As temperatures drop all across North Texas, home sales continue to rise in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. With the DFW area's job market booming, more and more people are moving to the area. Finding affordable housing is becoming increasingly more competitive but are we in a housing bubble? Market analysts admit being nervous about the pace of statewide price increases, with Dr. Jim Gaines, chief economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University admitting to the Dallas Morning News, “It’s getting scary.”
According to North Texas Real Estate Information Systems (NTREIS) closed home sales for September of 2015 reached 8,814 units sold, a 3.8% increase when compared to last year. Additionally new listings climbed to 11,081 a 12.2% increase.
“Dallas-Fort Worth is just going gangbusters,” said Gaines. “We’ve never seen this kind of imbalance between home supply and demand.” Gaines told the Dallas Morning News that cutbacks in the state’s oil and gas industry and even the prospect of higher mortgage rates next year might not be enough to cool North Texas home sales and prices.
September saw another decline in the inventory of homes for sale dropping to 25,924 units, an 11.4% decrease from this time last year. The average days on the market was 40 days, which is actually one day more than the previous two months, but a 32.2% decrease over 2014.
“Logic would tell you the market would run out of steam at some point,” Gaines said. “But that isn’t happening as long as so many jobs keep being created.”
The median home price averaged $200,900, which is a 4.1% decline from August, but still an 8.6% increase when comparing year over last. The decline is indicative of the usual seasonal drop-off that is seen around the fourth quarter.
“People ask me if there is a housing bubble in Dallas, but I don’t think so,” said Gaines. Even with home prices in the DFW area at record levels, the prices remain affordable to the many people moving to North Texas with large companies who are building new office centers in the area.
Toyota Motor Corp. from Southern California and Liberty Mutual from Boston are just two examples of the mass relocation. Compared to their previous markets, housing is still very affordable here. “Price levels in the D-FW area compared to other major metro areas in the country are not all that high,” Gaines said. “You have people coming with a lot of money from higher-cost areas.”
Another positive side of this high demand for homes in the area is it has led to a large number of sellers receiving asking price on their homes (96.6% to be exact). With the continued job market increases in the city and the strong potential for business growth, the housing market in DFW has been experiencing a balanced and secure increase in profitability and looks to continue that way.
September 2015 Quick Stats:
8,814 – Total Closed Home Sales
25,924 – Inventory of Homes for Sale
$200,900 – Median Home Price
39 – Days on The Market
161 – Housing Affordability Rank
