North Texas housing: inventory down, prices up

DALLAS-FORT WORTH – With the number of houses for sale in North Texas at the lowest level in more than a decade, prices jumped in November as demand for properties surpassed supply.

Median home prices in the area rose 12 percent from November 2013. It was the second-largest annual price increase in 2014.

Real estate agents sold 5,994 preowned single-family homes through their multiple listing service, according to data from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems.

November’s sales were down 1 percent from the same month last year.

So far in 2014, preowned home sales in North Texas are unchanged from a year ago and median prices are up 7 percent from the first 11 months of last year.

Annual home price gains are running more than twice the average rate of increase in this market.

“We are going to continue to see aggressive price increases,” said Dr. James Gaines, an economist with the Real Estate Center. “You do run the risk of having artificially high prices.”

In November, only 18,461 single-family homes were listed for sale with real estate agents — the fewest number of properties on the market in more than 15 years.

Only a 2.5-month supply of houses was available in North Texas. A six-month inventory is considered a normal market.

For more on housing and other sectors, check out Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Market Data Sources.
Texas real estate news