The nest is empty. Given Fort Worth’s tight market are homeowners selling or staying?

Tracy Williams’ home of nearly 30 years in Keller had it all.

A 3,200-square-foot house in a quiet neighborhood, on a beautiful three-fourths of an acre lot, plentiful trees and a pool. Four bedrooms, four baths, and a three-car garage, the house was well-suited for Williams, her husband, Neal, and daughter, Rachel.

But with Rachel done with college and living on her own, it became clear it was time to move from the suburbs to a smaller home in the city.

“It was a big decision to downsize,” Williams said, recalling the June 2019 home purchase.

They made the move during a difficult time: COVID-19-related lockdowns were sweeping the country. It brought unexpected challenges as they, like many, stayed at home for work and leisure.

The couple — Tracy retired and her husband is still working — were juggling time between the Keller home and a house they’d bought on Cedar Creek Lake.

It was too much to care for. They wanted a smaller home — one within walking distance of things to do: restaurants, bars, movie theaters. They settled on a 2,360-square-foot townhouse in the Linwood neighborhood in Fort Worth.

“Things have been just great,” Williams said. “We really enjoy all that Fort Worth offers, and we enjoy having much less maintenance and stuff to take care of around the house. So, it’s worked for us.”

To move or to stay put? It’s a decision parents like the Williams are weighing as their kids move out and they enter their empty-nester phase of life.

Staying in the nest?

For the North Texas couple, moving was the right call. But in the years since the real estate market has changed.

When the Williams’ sold their Keller home, interest rates on mortgage loans were among the lowest in history. Now, the rates are over 6.5% — the highest they’ve been since 2008.

Back then, homes in Fort Worth had a median price of $230,000 and were on the market for roughly 33 days. Now, the median price is $340,000 and they sit on the market for 45 days.

While the housing of inventory is improving in Fort Worth compared to 2022, it’s still below what’s considered a healthy market.

The market can be a double-edged for homebuyers: On one hand, they’re likely to sell their house for more than they bought it. On the other, when they go to buy another property, prices and interest rates are higher, which could mean steeper monthly mortgage payments, even on a home that’s smaller than the larger house being sold.

“You do see folks that definitely are not considering selling any longer,” said Keela McGraw, a broker associate with The McGraw group, a Dallas-Fort Worth based real estate team.

She added, “They need to talk to a real estate professional, but at the same time, they’re looking at their interest rate, and a lot of homeowners refinanced when the interest rates were 2 and 3%, so it’s hard to walk away from that, if you have that low of an interest rate.”

Homeowners are also sitting on a lot of equity; some have paid off their home.

“I’m sure that contributes to the lower inventory as well,” McGraw said. “It’s like, ‘Hey — I have a paid for home. We have a lot of equity that we’ve gained in the past two to three, and so we’re good.”

The money saved can be used to fix up homes, instead of buying new ones, she said.

Some homeowners are ‘right-sizing’

That’s not to say homeowners whose kids have left home aren’t moving. McGraw likes to call it “right-sizing” instead of downsizing. In her experience, a lot of folks who are empty-nesters are relocating to DFW to be closer to family, she said.

“A lot of them will sell their home from wherever state or city they were from and get something that is maybe a little bit smaller, but not always smaller,” McGraw said. Later adding, “The rationale for why they don’t necessarily get just a ton less square footage is because they see themselves as being able to accommodate their children as well as their grandchildren.”

The decision on whether to stay or move ultimately depends on a person’s overall situation, said Megan Phelps, a broker and owner of Phelps Realty Group in Fort Worth.

Like McGraw, she noted that some homeowners might want to stay in place to avoid interest rates in the 7% range, but others may need to move, whether to have a one-story home instead of two, a newer home that’s more energy efficient or because they’re interested in retirement communities like Robson Ranch in Denton.

When they go smaller, clients still want a quality home that can be customized — homes with smaller yards that are one story, new or already redone, said Kimberly Tarver, a broker with Keller Williams Realty in Fort Worth

And while current interest rates may seem high for new homebuyers who have only known interest rates in the single digits — for Baby Boomers, today’s rates aren’t unusual, she said.

“Interest rates go up and down,” Tarver said. “The first house I ever sold, the interest rate was 18%. So anything below 10 is a God’s gift, and I think most economists will tell you that the sweet spot is between 8 and 9 because people get to make money on their money, as well as it still being affordable to borrow.”

There’s also options like interest rate buy downs, where sellers can concede dollars that can then be used to reduce a loan’s interest rate.

Some buyers who’ve owned their home for years may be in a position to pay cash for a home, shielding them from current interest rates, Phelps said.

“At that point, they’ve usually owned several homes and they’ve been able to … work their way up and be able to pay cash,” she said.