For the First Time Since 2020, DFW Home Prices Are Down From a Year Ago
Still, the median home price is about 40% – or $113,000 – more than it was three years ago.
The median price of a Dallas-Fort Worth home declined 1% in March from a year before, the first such annual decrease in home prices since the onset of the pandemic rattled the market.
Dallas-Fort Worth real estate agents sold 8,028 single-family homes in March, almost the same number they sold in March 2022, according to the latest report from the Texas – Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University and North Texas Real Estate Information Systems.
The report includes both new and existing homes listed on the multiple listing service agents use, but not sales directly through homebuilders. Builders are also facing lighter demand, but housing analyst Residential Strategies found sales activity to be better than expected starting off the year.
The median price sank from $400,000 to $394,900 over the last year, but prices would have to take much more of a hit to return to pre-pandemic pricing. The median home price in March was about 40% – or $113,000 – more than it was three years ago.
The last slight annual decline in local home prices was in May 2020, according to separate data from Texas A&M.
Of the four major North Texas counties, Denton saw the biggest boost in home sales activity with 16% more transactions than a year before. Collin also reported a double-digit increase of 10% while Dallas and Tarrant saw declines.
Prices declined in all four major counties, but Collin’s comparatively sky-high home prices were down the most.
Dallas-Fort Worth had just 2.1 months of supply in March, significantly lower than the six months of supply a market balanced between buyers and sellers would have. The metro area had the tightest housing market in the state last year, beating out the Austin area, according to Texas Realtors data.
Higher mortgage rates spurred by actions of the Federal Reserve continue to thwart many home sales. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 6.28% as of April 6, up from 4.72% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.
With fewer buyers making moves, homes are sitting on the market longer, selling now in 60 days on the market compared to 25 days a year ago. That led inventory to accumulate, with more than 15,000 homes on the market, about 8,700 more than there were last March.
The Case-Shiller home price index, a lagging measure of pricing but one considered more accurate than local multiple listing service data, found that January was the seventh consecutive month of month-over-month price declines in DFW.
The index found that prices in Southern cities are still rising the most from year to year, topped by Miami, Tampa and Atlanta.
Source: Dallas Morning News