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Monetary Policy

Something’s Gotta Give – Home Prices or Mortgage Rates

Something's gotta give in terms of mortgage rates or home prices. While many agents and loan officers were cheering a 50 basis point rate cut from the Federal Reserve in September, the bond markets smelled a rat. Mortgage rates responded by actually rising by a half point since the Fed's announcement. This halted recent improvement in sales activity. It will also have an effect on home prices now that forward expectations are receiving a dose of reality. The reality is that inflation isn't dead, not by a long shot. Some real estate industry practitioners were [...]

Sharp Rebound in North Texas Home Inventory

North Texas home inventory has experienced a sharp rebound in 2024. The savagely unhealthy housing market and a buyers' strike have helped to replenish available housing stock this year. The key has been a dramatic turnaround in existing home inventory. Across the DFW area, existing home supply has rebounded sharply this year. Here's a county-level summary of the resale inventory increases in the Dallas-Fort Worth area through July 2024: Dallas County - Up 63.6% Year-over-Year (3.6 months of supply) Tarrant County - Up 59.1% (3.5 months of supply) Collin County - Up 69.6% (3.9 months [...]

Dallas TX Luxury Home Sales Go Parabolic

Luxury home sales were on rocket fuel last month in Dallas Texas. Sales of luxury homes price at a $1 million or more spiked 44 percent from May of last year. The average price of a Dallas home skyrocketed 21 percent year-over-year setting a new record high of $716,131. That's $124,000 higher than May of last year and $63,000 higher than the previous bubble peak of June 2022. While the Federal Reserve is still trying to shrink that bloated balances sheet, The U.S. Treasury department is still pumping out a lot of new debt issuance [...]

Inventory & Affordability Issues Affecting Real Estate Market

Denton County's real estate market continues to struggle with inventory & affordability issues. While higher than last year, closed sales in North Texas were still hovering near a decade-low in January. Pending home sales in North Texas moved higher for the month, but pending sales contracts were still 10 percent lower-year over year in January. The temporary relief in mortgage rates during the last few months of 2023 translated into additional activity for the housing market. So far in 2024 housing activity remains sluggish. Mortgage rates are bouncing around between 6.5 and 7 percent. Inflation [...]

What’s Going On With New Home Sales

The Census Bureau reported new home sales for November at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 590,000 units. That was well below expectations. The median new home price was $434,700 according to Census estimates. The average new home price was $488,900. The inventory of new homes rose to 9.2 months of supply. That put inventory at the highest levels of the year, and back to where it stood in November 2022. But there's a catch. This is November data. The November Census estimate on new home sales doesn't capture the capitulation from Janet (Treasury) [...]

Denton County Housing Market Searching For a Soft Landing

Denton County's housing market was still searching for that soft landing in November. Home sales were down 2 percent year-over-year. Pending sales fell by nine percent. Median home prices were steady at $450,000. Ironically enough that's exactly where prices stood in November of last year. Average prices slid for the fourth consecutive month, putting them down 1 percent lower than last year. The average price of a Denton County home is $68,000 (eleven percent) lower than the bubble peak of last spring. The North Texas housing market is currently caught between The Federal Reserve's need [...]

North Texas Housing Market Stalls with Eight Percent Rates

The North Texas housing market continued to cool with mortgage rates rising to eight percent in October. Closed sales in Denton County fell 9 percent from a year ago. Pending contracts slid 2 percent. Inventory remained steady at 2.5 months of supply. Percent of list and days on market were relatively unchanged. Median home prices in Denton County slid to $450,000 in October, down 1.3% from a year ago. Average prices cooled as well, sliding to $538,063. Prices have cooled for 3 months in a row. It's not just normal seasonality at play. Higher mortgage [...]

Denton County Real Estate Market Running Out of Steam

Denton County real estate was running out of steam in September. New cycle highs for mortgage rates and more typical seasonality took a bite out of demand. Sales volume dropped 9 percent compared to the same month a year ago. Pending contract activity fell by a similar amount. Median and average home prices are now lower than where they stood in April. Median prices are still $40,000 lower than where they topped out in the frenzy of 2022. New home builders continued to pull in an outsized portion of sales in September. They are doing [...]

New Highs For Mortgage Rates Curb Denton County’s Real Estate Market

Denton County's real estate market ran into significant hurdles in August. Mortgage interest rates for prospective buyers reached a new high for the cycle. That took a bite out of sales activity as the summer winded down. Closed sales in Denton County fell ten percent form the same time last year. Forward-looking contract activity slid 5 percent. Median and average home prices also cooled for second consecutive month. One thing that didn't cool in August was the incentives and mortgage-rate buydowns offered by new home builders. New home builders are agnostic sellers. They do what [...]

Denton County House Payments Hit Record Highs

Denton County house payments hit record highs in July. Prospective home buyers continued to get pinched by higher mortgage rates and the rebound in North Texas home prices through the first half of the year. As mortgage rates mushroomed back toward 7 percent, area house payments have soared for buyers using a market rate mortgage. Median home prices came in at $475,000 for the month of July. The median house payment for Denton County buyers factoring in the rise in interest rates translates to a principal and interest payment of over $2500 per month. That's [...]

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