As we check the Dallas-Fort Worth housing market dashboard, it’s like a literal dashboard. All the gauges and indicators have indicated we’ve been running hot the past few months. Steam has been seen coming out from under the hood — bad news for prospective homebuyers.
But now, it looks like we’re cooling a bit. At least that’s the findings in Zillow’s latest market report.
Released Thursday, Zillow’s data indicates that the runaway monthly increases in home values and rents tempered in August, prompting a strong but more manageable housing market this fall. Another month of increasing inventory and more for-sale listings taking price cuts are providing buyers more options and less stress in their home-shopping journey.
The gauge that reflects home-value appreciation has dropped from 1.97 percent month-over-month growth in July to 1.75 percent growth in August. The deceleration of home value growth is evident in 43 of the 50 largest major metro areas.
Nationally, the typical U.S. home was worth $303,288 in August, down from $298,061 in July.
In Dallas-Fort Worth, the numbers are a bit higher than the national averages. Typical home values are up $320,045, up 2.6 percent from July and 21 percent year over year. Available inventory, however, rose 4 percent since July. Typical days to a pending sale are 14, one day longer than July, but still, it’s progress.
“The strong recovery of inventory and initial lift off the gas pedal for home value appreciation is indicative of balance returning to the market,” Nicole Bachaud, economic data analyst at Zillow, said in the report. “But, the major demand drivers that have pushed the market to extremes this year are still present — we’re moving from a white-hot midsummer to somewhere closer to red hot as we head into the fall.”
A second Zillow report, the August 2021-August 2022 Home Value and Sales Forecast, released Wednesday, expects continued growth. Home values will grow 11 percent by August 2022 and 2021 to end up 19.9 percent higher than December 2020, according to the report.
So, the takeaway is that the gauges and indicators on the housing market dashboards aren’t going to freeze over. They’ll trend upward but not at the dramatic rate we’ve been seeing. Stay tuned.
