Local News

Fredericksburg’s Growing Pains Felt in Housing Market

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Fredericksburg is of course one of our favorite small Texas towns, built around boutique stores and around 30 wineries, with a population hovering around just 10,000.

But like with much of the region, the ongoing growth and correlating increase in population is causing a few headaches to go along with the joys of prosperity.

“A lot of homes that would fill the need of a lower income or working-class guy very often are bought up as a second home,” says Mike Starks of the Gillespie County Economic Development Commission (GCEDC). “Just your typical little two-bedroom 1940s house close to Main Street. That’s a very attractive thing for somebody to buy who lives in San Antonio or Dallas or Houston, just to use as a weekend house for when they come to town.”

According to data from KTSX San Antonio, “the average price of a house in Fredericksburg grew to nearly $297,000. That’s a 15 percent increase in just one year. Currently, there are only three homes in Fredericksburg selling for under $200,000.”

But is it unstoppable?

Industry experts are on the fence. With the Texas Hill Country as a whole becoming a unique destinations for retirees and the workforce alike — from California to bigger towns in Texas — it doesn’t appear that home values will drop any time soon.

The housing issue is reaching “epidemic proportions,” according to Tim Lehmberg, also with the GCEDC.

“Three years ago, we put together a small group that’s now a larger group, and we call ourselves the Local Labor Task Force,” he says. “We identified what we thought were the five biggest contributors to our labor shortage. And of course the elephant in that room is housing.”