USA – TEXAS Law and Practice Contributed by: Taylor Cooksey, David Brooks, Serena Kramer and Philip Kinkaid, Cokinos | Young
Cokinos | Young 1221 Lamar Street 16th Floor Houston Texas 77010 USA
Tel: +1 713 535-5500 Fax: +1 210 298-5007 Email: tcooksey@cokinoslaw.com Web: www.cokinoslaw.com
1. General 1.1 Main Sources of Law
ing environmental matters, fair housing and consumer protection. 1.2 Main Market Trends and Deals Residential The residential real estate market in Texas largely pla - teaued in 2025. Active listings rose by approximately 30% in 2025, and months of available inventory for sale reached 5.5 months by the third quarter. In the multifamily market, rent growth was largely flat and actually declined in Austin. Notwithstanding the slow - down in residential markets, Texas set a new record for sales of million-dollar-plus homes, up 12% from 2024. Office-to-residential conversion activity increased as well; Dallas has almost 3,000 new apartment units in various stages of conversion, and at least four major conversion projects in various stages of development in the Houston area, including the 45-storey former ExxonMobil building located in downtown Houston. Office Leasing trends from 2024 extended into 2025, with Class A offices continuing their post-COVID rebound and Class A offices in prime areas seeing record-high rents, while Class B and Class C office space strug - gled with high vacancy rates. The shift toward more suburban demand continued, with increased leasing activity in Frisco, The Woodlands and Round Rock. However, 2025 also saw record delinquencies in com - mercial mortgage-backed securities, as higher-than- expected interest rates both raised borrowing costs of refinancing and eroded the value of underlying col - lateral.
The primary source of real estate law in Texas is the Texas Property Code, a statutory code that governs a wide range of property-related issues, including own - ership, rights and transactions. Such issues include conveyances, residential and commercial leases, easements, adverse possession, property owners’ and condominium owners’ associations, restrictive covenants, liens, evictions and foreclosures, and trusts. Other important statutory codes include the following: • the Texas Local Government Code, which contains laws pertaining to both city and county platting, zoning and other land-use regulations; • the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, which establishes the civil procedures and guidelines governing the enforcement of many property rights; • the Texas Natural Resources Code, which governs the Texas survey system, the regulation of oil, gas and other minerals, and state-owned lands; and • the Texas Water Code, which primarily governs environmental regulation, local water and utility districts, and water rights. These statutory codes are supplemented by other specific Texas statutes, the common law (ie, court- made case law), regulations adopted by state agen - cies, and local ordinances such as building and zoning codes. Federal statutes and regulations also govern a range of real estate ownership and operations, includ -
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