Housing market shifts in favour of buyers

😊 Happy Tuesday, dear readers. Today, we're diving into Texas zoning laws, ‘zombie’ foreclosures, top home builders of 2025, and shifts in the housing market.

Today's newsletter is 726 words — a 2.5-minute read.

1. Texas lawmakers to allow smaller homes on smaller lots

Texas lawmakers have sent a scaled-back zoning proposal to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk in a bid to allow smaller homes on smaller lots to help curb the state’s high home prices.

Lawmakers in the Texas House and Senate passed Senate Bill 15 last weekend, despite strong opposition from House Democrats. The bill gives builders more flexibility to construct smaller homes in the state’s largest cities.

If signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, the finalized version of Senate Bill 15 will prohibit Texas’ largest cities from requiring developers to build new homes on lots larger than 3,000 square feet in certain neighborhoods.

2. Texas among the state with the most ‘Zombie’ foreclosures

According to ATTOM’s second quarter report, 3.3% of residential properties currently in foreclosure (7,329 of 222,358) are classified as “zombie” properties.

While the zombie share is flat compared to Q1 2025, it’s up 0.4% from a year earlier. Texas saw one of the highest increases in zombie foreclosures in Q2 2025, rising 51.9%, from 162 to 246.

ATTOM analyzed county tax assessor data for 104.1 million residential properties for vacancy, broken down by foreclosure status and owner-occupancy status in Q2 2025.

A MESSAGE FROM DAVE YOUR MORTGAGE GUY

The Truth About Seller Contribution on VA Loans!

We’ve all heard the same thing a hundred times:
“You can only ask for 4% seller contribution on a VA loan.”

But here’s the truth…
That “rule” isn’t exactly what you think—and in many cases, you can actually do MORE.

There’s a VA loan loophole that other lenders don’t even talk about. It could make a huge difference for your buyers and even save a deal.

I just dropped a quick video breaking it all down—watch it now.

You’ll want to keep this one in your back pocket. Trust me.

Let’s help more VA buyers win,
-DYMG

3. Catch up quick

🏗️ The top 10 home builders of 2025. (IndustryDive)

📉 Inflation fell to 2.1% in April from 2.3% in March. (BEA)

🏰 Falkenstein Castle, described as 'the crown jewel of the Texas Hill Country,' has been listed for sale for $15M. (Realtor.com)

🏡 Home sellers are sitting on $700B worth of listings. (Redfin)

🤝 Keller Williams and Canva partner to boost agents’ marketing tools. (KellerWilliams)

🏖️ Fun read: Top 10 Texas beach destinations. (USAToday)

4. McAllen is the best metro area for first-time homebuyers

According to the 2025 SmartAsset Study, McAllen is the metro with the best housing market for first-time homebuyers. The metros were ranked across categories such as affordability, competition, social characteristics, and projected growth.

• In McAllen, the median sale price of a home is $204,499, while the median household income is $56,655. Looking at housing inventory, McAllen has nearly 3,500 homes on the market, with an average of 64 days for a home to go under contract.

Another Texas metro, Killeen, also made SmartAsset’s Top 10 list for 2025, ranking No. 3 for first-time homebuyer affordability. The median sale price is $253,104, while the median household income is $74,976. The area has over 3,000 homes on the market, with an average of 45 days for a home to go under contract.

5. Housing market shifts in favour of buyers

According to recent data from Redfin, there are approximately 1.9 million home sellers in the US housing market compared to just 1.5 million homebuyers, creating a 33.7% surplus of sellers. This represents the most significant imbalance in records dating back to 2013.

The shift is expected to drive home prices down by approximately 1% by the end of the year as sellers compete for a diminishing pool of buyers, giving purchasers increased negotiating power.

Austin ranked fourth among the nation’s top 10 buyer’s markets in April 2025, with 124.1% more sellers than buyers. Notably, none of the Texas metros were seller’s markets among the 50 most populous in the U.S.

A MESSAGE FROM THE RUNDOWN AI

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