The only thing hotter than the North Texas summer is the wave of rising home prices in DFW. Even with rising mortgage interest rates that have tempered the real estate market, single-family home prices soared in June compared to 53 other metro areas across the country. The median home price in North Texas reached $426,000 at the end of the second quarter. That’s up 29.3% from last June when it was at $329,500. Across the country, the median existing home price in June, according to the National Association of Realtors, was $416,000, up 13.4% from the same period last year. In North Texas, many homes continue to sell over list price despite an increase in the number of home listings. Industry analysts have forecast a slower real estate market with slower and smaller price increases in 2022 due to higher prices, more inventory and other global and domestic economic challenges.
Office construction in North Texas remains ahead of the country with 3.8 million square feet of office projects breaking ground this year. That’s the word from the Commercial Edge report provided by Yardi Systems Inc. Across the country, more than 26 million square feet of new office construction has gotten underway this year. Austin was second nationwide behind DFW with 2.7 million square feet of office starts. In total, more than 9 million square feet of office space is now being built in DFW. Commercial Edge says DFW also leads the country in office employment growth with a 9% increase. And with $2.4 billion in property transfers this year, North Texas ranks fourth behind Gotham, San Francisco and Boston in office building sales.
Even with the slowdown in home buying in recent months, the U.S. is still behind on the number of homes needed. More than 5 million existing homes were sold across the country in June, down from 5.41 million in May, a report from the National Association of Realtor says. The National Association of Home Builders said that prospective buyer traffic for new homes has fallen to its lowest level in seven years. And the U.S. Commerce Department warns that the number of new home starts and the number of recently issued home building permits fell in June for the second consecutive month, particularly in states in the south and west. Industry experts say that the current housing slowdown is making matters worse because there are not enough homes.