Dallas-Fort Worth housing market remains stable

The Dallas-Fort Worth residential market was relatively even-Steven last month.

Home prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area remained stable from June to July, and they haven’t changed significantly from a year ago, despite interest rate hikes, according to the Dallas Morning News

The median single-family home price in the region remained at $415,000 in July, according to the outlet, citing a report by North Texas Real Estate Information Systems and the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University.

While prices are about $20,000 lower than last summer’s peak and 1 percent lower than the previous July, they are still considerably higher than they were in March 2020 before the pandemic-induced surge in home prices, the outlet reported. 

“Contrary to investors’ fears, the ‘housing bubble’ did not burst,” according to a separate report by Texas A&M cited by the Dallas Morning News.. “Instead, a harmonious decline in both supply and demand has struck a balance, resulting in a boost to the housing median price.”

Despite mortgage rates more than doubling over the past two years, home prices in the DFW have not experienced the anticipated decline due to population growth and strong employment rates, among other things.

The report said there were 7,632 single-family home transactions in the region in July, marking a 6 percent decrease from the previous year, which is considered modest considering 20 to 30 percent declines elsewhere. On average, homes sold after 39 days on the market and at 97.3 percent of the list price.

Inventory remains tight, with only 2.6 months of available inventory in July, far below the roughly six months considered balanced between buyers and sellers. Collin County homes had the highest median price at $530,000 among the four major North Texas counties.

Prices of existing homes in Dallas-Fort Worth are higher than newly built homes, a rare occurrence that highlights how much the market has changed since last year.

The median price of a new home in DFW dropped 6 percent from roughly $423,000 in June 2022 to $398,000 in June 2023. Simultaneously, existing home prices climbed 9 percent since the start of this year to a median of $410,000 in June, the Dallas Morning News reported, citing a study by housing consultant Residential Strategies.

This anomaly is driven by low housing inventory. While plenty of would-be buyers are refraining from house hunting amid high interest rates and economic uncertainties, a lack of options has led to a surge in demand among those who are on the hunt for new digs. Thus, the imbalance of supply and demand has forced sellers to elevate prices, Residential Strategies principal Ted Wilson told the outlet.

— Ted Glanzer