A Zillow survey of economists ranked Austin as the likely hottest real estate market in 2021.

While most economists see the year is off to a slow start, they nevertheless expect the pace to pick up later in the year as vaccination efforts spread and the Covid-19 albatross fades.Housing Starts Decline.

I watch the Socio Economist who looks at population change impacts a lot. 

That was the highest dollar volume among the six regions outlined in the report and was 26 percent above the region’s dollar volume registered in 2019.Charles Gilliland, research economist at the Texas Real Estate Research Center, says in a news release that rural land sales in the combined areas of Austin, the Hill Country, and Waco “exploded” in the second half of 2020.In the third quarter of last year, sales of small rural properties (10 to 50 acres) in that territory reached 1,103, marking the first time the region ever recorded more than 1,000 of those sales in a single quarter.

Nevertheless, housing economists agree that the long-term trajectory for mortgage rates does appear to be upward.

Susan Horton, 2021 ABoR President, summarized the challenges of this local housing market well: “Our housing market is undergoing growing pains and creating a paradox—affordable from the outside looking in, but increasingly unaffordable for those who already call Austin home.”This sentiment was echoed from economist at the the Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University, Dr.

Mortgage rates are still below a year ago and remain at historical lows, which has proven a boon for the housing market, economists note.

@Jacob PerezI'm by no mean an economists, but from what I've learned from Don Campbell, it makes me think that just "demand" cannot be a fundamental economic driver.

I haven't ready one prediction from a serious economist that housing values will actually decrease, but rather that the rate of appreciation will slow as interest rate hikes take effect.

Russell's advice above is exactly what I was going to say.I don't recommend trying to become an economist and attempting to predict the future of a market that you've never stepped foot in.Look around you in Washington DC.