Dallas-Fort Worth Is Seeing One of the Nation's Biggest Declines in Homes for Sale
You don’t have to tell homebuyers that there’s a shortage of houses for sale. But a new report by Realtor.com shows just how tight it is in Dallas-Fort Worth’s home market. D-FW had one of the largest percentage declines in the nation in homes listed for sale with real estate agents, according to a February study by Realtor.com. The home marketing firm looked at listing inventories, changes in asking prices and the time it takes to sell a property in markets across the country.
D-FW ranked fifth among major markets for the biggest decline in homes listed for sale in the last year. Active property listings in the area are down more than 64% from February 2020. Austin had the biggest decline in home inventories — down almost 74% year-over-year. Nationwide, there were 50% fewer houses on the market at the start of this month compared to a year earlier.
Texas’ recent unseasonably cold weather, ice and snow slowed the flow of new listings to the market, Realtor.com researchers say. “Last month’s record cold and snowstorms likely caused sellers to hit pause, even if only temporarily,” Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale said in the report. “However, in today’s inventory-starved market, any setback is significant. Unless we see some big improvements in the new listings trends over the coming months, buyers can expect stiff competition,” she said. “And unlike last spring, buyers may also face affordability challenges as home prices and mortgage rates increase. Market dynamics continue to favor sellers.”
Realtor.com estimates there are 200,000 home sales listings missing from the market. Competition for properties has lit a fire under prices.
Sellers in February hiked their asking prices by almost 14% nationwide compared with February 2020 median costs, according to Realtor.com. In D-FW, median listing prices are up about 10% year-over-year to $373,267. That’s higher than Realtor.com’s nationwide $353,000 median listing price. By comparison, median home asking prices in Austin are up a whopping 37.2% from last year. List prices are up about 8% in San Antonio and are 11.3% higher in Houston.
Homes are selling almost twice as fast in D-FW — averaging a sale in 37 days compared with 70 days nationwide...
