Dallas-Fort Worth resi market had chilly holiday season

Supply in North Texas has peaked, but buyers aren’t biting as much.

In December, the housing supply in North Texas reached its highest level of the year with a three-month supply — a nearly 280 percent increase from year-end 2021, according to the latest Re/Max National Housing Report. Conversely, home sales dropped almost 32 percent compared to 2021, the Dallas Business Journal reports.

Despite a 90-day supply, the average home in Dallas-Fort Worth sat on the market for 56 days in December before selling, which is 23 days longer than in December 2021.

“I have never seen a year like 2022,” says Mark Wolfe, president and owner of Re/Max DFW Associates. “The first five months of 2022 were upbeat, with sales increasing. The last five months were exactly reversed. It has been a see-saw.”

In April, home sales in the region were up 46 percent over the previous year, Wolfe said. By November, sales were down 43 percent compared to the same period in 2021.

Few sellers are lowering their prices to adjust for this wonky supply-and-demand ratio, however. Home sale prices fell 0.7 percent between November and December, however they were still 6.4 percent higher than in December 2021.

“I am hopeful that we are reaching a normal market, rather than a boom or bust market,” Wolfe said.

With a turbulent 2022 behind them, the realtors of Dallas-Fort Worth are optimistic about 2023.

In an economic outlook event in Dallas this week, Chris Kelly, president and CEO of Ebby Halliday Companies, said the Dallas-Fort Worth housing market this year will likely be a mirror image of 2022, starting slowly then accelerating in the second half of the year.

In Zillow’s latest 2023 forecast, Dallas-Fort Worth was the only Texas metro area to make the top 10. The metro ranked fourth behind Charlotte, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. That said, “this year’s hottest markets will feel much chillier than they did a year ago,” Anushna Prakash, economic data analyst at Zillow, said in the report.

“The desire to move hasn’t changed, but both buyers and sellers are frozen in place by higher mortgage rates, slowing the housing market to a crawl,” Prakash said. “Markets that offer relative affordability and room to grow are poised to stand out, especially given the prevalence of remote work.”

— Maddy Sperling