DFW residential real estate » Housing market news

2017 Dallas Housing Market News

DEEP IN THE WEEDS. Comparing Best Dallas Suburbs Rankings Published By Internet Websites.
One way I confirm the validity of the analyses shown on this website is to visit other websites that publish similar analyses. This best Dallas suburbs rankings comparison has provided me some significant insights about how other analysts view DFW residential real estate and I thought it also might be of interest to some of the site's more analytically inclined visitors. Seeing the search results also speaks volumes about how Google, Bing/Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, et.al. do their searches for this topic and the audiences they target.
Permalink • Posted on Thursday, October 26th, 2017 at 4:45 p.m. by H. David Ballinger

Hmm. U.S. New Home Sales Race To Nearly 10-Year High In September.
Permalink • Posted on Wednesday, October 25th, 2017 at 12:22 p.m. by H. David Ballinger

SCHOOL PAGES UPDATED … AND MORE
To some extent, the recent lack of posts on this DFW market news page has been because there seems to have been little or no meaningful change in DFW residential real estate market conditions during the past several months (see previous post). The other reason is that much of my time has lately been devoted to the annual update of pages on hdavidballinger.com about Dallas area schools, e.g., Best School Districts In Dallas Fort Worth, Best Dallas High Schools, etc. Additionally, a new web page, Dallas Suburbs With Best Schools, has been created to report on the performance of local public schools in 116 Dallas suburbs. Several people recently have asked me how the best schools and best school districts in the metroplex compare to the best schools and best school districts in Texas. To answer these questions, five other new school-related pages have been added to the site -- Best Public Schools In Texas, Best School Districts In Texas, Best Texas High Schools, Best Texas Middle Schools and Best Texas Elementary Schools I hope you find both the updates and the new pages useful.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, October 17th, 2017 at 9:32 a.m. by H. David Ballinger

YEP. AGAIN. DFW home market has probably peaked.
	Dallas Morning News, October 13, 2017 (excerpts). In case you missed it, the North Texas housing market has turned a corner. In the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Index -- one of the most closely watched housing value measures -- Dallas-area price increases were at the slowest pace since mid 2014.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, October 17th, 2017 at 8:53 a.m. by H. David Ballinger

DFW GROWTH NATIONAL NEWS: U.S. Counties With Strongest Economic Growth.
	*CBS News, August 4, 2017.* America's cities have earned a reputation for drawing young workers and retirees, eager for short commutes and cosmopolitan life, but the suburbs may be ready for their prime time. Examining county-level data can help identify trends about growth and economic diversification, said Matthew Mowell, senior economist at Oxford Economics, which started forecasting county-level economic growth earlier this year. Six out of the nine counties forecast to have the strongest economic growth over the next five years are suburban. Two are considered core counties, or urban, while one is exurban. [The top two counties are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.] Denton County is forecast to experience the strongest economic growth over the next five years, at 4.1 percent. Home to parts of Dallas and Fort Worth, the county is experiencing population and economic growth, although on a smaller base than some of country's other top-growing regions. Collin County, Texas, [also] in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, is projected to enjoy 4 percent compound annual growth rate over the next five years. The county's economic base is expanding beyond traditional suburban industries like retail and into technology and professional services, Mowell said.
Permalink • Posted on Friday, August 11th, 2017 at 1:54 p.m. by H. David Ballinger

NEW HOME BUYERS HEADS UP: Texas Home Builders Feel Effects Of Immigrant Crackdown.
	President Trump's tough stance on immigration may be having an unintended consequence -- higher housing costs. That's because builders say it's getting harder and harder for them to find workers, especially in places that rely on immigrant labor. The [high demand for houses] problem is compounded in hot real estate markets where more and more housing projects are finding fewer and fewer workers. In places like North Texas, recently, it's been a triple whammy. Ted Wilson with Residential Strategies, Inc. has run the numbers. "We've seen direct construction costs climb by over 30 percent," Wilson said, "and a lot of that is directly attributed to what builders are having to pay their subs and trades in wages." Wilson [also] said companies have had to get by with fewer workers, so in addition to paying more for a house, you'll likely have to wait longer for it to get built. "Instead of 12 guys coming out to frame your house, you get four guys," he said. That sort of shortage can add a month or two to the time it takes to build a home.
Permalink • Posted on Friday, August 11th, 2017 at 1:45 p.m. by H. David Ballinger

