Agents: Price Reductions Coming for North Texas Homes
September saw the largest drop in North Texas home sales in seven years, according to a regional report.
Since September 2017, preowned home sales are down nearly 7 percent, and home sales by real estate agents were down for the third time in four months, according to North Texas Real Estate Information Systems Inc. (NTREIS) and a report by Realtor.com.
In Preston Hollow, 60 sales closed and in the Park Cities, 50. There are 349 active listings in Preston Hollow, and 363 in the Park Cities. That’s a stark contrast from June, where 94 sales closed in the Park Cities and 73 in Preston Hollow.
However small the number, those sales have moved quickly, agents said.
“The need for home inventory for sale has continued since this summer in the Park Cities, Turtle Creek, Uptown, and East Dallas,” said Caroline Thompson, a Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s agent. “Interest rates have increased, and that has propelled some to move quickly on buying.”
Thompson added that people continue to flock to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, even opting to sign leases on homes instead of buying.
In turn, houses for sale – versus those for lease – are staying on the market longer than any time since 2017; Preston Hollow homes are taking 70 days to sell in September, while Park Cities homes are on the market an average of 100 days. Interest rates have certainly been a thorn for buyers, but Dallas-Fort Worth continues to be a popular destination for movers, for a bevy of reasons.
“Many people are leasing for 12 to 15 months to get settled and familiarized with the city,” Thompson said.
Things could turn for buyers this fall, however.
October and November have historically been strong months for buyers, with prospective homeowners paying, on average, 2.6 percent less than market value against the other 10 months, said Marti Voorheis, a Dave Perry Miller agent.
And Preston Hollow and the Park Cities seem to always attract new homeowners, she said, regardless of the market.
“It looks like we are heading closer to a balanced market, but our market will stay strong,” Voorheis said. “There will be an increase in price reductions.”
NTREIS reported a 4.6 percent increase in average new listings over a 12-month period in North Texas, with October 2018 sporting a 7.7 percent increase – the highest increase in new listings of any month except April, which saw a 14.3 percent increase from 2017 to 2018.
Officials expect around a 5 percent increase in the area, overall, for November.
