Change of season cools frenzied Dallas housing market

DALLAS-FORT WORTH – Pre-owned home sales in the area are up more than 20 percent in 2013, and prices in most neighborhoods have jumped by double-digit percentages.

But real estate agents say that some of the frenzy that characterized the area home market in spring and summer is gone. Along with higher mortgage costs and consumer angst over the political fights in Washington, a lack of listings may also be holding down home sales in some Dallas-area residential districts.

The inventory of homes being marketed by real estate agents has fallen to less than a two-month supply in more than a dozen of the 45 residential districts The Dallas Morning News tracks each quarter.

Total pre-owned single-family home listings in North Texas were 14 percent lower in September than they were in September 2012, according to the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

Experts say the market has moderated since then, and traditional slowing is expected during the upcoming holidays. At the end of September, the number of pending home sales in North Texas was already at the lowest level since February.