DALLAS — If you are in the market to buy a house: Tick-tock. Real estate is going really fast. Homes are selling at record speed in many places.
Realtor.com put out this data that shows the median number of days on the market for some of the larger markets in Texas:
- Austin: 18 days
- Dallas-Fort Worth: 28 days
- Houston: 40 days
- San Antonio: 37 days
Now look at how that median number of days has changed in just the last year:
- Austin: -25 days
- Dallas-Fort Worth: -22 days
- Houston: -15 days
- San Antonio: -21 days
Texas lawmaker files bill to eliminate property taxes in Texas
While we're on the subject of housing, a Texas lawmaker is pushing a bill to get rid of property taxes. Republican Rep. James White says property owners in Texas have been shouldering too much of a burden for too long.
He is behind legislation that would eliminate property taxes, and replace them with a consumption tax. Rep. White explains his plan in the latest episode of our Yallitics Texas political podcast.
Click here to listen to this episode or download it wherever you get your podcasts.
Program to help low income homeowners in Dallas repair winter storm damage
There is a program in Dallas to help low-income homeowners who still have damage from the big winter storm that created havoc in February. If you qualify you can get up to $10,000 in repair assistance.
Click here to learn more and to apply.
February winter storm in Texas $2.8 billion (and counting) in insurance claims
That winter storm has so far generated $2.8 billion in damage claims. The Insurance Council of Texas had predicted it might become the top insured loss in state history.
With claims still coming in, the winter storm move into a fourth place tie with 2005's Hurricane Rita in the Top 10 Texas Loss Events (see page 6 here).
Making it to the top looks unlikely. The top two loss events were 2017’s Hurricane Harvey ($20 billion) and 2008’s Hurricane Ike ($12 billion).
Help arrives for battered food and drink establishments
Help has finally arrived for the food and drink industry, which has been brutalized by the pandemic. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund, part of the recent COVID-19 relief package, is now accepting grant applications.
$28.6 billion will go to restaurants, food trucks, caterers, bars, etc. It has been estimated that Texas has lost about 11,000 restaurants in the last year.
And many more have struggled, so this will be like a heaping helping of comfort food for an industry that's been starving for aid. Read more here.