Dallas-Fort Worth home prices rose 2.8 percent in November compared to a year ago. The increase was slightly less than the national average of 3.5 percent, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, released Tuesday.
Real estate agents in North Texas sold a record of 108,489 single-family homes last year.
Michael Coburn, broker/owner of RE/MAX Town & Country in Allen, said the Case-Shiller report loosely reflects what he’s seen happening in the Collin County housing market.
He said his office sold 17 percent more houses last year than in 2018.
The average sales price for the office rose 0.5 percent over 2019 to $317,698, and in Collin County overall, the average sales price went from roughly $332,000 to $338,000.
“I still think what’s happening is the hangover effect,” he said in an interview Tuesday with the Dallas Business Journal. “We had so many people buying so many houses in 2017 and 2018 that sellers could throw anything out on the market at any price and buyers were desperate to get a house, so they were paying it."
"Now the market has slowed down," Coburn said. "The giant demand from buyers that was pent up has decreased. Now you’re seeing houses stay on the market longer.”
In 2019, houses stayed on the market for an average of 61 days, which is 10 more days than in 2018, Coburn said.
Nationally, Phoenix, Charlotte, and Tampa reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in the Case-Shiller report. In November, Phoenix posted a 5.9 percent year-over-year price increase, followed by Charlotte with a 5.2 percent increase and Tampa with a 5.0 percent increase. On the low end, prices rose just 0.5 percent in San Francisco and 0.8 percent in New York City.
Nationwide, home prices are now 59 percent above the trough reached in February 2012, and 15 percent above their pre-financial crisis peak, said Craig J. Lazzara, managing director and global head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Even though there is less inventory on the market, prospective buyers in North Texas are being more selective than they were in 2016, 2017 and the first part of 2018, Coburn said.
“The market has shifted from where the sellers had the power to more of a flat market, “ he said, “and if your house isn’t fixed up, it’s more of a buyer’s market.”
As home prices continue to rise, albeit, at a slower pace, more buyers are heading further away from downtown Dallas and the established suburbs for places such as Melissa, Anna, and Bonham, Coburn said.
With low mortgage rates and a steady stream of people moving to North Texas, Coburn doesn’t foresee housing prices declining in North Texas.
“It’s still a great time to buy,” he said. “I don’t see the market slowing up anytime soon, interest rates are still at all-time lows, and this market is going to continue to increase because we’re seeing so much population (growth) here. If you don’t buy now, it’s like, ‘When?’”
