So, what can you get for a cool million in Dallas? The Motley Fool asked that question last week, and came up with 2142 Kessler Parkway, a luxurious North Oak Cliff house we previously featured as our Inwood Mortgage Home of the Week. When we featured this three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home last July, it was on the market for $967,000. Today it’s listed, as the Motley Fool column writes, at $998,000. The more recent listing with Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s Kate Mote, is 3 percent higher than the July 2013 listing price.
The house is spacious, comes with a pool, and is genuinely very, very nice. But with an asking price of $998,000, you don’t get quite the same bang for your buck as you would in other cities, like Miami or Phoenix.
The strength of the Dallas housing market, and the relative lack of post-bubble bargains, is directly attributable to the metro’s strong economy. In fact, Texas powered through the recession with relative ease.
Consider that, during the past year, job growth in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area has been nearly twice the national average. Texas saw personal income grow 4.9% last year, putting it in the top four of all U.S. states. The state’s average home price is already above the pre-recession highs, and is still growing at a robust 8.7% annual clip.
It’s true: Our local economy kept demand for housing high, which, in turn, buffered us from serious fallout from the recession. But we also had fewer foreclosures and a more active market altogether:
Focusing back on the housing market, Texas has fewer foreclosures, mortgage delinquencies, and underwater mortgages than the national average. From a fundamental economic perspective, the housing market in Dallas, and more broadly in Texas, looks poised to continue to rise.
While the U.S. market went boom and bust, Dallas barely noticed.
So while the Motley Fool may think that your dollar goes nearly as far in Dallas as it might in Miami or Phoenix, remember that economic stability, jobs, and lower taxes are all great reasons why you’d prefer to live in North Texas than these other metros.
That, and this gorgeous home:
