Dallas-Fort Worth home prices fell slightly from July to August after prices rose to near pandemic-era highs in the first half of the year.
Median single-family home prices in the metropolitan area have fallen 2% since July and fell to 40% in August, according to a new report from North Texas Real Estate Information Systems and Texas A&M University's Texas Real Estate Research Center. It cost just over $6,000. This report tracks sales of existing and new homes listed through real estate agents.
While still down from last summer's peak in August, the median is still up 44% compared to March 2020.
From the beginning of 2020 to May 2022, the median home price in D-FW increased 61% from approximately $270,000 to $435,000, often with significant month-over-month increases .
Prices then fell throughout the second half of last year as rising mortgage rates forced many buyers and sellers to the sidelines. It then rose for five consecutive months after the holidays ended and the traditional spring trading season picked up.
“I really don't think it's going to go any lower,” said Belinda Epps, president of the Metrotex Association of Realtors and broker and owner of Epps Realty in Mesquite and Royce City. “We don't have enough homes yet. Inventory is trending up, but we don't have the inventory we need to balance the market yet. We're just not there yet.”
The number of new listings increased slightly from July to August, but was down 4% from the previous year to 10,444. The number of active listings, including homes that have not been on the market for some time, rose 5% to 19,527.
The local market had 2.7 months of available inventory, significantly higher than at the beginning of last year, but still far from the six months of inventory that economists suggest represents a balanced market between buyers and sellers.
Epps, who also manages single-family rental homes, has seen many investors choose to sell, and with prices under $300,000, his homes are selling quickly. Told. “Taxes and insurance don't make sense for them to have in their portfolio,” she says.
The number of home sales in August was 8,009, an increase of approximately 5% compared to the previous month, but an 8% decrease compared to the same month last year. Epps said some buyers who have held on are tired of waiting.
“They probably won't get what they wanted, but they'll be ready,” she said.
What's next?
In a statement Monday, Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, made predictions for the national housing market based on two potential scenarios.
First: As the economy and inflation calm down, mortgage rates ease and more buyers come to the market. Yun said that in that scenario, price growth would depend on whether home builders can bring enough supply to the market.
Second scenario: There is an economic recession and employers cut staff. In that case, people may be forced to sell their homes, and people who are worried about their jobs may not buy a home, Yun said. But he said interest rates would drop in this case, so people with regular jobs would want to take advantage of that and buy. He said that in that scenario, price appreciation could accelerate if some wealthy individuals decide to reallocate their investments from the stock market to real estate.
“We will not repeat the housing market crash of 2008 to 2012,” Yun said. “There is no such thing as risky subprime loans that could fail, or a combination of massive oversupply and overproduction of housing.”
