Dallas-Fort Worth has a rivalry with other Texas metro areas. In professional sports, the Dallas Cowboys have a football rivalry with the Houston Texas called the Governor’s Cup. The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros have what’s known as the Lone Star Series.
Now, in real estate, the Houston area and D-FW might have a rivalry brewing.
According to a new report from Texas Realtors, Houston-area home sales surpassed those in DFW in the first quarter of 2022. Before, the housing market seemed to have a little push-and-shove going between DFW and Austin. But Houston has stepped in and exerted its housing-selling muscle.
“Homebuyers and sellers in Texas have had a decade of high expectations, and that excitement isn’t going away, but it may be approaching a peak,” Jim Gaines, a research economist with the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University, said in a statement.
| Metro Statistical Market 2022 Q1 Report | Texas Realtors | Median price | Active listings | Closed dates | Months of inventory |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | 🔺 21.5% $376,500 | 🔻 24.5% 6,865 | 🔺 0.5% 22,409 | 🔻 0.7 1.0 in Q1 2021 |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land | 🔺 16.7% $321,623 | 🔻 3.3% 11,688 | 🔺10.4% 24,596 | 🔻 1.2 1.4 in Q1 2021 |
| Sherman-Denison | 🔺 21.7% $280,000 | 🔻 14.6% 217 | 🔺 17.3% 605 | 🔻 1.0 1.3 in Q1 2021 |
| Austin-Round Rock | 🔺 25.9% $500,000 | 🔺 46.1% 1,731 | 🔻 1% 8,182 | 🔺 0.5 0.3 in Q1 2021 |
| Statewide | 🔺 18.6% $325,000 | 🔻 8.2% 38,870 | 🔺 5.6% 88,700 | 🔻 1.1 1.3 in Q1 2021 |
From January to March, Houston-area agents sold 24,596 homes, up 10.4 percent, according to Texas Realtors. D-FW real estate agents sold 22,409 homes, up only 0.5 percent from the same quarter last year.
Even when D-FW had bigger numbers, it was not in the best way. D-FW homes sold for a median price of $376,500, which was up 21.5 percent over Q1 of 2021. Houston-area homes sold for $309,000. Neither could touch Austin’s median price of $500,000 for a home.
In DFW, active listings were down 24.5 percent to 6,865. Closed sales were up 0.5 percent.
Statewide, the median price was up 18.6 percent to $325,000 from Q1 of 2021. As far as closed sales, 88,700 homes were sold last quarter, which was up 5.6 percent from a year prior. Listings fell by 8.2 percent to 38,870, which amounts to 1.1 months of inventory. D-FW had just 0.7 months of available inventory, with 6,865 homes available in the first quarter.
Report review: The quarterly report churned data from the Texas Realtors Data Relevance Project, a partnership among the Texas Association of Realtors and Realtor associations throughout Texas with analysis provided through an agreement with the Real Estate Center of Texas A&M University. The 26-page easy-to-read PDF report is sorted into one-page presentations on the metropolitan statistical area. Rating: Three rabbit-hole bunnies. 🐇 🐇 🐇
