National Home Prices Break Another Record, but Dallas Sees Slower Growth
Home prices increased in Dallas-Fort Worth, but at a slower rate than the national average.
National home prices broke another record in March, but Dallas-Fort Worth’s increase was more muted than during the Metroplex’s booming COVID years.
DFW home prices were up 3.6% compared to March 2023 levels, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index.
That’s behind the national 6.5% gain over the same period, preliminary data from the closely watched housing measure shows. It’s part of a continuing trend in 2024 as North Texas home prices grow at a slower pace.
U.S. home prices have continued their drive up. The Case-Shiller national index has reached new highs in six of the last 12 months, S&P’s Brian Luke said in the report.
Of the 20 major metros that Case-Shiller tracks, San Diego reported the largest annual increase at 11.1%. New York (9.2%), Cleveland (8.8%), and Los Angeles (8.8%) followed. Dallas (3.6%) had one of the smallest annual increases of the group. Only Denver (2.1%), Portland, Ore. (2.2%) and Minneapolis (3.3%) reported lower increases. From February to March, Dallas reported a 1.2% price increase, just slightly below the national average. All 20 metros reported a monthly increase.
This comes after DFW had some of the largest home price increases in the country for most of 2021 and 2022, with year-over-year price increases of more than 10% and 20% at times. Annual price increases reached a record 31% in April 2022 before hitting year-over-year declines from March to August 2023.
“The Northeast remains the top performer with an 8.3% annual gain, showcasing robust growth compared to other metro markets. Conversely, cities like Tampa, Phoenix, and Dallas, which saw top-tier performance in 2020 and 2021, are now growing at a slower pace,” Luke said. “COVID was a boom for Sunbelt markets, but the bigger gains the last couple of years have been the northern metro cities.” The Case-Shiller index is a three-month moving average that compares sales-price changes of specific properties over time to provide a more accurate picture of market trends.
The index measures changes in the total value of all existing single-family housing stock. It does not sample sale prices associated with new construction, condos, apartments, and multifamily dwellings, according to the report’s methodology.
Other data suggests that increases in DFW’s home supply may be a factor in the slower price growth.
In March, active listings in North Texas increased by nearly 35% compared to the previous year, according to data from the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University, North Texas Real Estate Information Services and the MetroTex Association of REALTORS®.
The number of active listings in the DFW metroplex was 24,128 last month, up nearly 46% from a year earlier, according to MetroTex’s monthly report.
DFW had 3.2 months of housing inventory in April, approaching pre-COVID levels. A balanced market has six months of supply. “Increases in availability of existing homes for sale and new construction has helped Dallas home price growth remain muted this spring and offer more choices to potential buyers,” said Selma Hepp, Corelogic’s chief economist. “Nevertheless, given the over 50% increase in home prices since the pandemic and the rising cost of insurance and taxes, affordability remains a challenge and is keeping potential home sales muted.”
Source: Dallas Morning News