DALLAS — Read this story and more North Texas business news from our partners at the Dallas Business Journal.
New home sales in North Texas climbed to a three-year high last month, average new home prices rebounded and pending sales were essentially flat.
The three-month moving average of new home sales in Dallas-Fort Worth for May was 2,191, up from 2,078 new homes sold in April. The three-month moving average of local pending new home sales in May was 2,706 vs. 2,713 in April, according to Dallas-based HomesUSA.com’s New Home Sales Report.
New homes sold for an average price of $492,762 in May — up almost $5,000 from the $487,799 average in April, the three-month moving average showed.
Seasonality and a healthy DFW economy helped push sales higher, with increasing supply helping to create a more balanced market, said Ben Caballero, CEO of HomesUSA.com and author of the report.
“New home sales set a three-year high in the Dallas-Fort Worth area last month and continue to impress, due to builders’ resilience and our robust local economy,” Caballero said. “Builders in Dallas are benefiting from continued high demand, as evidenced by rising new home prices.”
A mixed bag for building permits
Building permits for new single-family homes ticked up a tad in May in many of the suburbs north of Dallas, but remain below the number issued year-to-date in 2023 vs. 2022 in most areas, according to survey data compiled by Addison-based Tomlin Investments, which tracks new-home construction.
In Celina, permits for new homes rose to 295 in May from 250 in April. Year-to-date permits stand at 1,080 compared to 887 issued in the first five months of last year, a 22% increase.
In Frisco, however, home building permits are down 39% year-to-date. Some 456 permits have been issued in the first five months of the year, down from 745 in the same timeframe last year. And only 72 permits were issued in Frisco in May compared to 113 in April.
Home permits issued in Prosper rose to 69 in May from 52 in April. Year-to-date permits stand at 335, down 29% from the 469 issued in the same period last year.
Permits in Little Elm have slumped even more this year. They’re down 47% year-to-date, at 279, compared to 529 in the first five months of 2022. Little Elm’s building department issued 56 permits in May and 52 in April.
In Princeton, YTD permits are essentially flat at 576 this year compared to 583 in the first five months of last year. Permits issued in May dropped to 122 from 131 in April.
Permits in McKinney total 523 YTD, down 15% from 614 permits in the same period last year. Some 139 were issued in May vs. 123 in April.
The city of Anna is down for the year, too, with 476 permits YTD compared to 404 in the January through May timeframe of last year.
Denton is down similarly, with 411 new-home construction permits this year vs. 525 in the same timeframe in 2022.
Time on market peaking
Returning to the HomesUSA report, Caballero noted that in Texas’ top four markets, the three-month moving average new home price last month was $460,850 vs. $451,868 in April.
The average number of days to sell a new home in DFW increased in May to 119.8 days from 117.5 days in April.
However, time on the market may be peaking as builders and consumers adjust to increased interest rates that began in April 2022, Caballero said.
“The three-month moving average for Dallas-Fort Worth active listings is decreasing, Houston and San Antonio are slightly lower, and Austin appears to be topping,” Caballero said.
The HomesUSA.com monthly report is based on closed sales recorded inside the Multiple Listing Services’ Caballero surveys by the 10th day of the following month. Sales reported late by agents are not included.
Existing home sales slowing
In the existing home market, as opposed to new homes, sales are slowing are slowing and prices have dropped when compared to where they were a year ago.
Dallas-Forth Worth ranked fourth in the U.S. for the largest increase in days on market in May, with the average home selling in 37 days, up from 15 days last year, according to the latest report from residential real estate firm Re/Max. That’s an increase of 141.8% year over year.
Tampa, Fla., posted the highest year-over-year percentage increase in days on market, at 219.6%, followed by Orlando at 193.3%, and Phoenix at 143.2%.
The median home sale prices in DFW were down 4.5% in May compared to a year ago, according to the Re/Max National Housing Report. The median price of DFW homes sold in May was $402,000 compared to $427,881 in May 2022.
The median of all 51 metro area sales prices that Re/Max surveys were $423,000, down 1.9% from May 2022. The markets with the biggest year-over-year decrease in median sales price were San Francisco, down 10.7%; Las Vegas, Nev., down 10%; and Phoenix, down 8.9%.
Sales volume also dropped in Dallas-Fort Worth year over year. A total of 9,336 homes were sold in May 2023, which is 4.6% fewer than the 9,789 homes sold in May 2022. On the other hand, May home sales in DFW rose 18.7% over April’s sales of 7,865 homes.
