“Gold on the Ceiling” Dallas home prices hit high

​​​DALLAS-FORT WORTH ​​​​- The super-hot housing market may have hit the ceiling.

North Texas home sales were down by 2 percent in July from 2015 levels. It was the first year-over-year dip in preowned home sales in almost two years.

The decline in sales last month didn’t put cool prices.

The median price of single-family homes sold by North Texas real estate agents was up 9 percent from July 2015, according to data from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems​.

Even with the easing of sales, North Texas home purchases remain at near record levels.

During the first seven months of 2016, real estate agents have sold 58,865 single-family homes in the almost two dozen counties included in the month numbers. Year-to-date home sales in North Texas are up 6 percent from last year’s record.

And median home sales prices so far in 2016 are 9 percent higher than in the first seven months of last year.

With home supplies remaining tight—especially houses priced below $200,000—buyers are having a harder time finding properties they can afford.

North Texas home prices have increased by more than 40 percent in the last five years and are 50 percent higher than where they were at the peak of the last housing boom in 2007.

The inventory of homes for sale with real estate agents in North Texas is more than twice as high for properties above $400,000 compared with houses priced below $250,000.

With the number of pending but not yet completed home sales down 6 percent from a year ago, don’t be surprised if August’s home sales total is also off from 2015 levels.​