Saturday, September 1, 2012

Is DFW Residential Real Estate Market Spring-Loaded?

6506 Robin Road, (the Inwood and Mockingbird area of Dallas)is zoned for 10,000' single-family lots.
Lot shown is 212' x 200' per DCAD.

By Troy Corman, www.t2realestate.com

Is the Dallas-Fort Worth residential real estate market spring-loaded? Over the past few months, the big news in the residential real estate market is that there are fewer Dallas area homes for sale. In some sought-after neighborhoods, local title companies and Dallas real estate brokers are witnessing multiple offers and bidding wars.

Nothing creates higher prices like scarcity, when demand exceeds supply. And that appears to be happening in Big D as we speak. As the nationally noted Case-Shiller Index reported for June, Dallas home prices were up 3.7% versus June of 2011. It was Dallas' fourth straight month of year-over-year increases.

David Brown who heads up housing consultant Metrostudy locally, was quoted by the Dallas Morning News this week saying "absolutely, our view is that the market has turned." Furthermore, he quipped, "my expectation is that we'll see increasing appreciation in the second half of the year locally, and in a lot of markets around the country." He went on to say that there are currently about 29,000 homes listed for sale in the DFW area, but he expects that number to drop to 22,000 homes by years' end. If that happens, it would mark the lowest level of homes for sale in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro since 2000, when 1.5 million fewer people resided in the metroplex. "That's a recipe for higher prices," Brown said.

Through the first eight months of this year, 52,851 DFW area homes have been sold versus 47,611 in 2011, a 11% increase. Surprisingly, new home sales are about 2% below last year, with NTREIS (North Texas Real Estate Information System) reporting 4,273 new homes sold in 2012 versus 4,358 in 2011. Lots booked as sold are up 9% year-to-date year-over-year, as builder confidence is at a 5-year high and new home construction is picking up across north Texas. Let's hope the positive momentum continues to build!


Troy Corman is the founder of t2 Real Estate LLC, a Dallas real estate firm providing specialized knowledge with a hands-on approach. Specialties include residential real estate brokerage, land and acreage, and commercial real estate services. Contact us today at 214.827.1200 if you need to sell, buy or get your DFW property leased.

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