The Changing Face of Texas – Population Forecast

texas migration map

A portion of our Texas Real Estate License dues goes toward funding the Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University. The Real Estate Center provides agents with press releases we are allowed to share. Below is the latest, which discusses the demographic shifts and population growth of Texas, both past future.

At the bottom is a link to the full article. It’s interesting stuff. If you don’t have time to read the entire post and the accompanying article, the takeaway is this:

Higher net migration (more people moving to Texas than moving out of the state) and the younger average age of Texas’ population should prove positive for real estate professionals. Both mean that more and more people will be looking for housing. The metro areas should continue to grow, while agricultural counties may continue to lose population.

Here is the write-up from the Real Estate Center, reposted with permission.

The Changing Face of Texas
By David S. Jones, Senior Editor, Real Estate Center
Release No. 23-0710

COLLEGE STATION, Tex. (Real Estate Center) — One word will have a significant effect on the future of Texas real estate – population.

More people are moving to Texas than are moving out. These new adult Texans need housing the day they arrive. That is more good news for a real estate industry that has already fared better most states during the latest economic downturn.

“Forty years ago, the Texas population was largely rural and Anglo,” said Gary Maler, director of the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. “Forty years from now, Texas will be largely urban and Hispanic.

“The state’s demographics will shift dramatically during the next several decades, and with change comes opportunity.”

In times past, Texas depended on “natural” increases for most citizens. That is, most Texans were born here. In the 1950s, 94 percent of the state’s population growth was of the natural variety. By the 1990s, just half of new citizens entered the state that way.

“The real estate implications are significant,” said Dr. Harold Hunt, a Center research economist. “Population primarily from net inmigration means there are more adults and more would-be homebuyers.”

While newly arriving households require housing, that can quickly become a negative should the state economy worsen and jobs be lost. Adults that migrate to Texas can just as quickly depart.

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