North Texas Home Sales and Prices Turn Corner in January

Area home sales and prices were higher in the first month of 2024.

North Texas preowned home sales jumped by 12.5% last month — the first year-over-year sales gain in almost two years.

January’s homebuying bounce follows an almost 9% drop in area home purchases during all of 2023, 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®.

North Texas real estate agents sold 5,335 homes in January.

“We are seeing a consistent increase in activity due to the interest rates dropping.,” said Jim Fite, CEO of Dallas-based Century 21 Judge Fite Co.

The median home sales price last month was $382,941 — up 2.1% from prices in January 2023.

Declines in mortgage rates, which peaked near 8% this summer, have spurred sales, said Dallas housing analyst Ted Wilson with Residential Strategies.

“The decline of the 30-year mortgage rate to near 6.6% has been welcomed news for prospective homebuyers,” Wilson said. “The housing industry remains watchful of future rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, and hopeful that this leads to a further decline in the 30-year mortgage rate toward 6%.

“Such a move would improve housing affordability and stimulate additional increases in housing activity.”

The biggest annual increase in January sales was in Kaufman County, where the number of homes sold rose 26.2% from January 2023. And sales were up 20.5% year-over-year in Collin County.

The greatest price increase was in Grayson County where median sales prices in January were 11.4% higher than a year earlier. Prices were up 9.4% in Dallas County.

More than a quarter of the homes listed for sale with Dallas-Fort Worth real estate agents have had at least one price cut, according to Zillow.

“When we get the listing priced right, a buyer purchases very quickly,” Fite said. “Some multiple offers are rising in submarkets again because of the lack of inventory.”

The number of houses offered for sale by area real estate agents rose 13.2% in January from a year earlier. But the number of homes for sale in the DFW area — particularly in the lower price ranges — remains constrained.

“If interest rates would tick down a bit more, we would see a lot more activity from both buyers and sellers,” said Scott Schueler with Keller Williams Realty. “Many sellers are still on the sideline because they have 2.75% mortgage on their homestead.”

Source: Dallas Morning News