 compared to 2010 was 13% lower in the U.S., 18% higher in Texas, 12% higher across the three-county region, 29% higher in Fort Bend, 6% higher in Harris, and 37% higher in Montgomery.

Comparatively, the number of housing cost-burdened renter households increased 13% in the U.S., 42% in Texas, 54% overall in the region, 127% in Fort Bend, 48% in Harris, and 131% in Montgomery County.

As of 2023 Fort Bend County leads the region with the highest rate of renters facing housing cost burdens—a spot historically held by Harris County. This shift is driven by a significant 12-percentage-point increase in just two years between 2021 and 2023. In comparison, Harris County saw a modest 1-point increase during this time while Montgomery County saw a 6-point rise.

Homeowners were struggling with housing costs in 2010. It was the time just after the worst of the Great Recession, and 29% of homeowners in Houston’s three-county region were spending 30% or more of their income on housing. Over time, the situation improved for some of those who were able to keep their homes, and by 2019, the proportion of homeowners that were cost-burdened had fallen to 20%. Before the arrival of COVID in Houston, these households were in much better financial shape, including having built home equity, which provided a buffer to the worst of the economic effects. In 2023, the proportion of homeowners that were cost-burdened ticked up only 4 percentage points to 24%.

But households that rented most likely had a different experience. Back in 2010, 47% of households that rented in Houston’s three-county region were burdened by the amount spent on housing — that’s nearly one in two renter households. By 2019, that hadn’t changed. Because these households were just as burdened by housing costs nearly a decade later, they were still in tough financial shape heading into the worst global public health crisis in a century. And after the first year of the pandemic, one in two renter households in 2021 were burdened by the amount they spent on housing and in 2023 the percentage of cost-burdened renters continued to increase with 52%, over half, of renters spending 30% or more of their income just on the cost of housing. However, there are differences by county — the proportion of households that are cost-burdened in Fort Bend County is 57%, in Harris County 52%, and Montgomery County 46%.

Essentially, homeowner households are now less likely to be cost-burdened compared to 2010, while renters are more likely to be cost-burdened.

Households that are severely cost-burdened spend 50% or more of their income on housing costs. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, severely cost-burdened renter households are more likely than other renters to sacrifice necessities like healthy food and health care to pay the rent and are more likely to experience unstable housing situations and evictions. These are the most vulnerable among vulnerable households, and housing costs for this group have only become more burdensome.

Renters are more likely to be severely cost-burdened than homeowners. About 27% of renter households in Greater Houston were severely housing cost-burdened in 2023 similar to 24% statewide and 25% nationally but more than double the rate for homeowners. About 11% of homeowners in the Houston three-county area were severely housing cost-burdened in 2023 about one percentage point higher than the state and national averages.

Similar to housing cost burdened households, Harris County has typically had the highest rate of renters who are severely housing cost burdened. However, as of 2023, Fort Bend County has the highest rate of renters in the three-county region who are spending 50% or more of their income on housing. Fort Bend County saw the rate of severely housing cost burdened renters increase by 8 percentage points between 2021 and 2023 compared to rates stagnating in Harris County and increasing by 4 points in Montgomery County.

The proportion of renters that are severely cost-burdened is 22% in Fort Bend, 26% in Harris, and 19% in Montgomery County, whereas the proportion of homeowners who are severely cost-burdened is 12% in Fort Bend, 10% in Harris, and 9% in Montgomery County.

As we saw earlier, between 2010 and 2021, the proportion of renters spending 30% or more of their income on housing grew faster than that of homeowners. The same trends holds true for renters spending 50% or more of their income on housing, outpacing the increase seen among homeowners.

The total number of severely housing cost-burdened owner households in 2023 compared to 2010 was 6% lower in the U.S., 31% higher in Texas, 23% higher across the three-county region, 54% higher in Fort Bend, 13% higher in Harris, and 54% higher in Montgomery.

Comparatively, the number of severely housing cost-burdened renter households increased 12% in the U.S., 41% in Texas, 60% overall in the region, 161% in Fort Bend, 49% in Harris, and 169% in Montgomery County.

Housing Cost Burdened by Income

Income plays a crucial role in understanding the impact of being housing cost burdened. Households with higher incomes, even when spending 30% or more of their income on housing, are likely to have greater financial flexibility to manage other essentials like healthcare, food and transportation. In contrast, lower-income households that are housing cost burdened face much tighter budgets. With more of their limited income consumed by housing, they often struggle to cover basic needs, increasing their risk of debt, eviction, and financial instability. The financial strain is far more significant for those with lower incomes, making housing affordability a more critical issue for them.

Across all regions, very low-income households (those earning less than or equal to 30% of the HUD Area Median Family Income) face the highest levels of housing cost burden with around 3 out of 4 very low-income households in the Houston 3-county region being housing cost burdened compared to 1 out of 17 households earning more than 100% of the HUD Area Median Family Income (HAMFI).

We see the same trend for households who are severely cost burdened with 2 out of 3 very low-income households in the Houston 3-county region spending at least 50% of their income on housing compared to less than 1% of households that earn more than 100% of the HAMFI.

More than one out of every two dollars in income goes to housing and transportation costs in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties

Just as there is more to the cost of living in Houston, there is more to housing affordability than mortgage, rent or utilities. For most households in the United States, housing and transportation represent the largest and second-largest expenditures, respectively. The Housing and Transportation (H+T®) Affordability Index estimates the percentage of a household’s income that will be spent on housing and transportation costs in a given location, which can help people make better-informed decisions about where to live and work. Here we show the cost burden of the combined expenses in each county.

Fort Bend residents spend a higher share of their income on housing and transportation than the other Houston-area counties and compared to other populous counties in the state. Fort Bend County residents spent approximately 58% of household income on combined housing and transportation costs in 2019, compared to 53% of household income for residents in Montgomery County and 46% of household income for residents in Harris County. The percentage of income spent on housing and transportation costs in each Houston-area county is higher than the H+T cost-burden threshold of 45%, especially in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, driven primarily by exorbitant transportation costs.

Fort Bend County residents also spend a larger share of their income on housing and transportation than residents of Cook County, Illinois (Chicago), Fulton County, GA (Atlanta), and Los Angeles County, which is infamous for its expensive housing market and congested freeways.

A comparison with the previous H+T Index release shows residents in Fort Bend and Harris counties spent slightly less of their income on housing and transportation in 2019 than in 2015. In 2015, Fort Bend residents spent about 36% of their income on housing and 24% on transportation; and Harris residents spent 27% and 21% on housing and transportation, respectively. Montgomery County residents spent slightly less on housing (29%) but slightly more on transportation (24%) in 2015.

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