Recent Developments in Texas Property Taxes (with an Emphasis on Cities)

In my Oct. 3 blog post, I wrote on this topic with an emphasis on school district taxes. This time, I’ll examine recent changes in aggregate city property taxes.   City property tax levies have been on the rise as a percentage of total property taxes since 2013, though still below their share in the

Gift Guides 2024

Are you in need of a gift for someone?You’re in the right place, I’ll be adding new guides and updating the current guides almost daily!I went absolutely overboard this year and, for the past week, I’ve been obsessed with creating new gift guides for you.When I stumbled out of my sticky, iced coffee

On the Road in Fulshear 

This week’s “windshield survey” begins in Fulshear, Texas. The town’s history can be traced to Churchill Fulshear, a member of Stephen F. Austin’s Old Three Hundred. In 1824, Churchill, received a land grant from the Mexican government to establish his plantation where he grew cotton, corn, rice, an

Quantifying Higher Mortgage Rates’ Effect on Housing Affordability

Over the past few years, historically low mortgage rates have played a major role in boosting both home sales and refinance activity in Texas. In a short time, however, those rates climbed quickly and took a big bite out of housing affordability.   Data collected by the Consumer Finance Protection B