Monetary Policy

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 [...]

Denton County Real Estate Market Appears to Be Stalling Out

Is the real estate market rebound stalling out? Denton County home prices edged higher again in June. The median price of home rose to $479,000, down 1.2% from the same time last year. Average prices in Denton County came in at $568,837. That was down 1.1 percent year-over-year. Average prices are still $20,000 shy of the spring 2022 bubble peak. Judging from the recent uptick in inventory levels and the typical seasonality of prices, it appears North Texas home prices will have to wait another year or more before we see those lofty levels again. [...]

Denton County Home Prices Fail To Recapture 2022 Peak

Denton County home prices have so far failed to recapture their 2022 highs. Official NTREIS stats show median home prices in Denton County Texas were 7 percent ($35,000) lower than May of last year. Average prices were down 6.8 percent ($40,000) year-over year. Home sales in the area were down 3.9 percent from this time last year. Stagnant sales volumes remain a theme with 6 and 7 percent interest rates taking a bite out of affordability for many prospective buyers. Pending contracts in Denton County were 7 percent lower year-over-year in May. Available home inventory [...]

Denton County Housing Market – Calm Before the Storm?

The Denton County housing market experienced a temporary lift in the first two months of the year. February home sales bounced from the January lows putting them 15 percent higher than the same month last year. Pending sales were up 23 percent in February across Denton County. Median and average home prices bounced slightly during the month. The available supply of homes dipped to just 1.7 months. As more sellers and builders chopped prices in recent months, more buyers stepped back into the market. Percent of original list price has made marginal improvements for the past [...]

Price Drops and Lower Mortgage Rates Provided Temporary Lift to New Home Sales

The Census Bureau reported new home sales for January at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 670,000 units. This is old news, but more confirmation of what we have seen in the local North Texas housing market. The boost to new home sales at the end of 2022 and January of this year was the result of improved affordability. It was a confluence of several events. The key ingredients were as follows: Overly loose financial conditions with many Americans still sitting on excess savings Falling mortgage rates in December and January Significant price reductions from [...]

Higher Rates Coming Back for the North Texas Housing Market

The North Texas housing market started off the year with renewed animal spirits. It appears the Powell Fed made a colossal mistake by taking their foot off the breaks before inflation has been vanquished. We can already see signs of inflation percolating again in the housing market. The Fed Back to Where it Started The first FOMC meeting of 2023 revealed a huge blunder by the Powell Fed. As the markets ramped higher for the last month asset owners cheered that inflation had been conquered. Housing market participants reveled in the headlines of a coming [...]

North Texas Housing Market Looks to Fed for Signs of Relief

The North Texas housing market continues to hope for a soft landing by the Fed. Agents and market participants continue to front-run a Fed pivot that hasn't happened. There are plenty of people in the real estate industry who want and need lower rates to bolster their business. Many of these same people are agents and levered speculators who feasted on the $trillions in stimulus that drove the markets to their bubble highs. Fortunately cooler heads are currently driving policy. Normalization in the housing market continues to trim some of the froth from the housing [...]

Demand Destruction Hitting Denton County Housing Market

Demand destruction continues to hit the Denton County housing market. The Federal Reserve's housing reset and tighter policy led to a 28 percent slide in home sales in November. Pending contracts for homes were down 24 percent from the same time a year ago. In reality sales numbers are softer than official estimates. We still have another 6 months or so before we'll see more accurate comparisons on sales totals with new construction sales consistently in the MLS. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association mortgage purchase applications are still running about 40 percent lower than [...]

Fannie Freddie Loan Limits For High Cost Counties Over a $Million in 2023

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loan limits will jump to over a $million in January 2023. American taxpayers will be backstopping loans in expensive coastal counties for up to $1,089,300. That's up from the limit of $970,800 this year. Most conforming loans will be subject to the new loan limit of $726,200 in 2023. That's a 12.2 percent increase from the current limit of $647,200. Fannie Mae's Lender Letter (LL-2022-06) explains the nuts and bolts of the new changes. The new tables have the loan limit for single-unit structures in Denton County Texas at [...]

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