Dallas Home Price Growth Strongest in Two Years
Boosted by a boom in sales, Dallas-area home prices are up by the greatest amount in more than two years in a nationwide comparison. Dallas prices rose 4.2% year-over-year in the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index. Nationwide, home prices were 5.7% higher than August 2019 levels.
“Housing prices were strong in August,” Standard & Poor’s Craig J. Lazzara said in the report. "The strength of the housing market was consistent nationally — all 19 cities for which we have August data rose, and all 19 gained more in the 12 months ended in August than they had done in the 12 months ended in July. Prices were strongest in the West and Southeast regions, and comparatively weak in the Midwest and Northeast."
The biggest price gains were in Phoenix (9.9%) and Seattle (8.5%).
Dallas' home prices have gained steam in recent months as homebuyers rushed to take advantage of record-low mortgage rates. Median home sales prices in North Texas in September were 10% higher than a year earlier, according to data from local real estate agents. Home sales in the area were 27% ahead of a year ago.
The rate of home price growth in North Texas has more than doubled since early this year. A shortage of houses for sale has contributed to the spike in prices. Dallas-area home prices have risen more than 80% since the worst of the Great Recession in 2009, according to Case-Shiller.
Case-Shiller’s index tracks over time the prices of specific single-family homes in each metropolitan area. The index survey does not include condominiums and townhouses and only covers pre-owned properties. In recent months, the housing market has shrugged off the economic impact of the recession and set records for North Texas sales and prices. Nationwide, home sales were up 21% from a year ago in the latest survey by the National Association of Realtors.
“A forgone spring home-buying season appears to have fully shifted into summer months, leading to sales volumes that are picking up speed at a time when they would normally show signs of slowing,” CoreLogic deputy chief economist Selma Hepp said in an email. “Current home price growth is exceptionally strong given that the U.S. is an economic recession, but it is the historically low inventories and record-low mortgage rates that are outweighing economic and employment headwinds and fueling the price acceleration.”
The inventory of homes for sale in North Texas is almost half of what it was a year ago, as many potential sellers are sitting out the pandemic...