U.S. New Home Sales Rise For Second Straight Month, Dire Shortage Of Properties Obstacle To Robust Housing Market Recovery.
Key takeaways: [new home sales] less than half of sales volume at peak of housing market bubble in 2005 ... builders struggling to keep up amid rising lumber costs and shortages of labor and land ... with homebuilder confidence dropping to an eight-month low in July, supply of houses unlikely to improve. Read the whole thing. Pretty similar to Dallas housing market conditions.
Permalink • Posted on Monday, July 25th, 2017 at 10:34 a.m. by H. David Ballinger

YEP. U.S. Existing Home Sales Drop As Prices Hit Record High.
Permalink • Posted on Monday, July 24th, 2017 at 10:38 a.m. by H. David Ballinger

APPARENTLY IT'S NOT JUST CORPORATE RELOCATIONS PUMPING UP DEMAND FOR DALLAS HOUSES
	Flippers, investors and builders bought more than a third of Dallas homes in 2016, Dallas Morning News, July 13, 2017 Almost 40 percent of the homes sold in the Dallas area last year didn't go to owner occupants. "That's the highest share of purchases going to non-occupants in Dallas since 2000," said Daren Blomquist, economist with Attom Data. "The long-term average for the city of Dallas is about 25 percent, and this was way above that average."
	Foreigners Snap Up Record Number Of U.S. Homes, CNBC, July 18, 2017 Half of all foreign sales were in just three states: Florida, California and Texas.
Permalink • Posted on Wednesday, July 18th, 2017 at 11:13 am by H. David Ballinger

You Think D-FW Apartment Rents Are Too High? SEE PREVIOUS POST.
	Dallas Morning News, July 6, 2017 (excerpts). Dallas-Fort Worth apartment renters who've been pining for a slowdown in rent increases are going to have to keep waiting. With more than 50,000 apartments under construction in the D-FW area, industry analysts have been forecasting for over a year that tenants wouldn't be getting smacked as hard with rent rises. But with net leasing of apartments still outpacing new project openings, apartment owners aren't shy about asking for higher rents. Despite near-record building activity, apartment landlords continue to dial up monthly rents in the area. During the second quarter, average D-FW apartment rents hit a new high of $1,082 a month, according to the latest data from Richardson-based RealPage. That's a whopping 50 percent more than apartment renters had to fork out to keep a roof over their heads 10 years ago. In North Texas, rents were up more than 5 percent from mid-2016.
Permalink • Posted on Wednesday, July 17th, 2017 at 4:31 pm by H. David Ballinger

ROCK, MEET HARD PLACE: Too Much, Too Fast: Collin County Feeling Growing Pains.
	Dallas Morning News, July 1, 2017 (excerpts). For years, top civic and elected officials across Collin County have boasted about their top-quality schools, family-friendly communities and vast expanses of open land ripe for development. Their efforts have attracted people in droves. Since 2000, Collin County's population has grown nearly 90 percent. If that pace continues, the county could double its current population before 2035 and exceed the populations of Dallas and Tarrant counties by 2050. Developing all the available land is still decades away. But growing pains are an annoying reality now for many Collin residents, whether they're feeling overrun by high-density developments, struggling with higher property taxes or getting stuck in traffic. Some are speaking out against the boom. In Frisco ISD, one of the fastest growing school districts in the nation, voters rejected a 13-cent property tax rate hike last August to help fund operations. It is believed to be only the second time in history that voters there failed to approve extra financing sought by the district. Community members and district staff spent months figuring out how to make do with the revenue available. Among the tough choices: keeping four new schools closed for a year rather than pay for the added staff to operate them. The district also passed along some costs to parents, such as parking fees for high school drivers and annual fees for athletic participation. To the south of Frisco is a more organized effort against the recent surge in high-density development. Thousands signed a petition to put the city's controversial Plano Tomorrow comprehensive plan to a public vote over concerns about the number of apartments it allowed. When the city rejected that effort, several residents pooled their money and filed suit. That lawsuit is pending. Out of those efforts came a newly formed group called PlanoFuture.org, which backed a slate of three City Council candidates and a mayoral candidate in the May election to keep Plano suburban. Two of them won. The group is not anti-growth, spokesman Allan Samara said. But having a city that feeds into the urban living desires popular with millennials isn't good either. "There's an apartment building bubble going on in America, and we need it moderated in our town," said Samara, who started a business in Plano in 1982 and moved there in 2011. "They put too many apartments in too tight a space in too high a density," Samara said. "We want them to stop."
Permalink • Posted on Wednesday, July 17th, 2017 at 4:01 pm by H. David Ballinger

