Median home prices again fell in August, continuing the local market’s steady decline, according to the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors.
It’s not really big news considering how the national market is also cooling a bit. But it is another acknowledgment by a local realtors group that the slowdown is also a thing in North Texas.
The median home price in Fort Worth was $350,000, down from $355,000 in July but still a 15.4 percent increase from August 2021, according to the group’s monthly report posted on its website.
Also, the inventory of available homes continued to improve, climbing to 2.1 months, which is 0.9 months more than a year ago.
In Tarrant County, the median home price was $365,000, down from 375,000 in July but up 17.7 percent from a year ago. Inventory is at 1.9 months.
According to the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University, 6.5 months of inventory represents a market in which supply and demand for homes are balanced.
In August, Fort Worth had 2,207 active listings, up 60 percent from August 2021.
“I’ve experienced that — listings staying in the market longer than many of us have come to expect over the past several months,” said Rusty Hall, a Fort Worth-based real estate agent for Century 21 Judge Fite.
“But actually, in a historic trend, this is more normal than exceptional.”
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.89 percent for the week ending Sept. 8, surpassing their recent reported high in mid-June, according to Freddie Mac.
“Housing is the most rate-sensitive part of the economy, so fewer home sales, and a house-price correction is a small, necessary price to pay to rein in inflation,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics wrote in The Washington Post.
Active listings are much higher, too. Fort Worth had 2,207 active listings in August, up 60 percent from August 2021. Johnson County’s active listings increased 111 percent from a year ago.
The increases in inventory and home price reductions have been minimal, “which means we’re still very much in a strong market,” said Shannon Ashkinos, Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors said in a statement.
“With inventory this tight, buyers have fewer choices than they might anticipate at this time of year, which means it’s still important to move quickly when the right house comes along.”
In the meantime, Hall said he’s assuring prospective homebuyers and home sellers to stay the course.
“I just keep telling people that interest rates aren’t going back to 2.5 and housing prices in Texas aren’t going to crash,” he said. “Texas still has attractive prices compared to the coasts, East, and West. And if rates do fall, they can always refinance.”
