North Texas Home Prices Stalled in February
February was a disappointing month for the Dallas-area housing market. While home sales by real estate agents in North Texas inched up 1 percent from a year earlier, median home prices were flat from 2018 levels. And the average price of homes sold in the area actually fell 1 percent from February of last year, according to data from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems.
"The market is most definitely slower," said Dr. James Gaines, chief economist at the Real Estate Center. "Prices may reflect more activity at lower end or some slowdown in price movement. "It's hard to tell in just a couple of months, but the next couple will be good indicators."
So far in 2019, sales of single-family homes through the Realtors' multiple listing service are down 5 percent from a year ago. And median home prices in North Texas could only eke out a 1 percent year-over-year price gain to $245,000. At the same time prices are flattening, the number of properties on the market in the area is exploding. At the end of February, almost 22,000 homes were listed for sale with real estate agents — a 25 percent jump from February 2018 inventory in the more than two dozen North Texas counties included in the survey. And the number of condos on the market is 43 percent higher than it was just a year ago. The surge in home listings has added to the average time it takes to sell a property, which averaged more than 60 days last month. "There continues to be ample demand for housing in D-FW," said Ted Wilson of Residential Strategies Inc. "But as inventory levels start to increase for both new and existing homes, it is more difficult for sellers to push pricing.
"Several of our clients have reported that the consumer is responding to discounting. We are hearing that this improved house pricing, coupled with low mortgage rates, has pulled many buyers off the sidelines in recent weeks." The one bright spot in February's housing report was the 4 percent increase in pending sales — houses under contract for purchase but not yet sold.
Since mortgage rates have retreated from recent highs in late 2018, housing economists are hoping that this year's traditional spring housing market won't be a bust...