DOES CORRELATION IMPLY CAUSATION: In this case, it sure seems worth considering.
	One in Three Recent Homebuyers Made an Offer Sight-Unseen — Up from Nearly One in Five a Year Ago, Redfin, June 30, 2017
	Almost Half Of Americans Have Buyer's Remorse About Their House, CNBC, July 17, 2017
Permalink • Posted on Wednesday, July 17th, 2017 at 2:34 pm by H. David Ballinger

THIS JUST MAY BE "THINGS THAT CAN'T GO ON FOREVER, WON'T" NEWS: Dallas Still In Top Three For Home Price Gains. Update 7/17/2107: Probably not there yet.
	Dallas Morning News, June 27, 2017 (excerpts). Seattle, Portland and Dallas are leading the country in home price gains since last spring, with no slowdown in sight. Dallas-area home prices rose 8.4 percent in the latest Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Nationwide, prices in April were 5.5 percent higher from a year earlier. "As home prices continue rising faster than inflation, two questions are being asked: why? And, could this be a bubble?" S&P's David M. Blitzer said in the report. "The question is not if home prices can climb without any limit; they can't. Rather, will home price gains gently slow or will they crash and take the economy down with them? For the moment, conditions appear favorable for avoiding a crash."
This is what was happening in April. The vibe I'm picking up more recently is that buyer push-back on ever increasing home prices is growing.
Permalink • Posted on Wednesday, June 29th, 2017 at 12:34 pm by H. David Ballinger

CAN'T BUY WHAT'S NOT AVAILABLE, NO MATTER THE INTEREST RATE: Listings Down 8.4 Percent Over Past 12 Months.
	Long-term U.S. mortgage rates were unchanged to lower this week, as the benchmark 30-year rate reached a new low for the year. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.88 percent, down from 3.90 percent last week. The rate stood at 3.48 percent a year ago and averaged a record low 3.65 percent in 2016. At the same time, would-be home buyers are facing higher prices and fewer options. Sales listings have plunged 8.4 percent over the past 12 months to 1.96 million. The median sales price in May rose 5.8 percent from a year ago to $252,800. Data issued Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors showed that Americans signed fewer contracts to buy homes in May, the third straight monthly decline and evidence that a shortage of homes for sale has suppressed purchases.
Permalink • Posted on Wednesday, June 29th, 2017 at 11:41 am by H. David Ballinger

Homebuilder Confidence Slips Despite Strong Demand For New Homes. Most important news probably in final paragraph.
	Sales of newly built homes fell dramatically in April, the latest reading from the U.S. Census, down 11 percent for the month. Higher prices for new construction are getting in the way of strong demand, especially at the entry level.
Permalink • Posted on Wednesday, June 21st, 2017 at 3:27 pm by H. David Ballinger

SAME SONG, SECOND VERSE: Collin County Suburbs Vie For Fastest U. S. Growth.
	Dallas Morning News, May 25, 2017. Once again, Texas’ sprawling suburbs dominate the U.S. Census Bureau’s list of the 10 fastest-growing large cities in the country. Between 2015 and 2016, Conroe — a Montgomery County suburb just past The Woodlands on Interstate 45 north of Houston — grew 7.8 percent, more than any city with more than 50,000 residents, data released this week shows. Coming in second and third on the list of fastest-growing cities: None other than Frisco, which grew 6.2 percent, and McKinney, posting a 5.9 percent gain — though McKinney added more residents. New Braunfels, northeast of San Antonio, and Georgetown, a northern suburb of Austin, are on the list, but dropped from their top positions the previous year. The only other state to have more than one city on the list was Florida. “It’s kind of more of the same with suburban growth, and growth in that Texas Triangle,” said Mike Cline, a demographer with the Hobby Center for the Study of Texas at Rice University. Texas’ biggest cities added more residents in total, even if that represented a smaller percentage growth. San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and Austin were all among the nation’s 10 cities that added the most people from 2015 to 2016.
Permalink • Posted on Thursday, May 25th, 2017 at 3:01 pm by H. David Ballinger

