Which Dallas neighborhoods will receive grant dollars for community projects? What is holding many back from becoming homeowners in Dallas? We’ll look at that, plus see news on Opendoor’s newest round of funding and how it impacts North Texas in this week’s roundup of real estate news.
Sixteen Dallas Neighborhood Projects Receive City Funding
Sixteen projects across Dallas will receive Dallas Neighborhood Vitality Grant Program dollars this year to implement community improvements.
The grant, which is a reboot of the growSouth Neighborhood Challenge Grant, will dole out more than $100,000 for projects ranging from neighborhood beautification, art installations, park and trail improvements, gardens, signage, and litter abatement.
“The DNVG program is a competitive annual funding opportunity approved by City Council to encourage neighborhood organizations to identify and implement projects that address specific needs to increase resident engagement, promote neighborhood pride and build organizational capacity through collaboration and partnerships,” a city press release said.
Neighborhood groups receiving money include: Bertrand Community Group Neighborhood Association, for designing and installing gateway signage and street sign toppers; Caillet Crime Watch Program, for branding the neighborhood with sign toppers; Cochran Heights Neighborhood Association, for transforming an underutilized utility public easement into a pedestrian friendly living alley; Five Mile Neighborhood Association, for sign toppers; Friends of Everglade Park (Buckner Terrace Homeowners Association), for trail enhancement with the purchase of park benches and dog waste clean up stations; Friends of Exall Park (Bryan Place), landscape enhancement project including soil, flowers and shrubs; Get Healthy Dallas (Bertrand Community Group Neighborhood Association), for training residents to become urban farmers; Gilbert-Emory Neighborhood Association, for addressing illegal dumping by installing a camera surveillance system in collaboration with City Marshal’s Office; Kessler Plaza-Ravinia Heights Neighborhood Association, for creating an iconic art mural at key locations to solidify neighborhood identity; Regency Park I and 2 Homeowners Association, for neighborhood gateway signage; Spring Creek Civic Organization, for landscape enhancement project will take place at the southwest corner of Arapaho and Spring Creek to improve visibility and safety; The Lazarus Community Development Corporation (Queen City Neighborhood Association), to address illegal dumping by installing a camera surveillance system in collaboration with City Marshal’s Office; The Oak Cliff Veggie Project, Inc. (Homestead Neighborhood Association, Tenth Street Residential Association, and Singing Hills Neighborhood Association), for enhancing three exiting community gardens in Southern Dallas; Twin Oaks Neighborhood Association, for sign toppers; Winnetka Heights Neighborhood Association, for improving walkability with new and repaired sidewalks; and Wynnewood North Neighborhood Association, for sign toppers.
(Source: City of Dallas)
Dallas, Houston face home buying pressures
Dallas is among the top U.S. housing markets the BH&J Index by Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University says is experiencing significant downward pressure on the demand for home ownership.
The index said that 19 of the 23 markets it studied are dealing with market pressure that is discouraging homeownership. Dallas and Houston are two of those 23 markets, and scored .98 and .72, respectively.
“While the BH&J Index measures the tradeoff between buying and renting in terms of wealth creation, it also serves as a sensor embedded in 23 of the nation’s housing markets measuring pressure on the demand for homeownership,” said Ken H. Johnson, Ph.D., a real estate economist who co-created the index.
An index score approaching 1 indicates significant downward pressure. A score nearer to zero indicates neutral pressure, and negative scores denote upward pressure on demand.
(Source: Florida Atlantic University College of Business)
Opendoor Announces New Business Metrics, Additional Funding
Last week, Opendoor announced that after a year of rapid growth, it has raised $300 million on a valuation of $3.8 billion.
That additional follow-on equity financing will be used to continue to fuel growth, build new products, and integrate services, a company spokesperson told Daltxrealestate.com.
On a national level, Opendoor is now buying and selling nearly 3,000 homes a month, with more than 36,000 customers to date in 23 markets.
In North Texas, the company has been operating since February 2015, and has worked with more than 9,100 buyers and sellers since their Dallas-Fort Worth launch, and currently have nearly 250 Opendoor homes on the market.
“We’re hiring for 25 open positions and expect to use the additional financing to continue to expand our local team,” the spokesperson said.
This new round of financing comes from investors like General Atlantic, Hawk Equity, SoftBank Vision Fund, Access Technology Ventures, Lennar Corporation, Fifth Wall Ventures, SV Angel, Norwest Venture Partners, NEA, GGV Capital, Khosla Ventures, and GV along with other strategic investors.
