Texas REALTORS Chairman of the Board Jennifer Wauhob speaks to Fox Information Digital in regards to the Lone Star State’s current wealth and inhabitants growth that’s ‘creating good issues for Texas.’
For millionaire enterprise proprietor Frederic Lepoutre, the choice to maneuver his household from the South Florida coast to Texas Hill Nation wasn’t nearly a change of surroundings — it was a lesson in effectivity.
Whereas constructing a customized house in a spot like Broward County is usually a yearslong odyssey of purple tape and hovering insurance coverage premiums, Lepoutre noticed his 11-acre Texas property go from breaking floor to move-in prepared in simply over 12 months.
With an preliminary property tax invoice of simply $8 on his land and insurance coverage prices one-fifth of what he’s paid for many years within the Sunshine State, Lepoutre is a part of a rising wave of high-net-worth people proving that, in 2026, the Lone Star State is not simply profitable on taxes — it’s profitable on pace.
“I feel it already has [surpassed Florida as the center of gravity],” Lepoutre advised Fox Information Digital. “Initially, you may have the land for manufacturing. You do not have it right here in Florida… it’s an enormous state… and a part of West Texas now, you hear about AI factories which are increase.”
“I feel it should if it hasn’t already,” Lepoutre’s spouse, Lynn Lepoutre, additionally mentioned.
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“People are voting with their toes. They need locations which are livable. They need locations which are workable. They need locations which are sustainable and inexpensive,” Texas REALTORS Chair Jennifer Wauhob advised Fox Information Digital. “And so I feel this migration, as we name it, is absolutely turning right into a long-term shift.”
A rising wealth and inhabitants migration to Texas “doesn’t really feel episodic,” in response to Texas REALTORS Chair Jennifer Wauhob. (Getty Pictures)
Current information from Texas REALTORS exhibits that one-third of latest residents are coming from California, Florida, New York and Colorado, with 30% of interstate movers selecting to relocate to Dallas. Texas’ median house value presently sits at $335,000, beneath the nationwide common of about $415,000.
Whereas youthful staff and households could flock to greater cities and their suburbs, the semi-retired Lepoutres – who oversee Nationwide Textile and Attire and put money into oil and fuel – bought their land in a distant space close to Bandera and Kerrville, a couple of hours’ drive west of San Antonio. They needed to buy a minimum of 10 acres per a county minimal mandate, and acquired the land three years in the past for $26,000 per acre.
Plans for a second house have been lengthy within the works, and Texas not solely supplied sufficient land for his or her challenge, however Lepoutre claimed the preliminary tax invoice with agricultural exemptions was $8 per 12 months (whereas the house itself awaits formal evaluation) and the regulatory surroundings allowed for fast development turnaround.
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“It takes three years to construct a home right here. It took us one 12 months from actually getting the bottom able to transferring in. In Texas, it took us one 12 months, and the one allow we wanted was for the water effectively and the sewer system,” Lepoutre mentioned. “It’s the other [of Florida]. It’s a complete 180.”
“The highways, the infrastructure, they’re fast. They transfer quick. There isn’t any resting on their laurels,” Lynn mentioned. “In the event that they’re constructing a freeway, it is completed. They get it from begin to end rapidly.”
“We have been searching for peace, quiet, tranquility, privateness and a slower tempo,” Lynn added. “After we have been wanting on-line [at homes], it is both an older house, and we wished to construct a home collectively. We already just about knew precisely what our design could be. You could not discover that [anywhere].”
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Their new house is off-grid sufficient that they needed to construct a personal 600-foot water effectively and switchback mountain-style driveway, which makes bundle supply a “nightmare” as objects are sometimes left on the backside and should be retrieved by four-wheel drive. Moreover, there’s a remote-specific helicopter ambulance service membership that’s provided as a result of their rural location.
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“We wished to be someplace the place you possibly can have a look at the celebrities at night time and never see one gentle. You possibly can’t see your neighbors. The bushes are nonetheless low sufficient the place you possibly can see out, the view from our home now’s 40 miles,” Lepoutre mentioned. “It’s totally uncommon to see properties like this in America anymore.”
“I have been [in Florida] since ‘88, so I am prepared for the change, and I identical to the lifestyle in Texas and the folks in Texas, and it is only a good, refreshing place to be,” Lynn mentioned. “The whole lot’s larger in Texas.”
“What we’re seeing with this migration of all these folks transferring to our state is, it is creating a extremely regular demand for housing, and that spans to all ranges. We’re seeing a requirement for entry-level housing, and we’re nonetheless seeing a robust demand for luxury-level housing. So it is, proper now, a extremely balanced, wholesome market,” Wauhob famous, “and all these folks coming in right here, it is simply creating good issues for Texas.”
“Should you don’t love sitting at a saloon or a bar or a restaurant… and you do not prefer to be talked to, do not transfer to Texas.”
“I’m a local Texan, however I did spend a while transferring across the nation for my husband’s job. And I can say, having to stay in different states, individuals who transfer right here, they’re very pleased with how far their housing greenback goes,” she continued.
As increasingly more firms dual-list on the NYSE Texas, Texas can be seeing govt relocations occur in waves. Wauhob briefly mentioned how REALTORS work with state financial growth groups to make sure there may be sufficient housing to satisfy the rising residential and company calls for.
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“We’re actually attempting to be proactive. We do not wanna be attempting to catch up in spite of everything these folks get right here. We wanna assume forward, plan forward, and be sure that when folks get there, we have now infrastructure in place and we have now wholesome communities for them to maneuver into,” the chair mentioned.
“I might say this doesn’t really feel episodic to me. Should you have a look at the information, this has been happening for a number of years in a row now,” Wauhob expanded. “We’ve a gradual movement of individuals coming right here. We’re not seeing massive surges, which is a good factor as a result of we wanna have gradual, regular progress. So to me, that is one thing to keep watch over. I do not assume it is gonna go away anytime quickly… persons are coming, they usually’re not leaving.”
