Is this another housing bubble?

For more information, please contact me at (512) 261-1542 or steve@LoneStarLending.com.

By G. Steven Bray

Rapidly rising home prices preceded the housing crash 10 years ago during which some homes lost more than 50% of their value. Prices bottomed out a couple years later and have been rising steadily ever since. The strength of the recovery has some folks asking if we’re entering another housing bubble. Let’s look at the data.

Home prices nationally have risen 57% since the 2011 trough and are at record highs in some markets. However, the recovery hasn’t been uniform, and some markets still haven’t fully recovered. In addition, in order to assess market frothiness, it’s important to look at not only what homes cost, but also what homebuyers can afford.

Corelogic did that through its Market Conditions Indicator, which considers both home prices and average incomes. When rising home prices outpace incomes for a metropolitan area, the index labels the area overvalued. According to this index, about one-third of US metros currently are overvalued. This includes most Texas metros, including Austin, San Antonio, DFW, and Houston.

So, what does this mean? According to Corelogic, it probably doesn’t indicate a bubble yet. Before the last crash, two-thirds of metros nationally were overvalued. Market forces could be equilibrate metros if home prices stabilize. However, if for the next couple of years we experience additional price growth, we could enter bubble territory again.