Homestead Exemptions Increase in Fort Bent Amid Soaring Home Prices

Housing has been hot in Fort Bend County. It has been so hot in recent months that several Fort Bend County communities, including Sugar Land and Missouri City, have taken steps to reduce the tax burden on residents.

For example, Missouri City late last month unanimously approved an ordinance that would give elderly residents a tax break of about $250,000 and a 2.5 percent homestead exemption for residential properties.

Councilman Jeffrey Bonnie wrote of the decision, “I’m excited to join our colleagues … to pass on these much-anticipated homestead exemptions on behalf of tax-paying residents of MC.”

According to the city, the 2.5 percent homestead exemption saves Missouri homeowners an average of about $40 in property taxes. 

According to the news release, the parliamentary decision will be made last month after Sugarland’s parliament approved a plan to raise the city prince’s tax exemption from 12 percent to 13 percent in the 2022 tax year. 

According to the city, this will provide homeowners of $ 420,000 with savings of about $ 15 per year.

In the days and weeks after the transformation, residents praised the change.

“This is great,” wrote a resident on social media. “thank you very much.”

However, according to real estate experts, it is not clear whether urban movements have had a significant impact on the housing market. 

“It’s a good move, but I don’t know if it was a factor in a lot of people’s decisions about when to buy or sell,” said Shane Light, a Sugar Land real estate agent.

According to a Texas Tribune article, the state’s homeowners have one of the highest property tax bills in the country. This article is largely due to the state’s reliance on property taxes to fund local governments, schools, and the lack of a state income tax.

That fact, combined with Houston’s soaring market, has meant a crazy few years in the Fort Bend County real estate business, Light said.

“There’s no shortage of people coming to Texas, and that’s not going to change anytime soon,” he said. “Continue to reduce inventories and keep demand high.”

Fort Bend is one of the fastest-growing counties in the country, with a population ranging from about 585,375 in 2010 to about 822,779 in 2020, according to data from the US Census Bureau.

More than 10,000 new homes are expected to enter the market in 2022, up from about 9,350 in 2021, an increase of about 21.35 percent, according to a report prepared by the Fort Bend County Central Appraisal District.

But demand far exceeds new homes, according to the report.

The central valuation district is a part of the state that values real estate for a tax entity within the district’s boundaries, according to the district’s website. Use a standard formula to calculate a home’s appraised value. 

The market frenzy has somewhat calmed down in recent months, Light said. Where sellers could complete 20 deals in two days, that number has dropped slightly, she said.