Fort Worth's tallest building, Burnett Plaza, has a new owner

Plus: Affordable housing units across the U.S. are about to hit their expiration date

October 10, 2024

🌅 Good Morning. Welcome to the newsletter that gives you all the best & latest real estate news.

Today's newsletter is 526 words — a 2.5-minute read.

1. City of Houston withdraws proposed property tax

Houston City Council abandoned a plan to raise property taxes Wednesday. The decision was made after the city received $50 million in aid from the state.

  • The plan would have increased taxes by about 6%, which means an extra $100 a year for the average household.

Mayor Whitmire’s plan to keep the current property tax rate was competing with council members’ proposal to raise taxes. Their push partly came after the city controller warned last week that the city’s credit rating could suffer without a new revenue stream.

2. Single-family home sales in Houston showed an increase in September

According to the latest Market Update from the Houston Association of REALTORS (HAR), single-family home sales rose 1.7% last month, with 6,973 units sold compared to 6,858 last September.

Inventory expanded from a 3.4-month supply to 4.4 months over the last 12 months, remaining unchanged from the previous month and the highest since September 2012.

The average price remained relatively flat at $415,435, while the median price edged up by 1.1 percent to $335,000. LINK

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3. Catch up quick

🏗️ Fidelis starts the San Jacinto Mall redevelopment project in Baytown, Texas. (Fidelis)

🏢 Fort Worth's tallest building, Burnett Plaza, has a new owner. (WFAA)

📋 Zillow is working to integrate Virtual Staging AI’s platform into Listing Showcase. (Zillow)

💵 Only 9% of very large brokerages will be profitable if commission rates drop to 2%, per AccountTech study. (Yahoo)

🗞️ Fun read: Texas' first permanent newspaper, the Telegraph and Texas Register was established on this day October 10, 1835. (TSHA)

4. Affordable housing units across the U.S. are about to hit their expiration date

While Americans continue to struggle with high rents, up to 223,000 affordable housing units may disappear in the next five years.

In Texas, about 21,000 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) units are set to expire.

These units were built in the 1990s using the federal LIHTC, which gives developers tax credits in exchange for keeping rents low. However, there's a catch: the buildings only need to stay affordable for a minimum of 30 years thus housing crisis may worsen, leaving more individuals and families at risk of facing unaffordable rents.

5. Palladium USA breaks ground on $79M mixed-income multifamily project in San Antonio

Dallas-based developer Palladium USA has started construction on Palladium Old FM 471, a $79 million mixed-income project on an 11-acre site in San Antonio.

The community will feature 321 apartments with one-, two-, and three-bedroom options, reserved for households earning 30% to 80% of the area's median income.

The community amenities will include a pool, fitness center, conference room, business center, dog park, and a children’s playroom. Preleasing is set to start next fall.

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