NORTH TEXAS HOME SALES: FEWER BUT FASTER
Home sales in North Texas may be down, but a new comparison of major U.S. housing markets shows that the area still has one of the lowest average sales times in the country.
The report from California-based Altos Research Co. and Real IQ estimates that it takes about 80 days to sell a house in Dallas, compared with an average of 110 days for the cities surveyed.
Only Denver, at 77 days, has a quicker average sales time than Dallas.
Of the markets included in the survey, Miami had the longest average sales time at 143 days.
Source: Dallas Morning News
Read MoreUPS AND DOWNS OF NORTH TEXAS HOME PRICES
Most North Texas neighborhoods saw modest home price growth during the first nine months of 2007, according to the latest data from the North Texas Real Estate Information System.
Median sales prices for existing homes are up an average of 1 percent so far this year. However, prices soared in some areas, including North Dallas, where sales prices are up 21 percent this year.
The biggest declines have been in Coppell, where listings are low, and Westlake, which has almost an eight-month supply of houses on the market. Citywide, there’s about a 6.5-month supply of preowned homes for sale.
According to Dr. James Gaines, a research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, the local housing market may have slowed, but the market is still relatively strong.
“The economy is still doing well, employment is still growing, there are people moving to the D-FW area in fairly large numbers,” Gaines said. “And there is plenty of mortgage money available, but not under the ridiculously easy standards of the past several years.”
Source: Dallas Morning News
Read MoreNORTH TEXAS HOME SALES STILL GOOD
Overall, pre-owned home prices in the Metroplex were up about 2 percent last year to a median of $148,000, according to statistics from the North Texas Real Estate Information System and the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
However, prices jumped by 12 percent in the Park Cities and by 10 percent in Lancaster and Keller. Nine areas saw declining prices, including Wilmer-Hutchins, which had a 27 percent drop.
In the Dallas–Fort Worth area, residential values have risen by only about 18 percent during the last five years compared to the more than 55 percent appreciation nationwide during the same period, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.
While area home prices remain positive, sales last year declined in more than 20 residential districts. Southlake, down 15 percent, had the largest sales drop. The greatest increase in home sales was in Lancaster, where the number of houses sold was 32 percent greater than the previous year.
Source: Dallas Morning News
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