Is This Going To Be a Record Year, in a Pandemic?
North Texas' home market started 2020 with higher sales, paused for the pandemic and then took off like a rocket. Home sales are higher this year in most Dallas-area neighborhoods. And prices are up in all but a handful of the residential areas The Dallas Morning News tracks each quarter. Record low mortgage rates and a shortage of houses for sale have created one of the hottest home markets ever seen in Dallas-Fort Worth, even with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s been amazing that the demand has been so strong,” said Dr. James Gaines, chief economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. "Texas and most of our metro areas have not been as hard hit in job layoffs. On through next year, Dallas is going to continue to do well.”
North Texas' home market has made up for all of the time lost during the pandemic lockdown in April and May. Home purchases have increased by double-digit percentage rates in the last few months. The largest home sales gains so far this year have been in Dallas-area neighborhoods, including Oak Lawn (up 50%), Northeast Dallas (20%) and Rockwall (16%), according to data from the Real Estate Center and the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems. Prices have seen the greatest year-over-year gains in Oak Cliff (up 10%), DeSoto (9%) and southern Dallas (9%).
Declines this year in sales in some neighborhoods have mostly to do with a lack of listings. With the number of homes for sale in North Texas down by 50% from 2019 levels, real estate agents say there is a scramble for properties...
