Growing, Growing, Gone: Dallas Market is Fully Recovered From Recession, But NAR Report Shows Pending Sales Are Dropping

It’s official: According to the latest numbers from CoreLogic, the Dallas-area real estate market is fully recovered from the recession and housing bubble. Dallas real estate prices are up 9.7 percent according to the CoreLogic HPI report.

Nationally, prices are up 12 percent year-over-year, too, the report showed, showing that regions across the U.S. are making great strides. It’s the 19th straight month that the housing market has showed gains.

“U.S. home prices continued their ascent in September. Average home prices in nearly half the states are now within striking distance of their pre-downturn pricing peaks,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “We are seeing a slowdown in the rate of price appreciation over the past few months from the rapid pace experienced over the first half of this year. This deceleration is natural and should help keep market fundamentals in balance over the longer-term.”

Let’s juxtapose that great news (and it is great!) with some less-than-stellar reports from the National Association of Realtors. According to the NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index, fewer people are poised to buy homes. The index fell for the fourth month in a row this past September, down 5.6 percent. It was a shock to economists who had forecasted a slight increase.

It’s been attributed to the rise in mortgage rates and an increase in prices in some markets, as well as the shrinking middle class income.

Does the NAR report affect your optimism about the Dallas real estate market?