DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – Judging by existing home sales and prices for the past six months, the area’s housing market is having a very good year. And thanks to a strong local job market, experts say the trend will continue.
Sales for the first half of the year are more than 20 percent higher than they were this time last year, setting a North Texas sales record for a six-month period. Meanwhile, prices in many neighborhoods are up by 10 percent or more so far this year.
Even with the recent increase in mortgage costs, sales should continue to increase, housing analysts say. Why? In a word: jobs.
“In the last 12 months, the DFW area created 104,600 net new jobs — that’s a lot of jobs,” said Stewart Title Co. Chief Economist (and former Real Estate Center Chief Economist) Ted Jones.
“In that same period, the total residential permits issued in this area were 34,720,” Jones said. “We could have built twice as many homes and apartments and not overbuilt this market.”
