Economy

Economic Issues Affecting Texas Housing Markets

North Texas Housing Market Correction Taking Shape

A housing market correction is coming to North Texas. Don't say you weren't warned. The data points have been piling up for months. The only question remaining is how this all plays out, or more specifically how much pain the Fed is willing to tolerate. Inflation Rages Today's headline print for CPI inflation came in at a red-hot 7.5%. Despite many experts' assumptions that inflation would be moderating, core inflation has actually been increasing in each of the last three month's readings from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Jerome Powell and the FOMC decided to [...]

North Texas Real Estate Shatters Records, Before The Fed Pulls the Rug

North Texas real estate shattered a number of records as we closed out the year. December saw record home prices in December as the Federal Reserve continued to pump asset prices. Available home inventory in the Dallas-Fort Worth area dipped to new record lows. Investors, speculators and other home buyers were busy fighting over the dwindling pool of properties available for for sale. The number of homes for sale in North Texas slipped to roughly 11,400 in December. There would be about 30,000 homes for sale in the DFW area under normal conditions. At the [...]

Denton County Home Sales Slide Again As Inventory Double Dips

Denton County home sales are drying up as fast as the inventory. Closings in Denton County fell 7 percent last month. Pending sales were just slightly lower compared to the same time a year ago. The problem continues to be sky high prices and super low inventory. The median price of a home in Denton County hit a record high $415,000 last month. Average home prices fell slightly to $477,978, but they are still 21.5 percent higher than the same time a year ago. The number of homes for sale fell for a 4th consecutive [...]

Seasonality Returning to the Denton County Housing Market

Seasonality is returning to the Denton County housing market. Home sales fell for a fourth consecutive month in October. Closed sales were down 15 percent. Pending sales fell 9 percent from the same time a year ago. Home prices in Denton County are still overheated. Median prices were up 17.3 percent. The average price of a Denton County home was 22.6 percent higher compared to last year. While prices remained off their record highs seen in August, prices on a per square foot basis set new records. The median of $186 per square foot was [...]

Zillow Puts the Brakes on Cash Offers for Remainder of Year

Zillow has hit the pause button on buying homes in the U.S. Zillow reportedly has halted cash purchases of homes through the remainder of the year. Citing labor and supply shortages, the company says it just can't keep up with demand as it works through a backlog of homes it has to close on, renovate and sell. Zillow's chief operating officer phrased it like this. “We’re operating within a labor-and supply-constrained economy inside a competitive real estate market, especially in the construction, renovation and closing spaces.” Interestingly, other iBuyers like Opendoor, Offerpad and Redfin have [...]

North Texas Home Sales Continue To Soften

North Texas home sales continue to soften. September sales data reflect a 9 percent slide in closings in Denton County. The DFW area experienced a 5 percent slide in home sales last month according to NTREIS Trends data. Pending sales in Denton County were flat to just slightly negative last month. The broader Dallas-Fort Worth area saw a 3 percent decline in September sales contracts. With the Federal Reserve expected to announce a taper of their huge asset purchase program ($120 billion per month) things have been a little wobbly in the markets. After marching [...]

Average Denton County Home Costs More Than Half a Million

Denton County home prices shattered records last month. The median price of a home in the area hit $410,000, up 22.4 percent from the same time a year ago. The average price of a Denton County home hit $506,957, shattering the previous high set in June. The new average home price above half a $million was 29.7 percent higher than August of 2020. Average prices for new construction and resale properties hit new records last month as inventory remained in the basement. The number of homes available for sale in Denton County dipped slightly from [...]

AEI: The Fed is Misdiagnosing Monetary Policy’s Effect on the Housing Market

The American Enterprise Institute is taking the Federal Reserve to task for its bubble-blowing monetary policy. The AEI' latest report on housing market indicators is a wonderful composition detailing how Federal Reserve monetary policy has fueled massive home price appreciation and speculation in the the U.S. housing market. It's refreshing to see that others calling the Powell Fed out for blatantly obvious asset price distortions. With Powell continuing the denial and misdirection, the problems are likely to get worse before they get better. I would encourage you to read the entire AEI Housing Center report [...]

New Home Sales Rise Slightly, Up 15.2 Percent Year-over-Year

New home sales rose 1.6 percent in December according to Census estimates. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 842,000 translates into a 15.2 percent increase from December of 2019. The median price of a new home sold in December 2020 was $355,900. The average price was $394,900. The median price of a new U.S. home rose $26,400, or 8 percent in the middle of a global pandemic even as millions of Americans were losing their jobs. If that's not a testament to the power of central bank liquidity, I don't know what is. The inventory [...]

Oblivion Revisited: Jerome Powell Lays More Cover For The Banking System

In a Q&A session and virtual chat covering monetary policy and the U.S. economy Jerome Powell floated another laughable statement regarding the strength and soundness of the U.S. financial system. Just like his predecessors before him, Powell is apparently willing to feed the financial media whatever it wants to hear, even it has no affiliation with the truth. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the Fed will maintain the current course of printing money like there's no tomorrow until it sees substantial progress towards its goals of 2 percent inflation and maximum employment. It is [...]

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