Real Estate

Denton County Real Estate Market Stagnation Continues

The stagnation continued for the Denton County real estate market in January. 2025 is not off to a great start. Home sales were up 3.8 percent from a year ago, but pending contracts were 7.8 percent lower compared to last year. Contract activity in the city of Denton fell 10 percent year-over year. Closed sales plummeted 23 percent. That was the lowest sales volume for the city since January of 2017. The combination of historically normal market interest rates combined with inflated home prices continues to be a toxic mix for the Denton County real [...]

Fed Policy Errors Slam North Texas Housing Market

The Fed Policy errors continue to slam the north Texas housing market. Home affordability remains near historic lows, and inflation is still percolating through the U.S. economy. This is despite two rate cuts from the Powell Fed in the second half of 2024. Mortgage interest rates are up nearly a full percentage point since the Fed's ill-advised 50-basis-point cut in September. The yield on the 10-year Treasury is up roughly 115 basis points. The December unemployment report made it clear inflation is still a thing. The U.S. economy is still humming along with inflated asset [...]

North TX Housing Affordability Gets Crushed

North Texas housing affordability got crushed in October. The temporary relief of lower mortgage rates was just that. Mortgage rates bounced significantly following the Federal Reserve's September rate cut. Real market rates for traditional U.S. mortgages remain near the 7 percent mark following the election. The combination of real mortgage rates and continued high prices has proven to be a major challenge for the North Texas housing market. As rates and expectations cooled into the September FOMC meeting, available home inventory was beginnig to shrink. Denton County home sales jumped 10 percent from the previous [...]

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 [...]

Rise In Inventory Boosts Home Sales

More home inventory helped push North Texas home sales into positive territory in April. North Texas saw a 5.5 percent increase in home sales compared to last year while Denton County experienced a 7.3 percent bump in closed transactions. The additional transaction activity was fueled by a 37 percent rise in available home inventory compared to last year. Inventory has been growing steadily for most of the year as 7 percent interest rates and a slowing economy worked to curtail demand in the housing market. Denton County now has 2.7 months of available home inventory. [...]

Home Sellers Can Say Goodbye to Six Percent Commissions

Home sellers can finally say goodbye to inflated six percent commissions. The big news in the real estate market this month wasn't the stagnant sales or home prices. The bombshell news for the housing market is NAR's $418 million settlement proposal to settle litigation over industry commissions. Stagnant Housing Market Continues The North Texas housing market continued to stagnate in February. Denton County experienced a 10 percent decline in closed sales for the month compared to last year. Pending sales were four percent lower. The median and average price per square foot of a Denton [...]

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 [...]

Denton County “Home” Prices Finish 2023 Where They Started

Denton County home prices finished out the year right where they started. A strong start to 2023 saw prices and sales activity continue to move higher into the summer. That's when the Denton County housing market essentially stalled out. A subsequent rise in mortgage rates to the eight percent mark brought a double-dip in the market and another round of softness. The Yellen pump and the Powell pivot helped to lower rates slightly over the last two months of the year and prevent the market from sliding further. The official stats for Denton County in [...]

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