Authors:

cfletcher

Over the last couple of months, we have been gathering information about housing needs, wants, and challenges in Marble Falls.  We created a one-page survey that was sent to the employees of our two largest employers, Marble Falls ISD and the Baylor Scott & White Hospital.  As of this morning, we have received 427 responses that have affirmed some of our concerns, offered pleasant surprises, and provided new insight.  Here are some of the highlights:

• Just over 30% of the respondents currently live in Marble Falls.  While this figure may seem low, it is actually substantially higher than the numbers released by the Census Bureau that show about 10% of our total workforce living in Marble Falls.
• More than two-thirds of those surveyed would like to live (or continue living) in Marble Falls.  Doing the math will show that we could add more than 150 residents from these two employers alone if we had more diverse and affordable housing in town.
• The vast majority (92.72%) would like to live in a single-family house, but there is some appetite in equal measure for townhomes, condominiums, and apartments.
• In terms of price, there is a fairly predictable pattern regarding what people would be willing to pay for a home.  Interest declines as the price increases, with 75% wanting a home priced at $225,000 or less.  The difficulty with this preference is a lack of available product in that price range.  Currently, there are just under 50 houses on the market in Marble Falls at an average list price of $338,150.  Of those, 11 are priced less than $225,000, but they were all built between 1940 and 1980 (average: 1958) and the average square footage is around 1,400.
• From the open-ended comments that have been collected, housing availability, affordability, and diversity dominate the list of concerns.  About two dozen respondents mentioned a lack of amenities, and a very small handful had concerns about growth, development, and/or traffic.

If you’d like to share your thoughts on housing in Marble Falls—or if you have some capacity to be a part of the solution to our challenges—I invite you to get in touch with us.