IT'S PROBABLY NOT A BUBBLE WHEN DEMAND IS OUTSTRIPPING SUPPLY: Think Home Prices Are High Now? Why They're Likely to Keep Going Up. The question now in the Dallas area is just how high home prices will go before other market forces begin to dampen demand.
	"Prices are increasing faster than we expected them to because of the continual shortage of new homes coming onto the market," says Senior Economist Joseph Kirchner of realtor.com. "People that had been holding back on buying a home ... now have good, steady jobs and are less worried about losing their jobs and hence are going into the housing market."
But with Dallas median home prices at $236,500 and both a shortage of available properties and continuing population growth, there appears to be room for additional housing price increases. Home buyers relocating from California in particular are likely to think Dallas area housing is a bargain.
	Overall, the West was also the most expensive housing region. The median price for an existing single-family home was $342,500 in the first quarter of the year. Homes weren't cheap in the Northeast either, at a median $255,000. Four of the five most expensive markets were in California. Silicon Valley's San Jose took the lead, as the median existing single-family home came with a $1,070,000 price tag. The metro was followed by San Francisco, at $815,000; Anaheim, CA, at $750,000; Honolulu, at $746,000; and San Diego, at $564,000.
Permalink • Posted on Thursday, May 17th, 2017 at 9:52 pm by H. David Ballinger

USUALLY, THIS IS GOOD NEWS FOR HOME BUYERS: Builder Confidence Continues on Upward Trend. Unfortunately, actual home starts do not always keep pace with increases in the NAHB index.
	In a further sign that the housing market continues to strengthen, builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose two points in May to a level of 70 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This is the second highest HMI reading since the downturn. Any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor. Two of the three HMI components registered gains in May. The index charting sales expectations in the next six months jumped four points to 79 while the index gauging current sales conditions increased two points to 76. Meanwhile, the component measuring buyer traffic edged one point down to 51. The three-month moving averages for HMI scores posted gains in three out of the four regions. The Northeast and South each registered three-point gains to 49 and 71, respectively, while the West rose one point to 78. The Midwest was unchanged at 68.
Permalink • Posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2017 at 12:46 pm by H. David Ballinger

PRETTY EASY TO SEE THIS COMING: DFW Home Prices Top National Median.
	Dallas Morning News, May 15, 2017 (excerpts). D-FW median home sales prices were 12.6 percent higher than in 2016, according to the National Association of Realtors quarterly home price survey. Nationwide median home prices were up 6.9 percent from a year ago to $232,100. The D-FW area for the first time surpassed the rest of the nation with a $236,500 median home sales price.
Permalink • Posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2017 at 11:57 am by H. David Ballinger

ONE OF SEVERAL REASONS DFW HOME PRICES KEEP GOING UP: Average U.S. 30-Year Mortgage Rate Edges Down.
	Fox Business News, May 4, 2017. Long-term U.S. mortgage rates barely moved this week after rising last week for the first time in five weeks. The benchmark 30-year rate remained above the key threshold of 4 percent. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate home loans ticked down to 4.02 percent from 4.03 percent last week. The rate stood at 3.66 percent a year ago and averaged 3.65 percent in 2016, the lowest level in records dating to 1971.
Permalink • Posted on Thursday, May 4th, 2017 at 10:52 am by H. David Ballinger

STEIN'S LAW: THINGS THAT CAN'T GO ON FOREVER WON'T. Looking For A Bargain On Housing? Dallas Isn't The Place Anymore.
	Dallas Morning News, April 27, 2017. Buying a home in Dallas isn’t a bargain anymore, not like it used to be. For decades, this region’s low cost of living has attracted families and employers from around the country, helping the economy weather the booms and busts of the oil business. Now that competitive advantage is eroding in a big way. Since 2010, the median price for new and existing homes sold in the Dallas area has soared 77 percent. Over the same time, median incomes are up about 4 percent. As a result, buying a home in Dallas is beyond the reach of many, according to [this NAHB] measure of affordability. In 2010, almost 80 percent of homes sold in Dallas were affordable to families earning the median income. By late 2016, just 50 percent were affordable. That's Dallas' lowest score since 1991, when the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index was launched. Dallas is still much cheaper than Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. But on housing affordability alone, Dallas trails Chicago, Atlanta, Phoenix, Denver and most other rival metros.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, May 2nd, 2017 at 3:12 pm by H. David Ballinger

