Dallas-Fort Worth housing inventory is increasing, which could be good news for buyers, and three separate cities placed at the top of two different growth charts. We’ll explain in this week’s roundup of real estate news.
DALLAS HOUSING INVENTORY INCREASES IN SEPTEMBER
National housing inventory is starting to flatten, Realtor.com’s September housing report revealed, declining only 0.2 percent from a year ago and showing an 8 percent increase in new listings — the largest yearly jump in five years.
“After years of record-breaking inventory declines, September’s almost flat inventory signals a big change in the real estate market,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com. “Would-be buyers who had been waiting for a bigger selection of homes for sale may finally see more listings materialize. But don’t expect the level to jump dramatically. Plenty of buyers in the market are scooping up homes as soon as they’re listed, which will keep national increases relatively small for the time being.”
That won’t translate into lower housing prices just yet. The median home price in the U.S. was $295,000 in September, which is a 7 percent increase year-over-year, but still lower than last year’s increase of 10 percent.
The gradual increase in inventory is most noticeable in larger cities like Dallas-Fort Worth, which was among 22 of the 45 largest markets in September to see YOY inventory increases. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA saw 14 percent increase in active listings YOY, and a 3 percent increase in new listings YOY in September.
Combined inventory in those 45 markets increased 5.6 percent YOY.
“Additionally, new listings are up 13 percent in these markets combined, and a new record-high 22 of the 45 largest markets have more active listings than this time last year,” said Javier Vivas, Realtor.com’s Director of Economic Research.
MCKINNEY HITS TOP 5 FASTEST-GROWING CITIES THIS YEAR
North Texas had two cities on Wallethub’s annual list of fastest-growing cities, but McKinney was the one who hit the top five, with Frisco coming in at 16.
And among mid-size cities with the highest growth, McKinney came in third. However, when it came to population growth, Frisco topped the nation.
Wallethub compared 515 cities of varying population sizes based on two criteria – sociodemographics and jobs and economy. Within those two criteria, 15 metrics were used for the evaluations, each graded on a 100 point scale.
“For each metric, we analyzed data spanning from 2011 to 2017 with the exception of ‘Increase in Number of Startups’ (from 2010 to 2014), ‘Increase in Number of Businesses’ (from 2011 to 2016) and ‘Increase in Venture Capital Investment Amount (from 2010 to 2016)’,” the company explained.
McKinney scored a 71.4, and Frisco scored a 67.02.
WATAUGA THIRD IN LIST OF HOTTEST ZIP CODES
Fort Worth suburb Watauga placed once again in Realtor.com’s list of hottest zip codes for the year, but slipped a bit from No. 1 last year to the No. 3 spot.
But how hot is Watauga?
“Homes in this year’s top 10 hottest markets sell in an average of 20 days, 46 days faster than the rest of the country, 25 days faster than their respective metro areas, and 18 days faster than their respective counties,” Realtor.com senior economist Danielle Hale said.
Users also view homes in the top 10 hottest zip codes four times more than homes in the rest of the country, 2.3 times more than their metro areas, and 1.9 times more than anywhere else in their county.
And Watauga hits a sweet spot for young families, giving access to everything Fort Worth has to offer, but affordable enough to give real bang for the buck.
“Younger families are also drawn to Watauga for its strong schools, such as Grace E. Hardeman Elementary, which has a GreatSchools rating of 8/10,” Hale wrote. “This ZIP also ranks highest in the state in the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index (MEI), which scores the ways cities support the LGBT people who live and work there. Major employers in the area include American Airlines, Texas Health Resources, and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics company.”
Hale found that the dominant buyer segment in Watauga is millennials, who account for 33 percent of new mortgages in the zip code and have a 65 percent home ownership rate, compared to 42 percent in Tarrant County.
“Homes in Watauga sell in 15 days, 3 percent faster than last year, with a median list price of $183,576, up 16.2 percent over last year,” Hale said. “Tarrant County is expected to add 28,400 jobs this year, an increase of 2.8 percent.”
