D-FW Home Price Increases Have Grown Along With More Sales
Home sales prices in the area are rising at three times the rate of earlier this year.
Recent increases in Dallas-Fort Worth home sales were welcome after a slowdown earlier this year. But along with the higher sales have come higher prices, a look at the latest local housing data shows. At midyear, North Texas median home sales prices were up only 2% from the same period in 2018. But last month, prices for single-family homes sold by real estate agents in the area rose by three times that rate — 6% higher than in October 2018.
Some areas of North Texas have seen even bigger jumps in housing costs, which were already at record levels. Median home sales prices soared 10.3% in Dallas County and were 10.1% higher in Kaufman County, according to data from the MetroTex Association of Realtors.
Most housing economists have reworked their outlook for the rest of 2019, forecasting larger home price increases than they expected early in the year. “The market is still strong and with lower interest rates providing better purchasing power, buyers are pushing prices higher,” said Dr. James Gaines, chief economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. “Some of the year-over-year increases in both sales and prices, though, are from fact that both were slightly depressed a year ago when interest rates were high - nearly 5% - and the economy was more shaky.”
With lower mortgage rates, home sales in the D-FW area have risen significantly this summer and early fall. Home sales were almost 33% higher year-over-year in Kaufman County in October. Sales increased more than 21% in Rockwall County, and Denton County saw a 19.5% rise in the number of homes purchased compared with a year ago. The largest number of sales was in Tarrant County, where the availability of more affordable homes has helped increase purchases.
The rise in sales this year has reduced inventories of homes on the market in North Texas — especially properties with moderate and low price tags. Buyers also have been willing to pay a little more thanks to reduced borrowing costs, which adds to overall price appreciation...
