HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Furnished and decorated from the inside out, Marisa Guzman’s home in The Heights was a gift she always wanted to give herself.

“Christmas came early for me. Yes!” » said Guzman.

A lifelong renter, Guzman, had hoped to purchase the townhouse, but with the median cost of Houston homes being just under $340,000, plus interest, it seemed more like a dream than a dream. reality.

“Before I bought the house, I thought that even with a good job that I love, it would still be a few years. Maybe more than a few years before I could afford a house,” Guzman said.

So when she saw a house in the neighborhood she liked, at an affordable price and a decent interest rate, she couldn’t say no.

“When this came on the market out of nowhere, I was shocked at the price and the square footage and the location, which is important. I kind of jumped on it,” Guzman said.

She is among the 38 percent of Houstonians who can afford a median-priced home.

“It’s a great feeling to say, ‘Let’s go to my house.’ This is truly my home, I earned it,” Guzman said.

Professions like Thomas Mouton, who works with the Houston Association of Realtors, hope that percentage will increase now that the Federal Reserve is reducing interest.

“Man, our market is booming. I mean, it’s pretty consistent right now. We’re seeing an uptick in sales,” Mouton said.

Even though interest rates are reduced, those rates determine what banks will pay, not how much your mortgage rate is.

The hope is that banks will pass on the lower rates to the borrower. The most recent reduction brought the interest rate down to around 4.5%. The Federal Reserve plans to cut spending further over the next year. While people are crossing their fingers for better financing in the future, some are holding back.

“They were spoiled three or four years ago with interest rates going down to 2 and 3 percent. That’s just not the current reality for our market,” Mouton said.

Overall, Mouton said Houston is in a good position. Housing prices are much lower than cities of similar size.

According to him, even if rates are no longer as low as they were a few years ago, now may still be a good time to invest.

“It’s a good nest egg to invest in. Once they pay off the mortgage or they get closer, they have something in the war chest that they have,” Mouton said.

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