DFW housing starts easing off the gas

DALLAS-FORT WORTH – Forecasters expect last year’s 100-mph housing market to ease off the gas in 2014. But that doesn’t mean that home sales and prices will stall in North Texas or nationwide.

Most housing analysts anticipate a robust spring and summer home selling season — just not as frenetic as in 2013. Last year brought unprecedented growth in the Dallas-Fort Worth housing market, erasing damage done during the recession.

Median home sales prices in North Texas were up by more than 10 percent, roughly double the long-term average rate of increase for the area.

The number of preowned homes sold jumped almost 20 percent. With the surge in sales, inventory fell to a near-record low.

At the end of the year, there was less than a three-month supply in the Dallas area. That’s about half what is considered a normal market.

DFW single-family home starts will rise again in 2014, but probably not as fast as in the previous year, said David Brown, who heads the Dallas office of Metrostudy Inc.

“Starts jumped over 20 percent in 2013, and I expect them to grow another 10 percent to 15 percent this year,” Brown said. “Higher new home prices and higher interest rates impacting affordability are one reason the growth rate will likely slow in the next year.”