Homebuyers Scramble to Find Houses For Sale
Homebuyers still can’t catch a break when it comes to housing supply. The number of Dallas-Fort Worth homes listed for sale is down almost 40% year over year on Realtor.com, the country’s top home marketing site. Nationwide total home listings are 35% below where they were at the end of July 2019.
Record low mortgage rates have fueled a run on the housing market, even with the pandemic.
“Real estate activity in the U.S. has regained its strength and continues on an upward trajectory as we enter the middle of the summer,” Javier Vivas, director of economic research for Realtor.com, said in the latest report. “However, a sustained seller comeback still hinges on back-to-school plans and extended lockdowns. The housing market will need to remain above pre-COVID levels for at least another 10 weeks to make up for the lost activity in the second quarter of the year,” he said. “As we head into fall, an anticipated resurgence in COVID cases and economic aftershocks are likely to create an uphill battle for home buyers and sellers.”
Home sales by real estate agents in North Texas were down 2% in the first half of 2020, even with a 16% June jump in sales.
Realtor.com reports that median home listings prices in the D-FW area are up almost 3% from a year ago after being down slightly at the start of the pandemic. Nationwide median home listing prices are up by more than 9% year over year on the popular home sales website.
Because of the pandemic, many home sellers have opted to keep their properties off the market this year. That has created a shortage of homes for sale — particularly in the more affordable part of the market, houses priced below $300,000, in D-FW. Home inventories in North Texas were historically tight before the pandemic. Unless more homes hit the market, economists expect prices in North Texas will continue to rise through the rest of 2020, even with the COVID-19 caused recession...