WHAT CAN YOU SAY: Home Price Discounts in Texas Housing Markets. They are especially low in DFW area.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, May 2nd, 2017 at 2:49 pm by H. David Ballinger

NAT MALKUS: Why The U.S. News Best High School Rankings Are Flawed. The part about their rankings not being based on apples-to-apples comparisons seems right.
When it comes to school rankings, two very large performance measurement/reporting issues need to be balanced: 1) performance improvement vs. performance results, and 2) information needs of teachers and administrators vs. information needs of parents and students, which admittedly is not easy to do. It seems that generally home buyers are mostly concerned about whether the local schools are preparing their children to successfully compete at a college level. This is what the Texas Education Agency accountability rating approach mostly failed to show in the past and is the information I endeavor to provide in my annual best DFW high schools analyses.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, May 2nd, 2017 at 1:39 pm by H. David Ballinger

SUPPLY SIDE ECONOMICS WRIT LARGE: One Reason For Dallas’ Soaring Home Prices: Immigrants Aren’t Coming To Work. It's just one of the factors, however, that is causing the DFW housing market to be so fluid and complex.
	Dallas Morning News, April 24, 2017. Dallas home prices are climbing rapidly, and homebuilders are complaining about labor shortages and soaring wages for construction workers. But something else makes this housing boom different from others: Immigrants aren’t riding to the rescue. For decades, Mexicans and other foreign-born workers have been coming to Texas to build homes, apartments and office towers. By one estimate, they fill almost half the construction jobs in the state, which is about twice as many as in the rest of the nation. That total includes legal and unauthorized immigrants. In the construction industry, both groups are roughly the same size in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center. Texas has been a job magnet for immigrants because of close ties with Mexico and the amount of work available. But the flow of people has slowed significantly – first, as a result of the housing bust and deep recession, and more recently with the focus on immigration laws and border security. “We’ve been very reliant on these workers since the late ‘70s,” said Pia Orrenius, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. “But the age of cheap labor in the U.S. is over.” It’s not just the anti-immigrant stance pushed by lawmakers and President Donald Trump. After the recession, Mexico’s economy recovered faster so many Mexicans who had left never came back. The demographics in Mexico also have changed, with more dual-earning households and fewer young people. Since the recession, more Mexicans have departed the U.S. than have moved to this country, Pew reported. In the Dallas area, just over 81,000 worked in the construction trades in February, according to government data. To fill current demand in the business, the industry needs up to 99,000 workers – not years in the future, right now.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, April 26th, 2017 at 10:05 am by H. David Ballinger

STORM CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON? Soaring Home Prices May Hurt Texas' Competitive Advantage, Says Dallas Fed.
	Soaring home prices and a tight supply of starter homes have eroded Texas’ cost-of-living advantage, according to the latest issue of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ Southwest Economy. “Since the housing recovery began in 2011, Texas has seen unprecedented home price appreciation with home price gains here outpacing those nationally,” said Dallas Fed economist Laila Assanie in a video accompanying the report’s release. “This run-up in home prices is unusual for Texas, where construction tends to respond quickly to an increase in demand because of the state’s vast supply of flat land and relatively few building regulations versus other large states.” Housing affordability has also declined, Assanie writes in “Texas Housing Market Soars to New Highs, Pricing Out Many.” While Texas’ nominal median existing-home sales price rose 34 percent from 2010 to 2015, median income only increased 14 percent. In addition, the supply of starter homes—those priced below $250,000—shrank considerably between 2011 and 2016. “Declining housing affordability in the state has eroded the cost-of-living advantage, calling into question whether Texas can maintain its long-term economic and population growth that has often led the nation,” Assanie said.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, April 21st, 2017 at 10:03 am by H. David Ballinger

