Home Sales Prices Fell in Dallas and Rockwall Counties in February
The latest North Texas housing market numbers are not very encouraging, to say the least. Home sales were down in many Dallas-Fort Worth neighborhoods in February, and median home sales prices dropped for the first time since the Great Recession in both Dallas and Rockwall counties. Dallas County home sales prices fell 2.5 percent in February from a year ago, according to the latest figures from the MetroTex Association of Realtors. Median sales prices slid 4.5 percent in Rockwall County. The only solid home price gain in the region came in Tarrant County, where houses are still relatively affordable. Of course, the drop in home prices in Dallas and Rockwall counties doesn't mean property values are actually declining. Monthly home price numbers also reflect what's selling. Lower and moderate-priced house sales are still strong while purchases of expensive properties have lagged. Sales of North Texas houses priced between $300,000 and $900,000 are down so far this year. Purchases of most homes priced at less than $200,000 inched higher in the first two months of the year. When fewer high-priced houses trade, median home prices fall. But there are plenty of other signs that D-FW home prices are indeed seeing downward pressure. Almost 17 percent of houses currently listed for sale in the area have already had a price cut, according to a new report by Zillow.
North Texas was one of the few U.S. markets that didn't see major home price reductions a decade ago during the recession. Overall home values in the D-FW retreated by only about 10 or 15 percent during the downturn from pre-crash levels. Since the economic rebound, sales prices in the area have jumped more than 50 percent to all-time highs. Don't expect prices to rise forever, particularly when sales are clearly down in a lot of neighborhoods. Home sales in Collin County fell almost 9 percent in February from the year before, and sales were down 3 percent in Denton County...