DALLAS SUBURBS JOB GROWTH NOT JUST IN PLANO AND FRISCO
	Health care giant McKesson looks to add almost 1,000 employees. One of North Texas’ largest job imports this year, health-care giant McKesson, will formally open the doors to its new Irving campus [on April 6] with plans to bring nearly 1,000 jobs to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The U.S. pharmaceutical distributor is one of the largest announced corporate moves to North Texas, along with other giants like State Farm with 8,000 workers, JP Morgan Chase with 6,000 workers and Toyota with 5,000 workers. McKesson’s new campus has capacity for about 2,400 people. Kubota moves headquarters to Texas. Kubota Tractor Corporation unveiled its new North American headquarters building in Grapevine, Texas, [on April 8th] in a special ribbon cutting ceremony with Governor Greg Abbott, Masatoshi Kimata, President and Representative Director of the Kubota Group, along with State and local officials and supporters from the Grapevine community who all helped to usher in a new era for the company. Kubota has invested more than $50 million in the three-story, environmentally-friendly office building, which totals 193,000 square feet, and includes an onsite research and development facility.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, April 21st, 2017 at 9:47 am by H. David Ballinger

YEP. Home Starts In Dallas Fort Worth Topped 30,000 In the First Quarter Of 2017. Most since fourth quarter 2007.
	Dallas Morning News, April 10, 2017 (excerpts). During the [three] months ending with March, Dallas-Fort Worth homebuilders started more than 30,500 houses. First quarter home starts were up 16 percent from the same period in 2016. With builders trying to shift their production to more affordable houses, the median price of new homes being built in D-FW actually declined slightly in the first quarter. "In the fourth quarter it was $350,000 and now it’s down to $343,000," [said Ted Wilson, principal with Dallas-based housing analyst Residential Strategies.]
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, April 12th, 2017 at 9:20 am by H. David Ballinger

WOW!! DFW Economy Creates 119,000 New Jobs.
According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 119,000 new jobs were added in the Dallas-Fort Worth area during the 12-month period ending in February. This was second only to the New York City metro area, which saw total employment gains of nearly 131,000 new jobs during the year. New jobs created in DFW also outpaced job growth in the rest of Texas and all but three other states – California, Florida and New York.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, April 12th, 2017 at 8:55 am by H. David Ballinger

DESPITE PRICE INCREASES: Forbes Picks Dallas As 2017 Top U.S. PlaceTo invest In Housing. Fort Worth Places 9th.
	Prices [in Dallas] are expected to grow the most of any [top 20] list city. Informing that forecast is 6.2% three-year population growth, 3.9% job gains last year and 9% annual home price gains. Homes in Dallas are also undervalued compared historic averages and local income. Home prices gained 9% in Forth Worth last year. Job growth was 2.3%. The population in the second of three Texas markets to make the list grew 5.2% from 2012 to 2015.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, April 11th, 2017 at 8:43 am by H. David Ballinger

IT'S NOT JUST AN ISSUE IN DALLAS: Buying a Home Will Be Harder Than Ever This Spring.
	Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2017. This year’s spring selling season promises to be the toughest for [U.S. home] buyers in a decade, economists say, as rising prices and mortgage rates combine with inventory near 20-year lows.
My analysis shows that the supply of homes in the north Dallas suburban area actually has increased slightly each year since 2014. In February 2013, there was about a 2.9 months supply of homes listed for sale. By February 2014, MLS-listed homes for sale had fallen to about 1.8 months supply. As noted in a previous post, this area currently has a 2.2 months supply of homes for sale. A 2.2 months supply of available homes, of course, is only slightly less onerous for home buyers than a 1.8 months supply. This too is still an exceptionally out of balance housing market.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, April 5th, 2017 at 3:04 pm by H. David Ballinger

DFW Housing Market Hotness, According To realtor.com.
DFW ranked 4th Hottest Real Estate Market for March and described as a 'very hot' housing market, but 'cooling down slightly' compared to both February conditions and market conditions a year ago.
Permalink • Posted on Wednesday, April 5th, 2017 at 2:09 pm by H. David Ballinger

EXCELLENT: Consumer Confidence Index Up Sharply In March. Exactly what builders want to see when deciding to build more inventory homes.
	The Conference Board, March 28, 2017. Consumer confidence increased sharply in March to its highest level since December 2000. Consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions improved considerably. Consumers also expressed much greater optimism regarding the short-term outlook for business, jobs and personal income prospects.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, March 29th, 2017 at 8:40 am by H. David Ballinger

SOME OF WHAT IS CAUSING SUCH STRONG HOUSING DEMAND IN THE NORTH DALLAS AREA: Frisco’s $5 Billion Mile. PLUS: Plano's $3 Billion Legacy West Project.
It seems almost certain that Allen, Celina, Frisco, McKinney, Melissa, Plano, Prosper, et al. home prices will continue to rise. Not only are these north Dallas suburbs near where much commercial development is occuring, they are ranked among DFW's best places to live.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2017 at 9:39 am by H. David Ballinger

NORTH DALLAS SUBURBS MARKET CONDITIONS STRONGLY FAVOR SELLERS
The north Dallas suburbs listed below experienced a 6.0 percent overall annual increase in the number of previously occupied, single-family homes sold during February. During the same month last year, 467 such homes were sold. This year, sales of 495 homes have been reported. On average, about 1,112 previously occupied homes were listed for sale. It would require 2.2 months to sell this number of homes if they sold at the rate home sale transactions closed during February. For the past three months, average home prices were up 5.5 percent from a year ago. Similar market updates for these north Dallas cities/towns are available by clicking on these Argyle area, Colleyville, Coppell, Flower Mound, Frisco, Grapevine,Highland Village, Keller, Prosper, Southlake, Trophy Club, west Plano and Westlake page links.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2017 at 11:36 am by H. David Ballinger

PARK CITIES/NORTH DALLAS HOME SELLERS CURRENTLY HAVE SOMEWHAT THE STRONGER MARKET POSITION
During February, the park cities/north Dallas area had a 4.2 months supply of homes available for sale. The supply of homes for sale in the park cities was basically balanced at 5.5 months and in the north Dallas area it was 3.8 months. Home sales for the area were up 6.0 percent from a year ago. The prices paid for homes sold during the past three months were on average 7.0 percent higher than prices of similar homes sold a year ago. More in-depth park cities/north Dallas market updates are available on these Highland Park, University Park and north Dallas pages.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2017 at 11:34 am by H. David Ballinger

WELCOME DEVELOPMENT: US 380 To Become ‘Major Artery’ Into Frisco. Actually, 380 lies along the northern border of Frisco.
	Community Impact Newspaper, March 7, 2017. US 380 remains congested as a 20-mile construction project to widen the roadway from Loop 288 in Denton to Custer Road continues. But officials say the end result will support the growing development along the corridor and provide better access to the major north/south roadways in Frisco.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2017 at 1:31 pm by H. David Ballinger

NEW HOUSING CONSTRUCTION TO FOLLOW: Collin County Population Projected To Double By 2030.
Even if these projections are off by half, expected population growth likely to cause dramatic increases in home construction in Frisco, Prosper, Celina and Melissa. Flower Mound and the Argyle area (in Denton County) and Southlake and Westlake (in Tarrant County) probably also will see substantial housing construction. These are the closest places to Dallas where there are large tracts of undeveloped land.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, March 22nd, 2017 at 9:15 am by H. David Ballinger

UNLIKELY TO DAMPEN HOME BUYING: Fed Hikes Rates, But Mortgage Rate Increase Not Anticipated.
	Inman News, March 17, 2017 (excerpts). The Federal Reserve governors voted last Wednesday to raise interest rates by 0.25 percent, to 0.75 percent to 1.00 percent. [This] "Fed move is already built in to rates for other products (like mortgages)," notes Lou Barnes with Inman News — which seems to be the consensus from other experts, too.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, March 21st, 2017 at 4:28 pm by H. David Ballinger

ANOTHER RECORD: Most DFW Homes Sold Ever In February. Not exactly good news for prospective Dallas area home buyers.
	Dallas Morning News, March 8, 2017. North Texas home sales grew 5 percent in February, with the most houses sold ever in the second month of any year. And median home sales prices in the area were near an all-time high last month at $235,000, up 13 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, March 21st, 2017 at 2:09 pm by H. David Ballinger

MEDIAN HOUSE PRICES UPDATE
Median prices and ages of single-family pre-owned houses sold during 2016 in 130+ Dallas area best neighborhoods described on this site are now available. Similar updates to north Dallas suburbs neighborhoods and park cities/north Dallas neighborhoods pages also posted.
Permalink • Posted on Tuesday, March 21st, 2017 at 12:34 pm by H. David Ballinger

Looking for the best real estate agent to assist you in buying a home in the Dallas suburbs?

If you are looking for a professional, business-savvy buyer's agent, please call 214 725-4011 or send me an email and let's talk about how we can assist you. If you will be traveling from outside the DFW area and want us to show you houses while you are here, please call before finalizing your plans.