It Is No Longer Appropriate to Say That Real Estate Sales Are On Fire. But, They Really Almost Are.

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Please note: I am curbing my use of the phrase “on fire” these days, when it pertains to homes. Should I slip, please catch me.

August home sales in North Texas surged by 27 percent last month, the biggest gain in more than a year. According to NTREIS,  more than 6,800 pre-owned single-family homes sold last month. That’s just awesome. It was one of the highest totals recorded since those (cough cough) federal homebuying incentives ended in early 2010.

And August was the second month in a row that North Texas has seen double-digit home sales increases from a year earlier. Even condominium and townhouse sales were up in August, by 34 percent from a year earlier. I know Bobby Dhillon sold three units at The House, and Kyle Crews is on fire (no reference to a house) over at The Ritz.

What gripes me is housing analysts saying “oh yes, we knew this was coming.” Quit lying — you did not. Home sales fell for a full year after the buying crush created by the first time homebuyer’s credit. Thing was a disaster except that it was probably the only way I got my kids to move out of my house. At least James Gaines, an economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M, is honest. He says he was surprised. Dallas is doing better than the rest of the country in terms of employment and job creation, but people moving here still have to sell their homes. And we are seeing a whole lot more rentals.

“If the pattern continues, we could be up 10 percent or more for the year,” Gaines told Steve Brown at the Dallas Morning News. Overall, however, inventory is down.

Here’s where the biggest sales increases were: Carrollton-Farmers Branch (60 percent), northeast Dallas (59 percent) and the Park Cities (49 percent).

August median sales prices were up 54 percent from a year earlier in Oak Cliff , 26 percent in Cedar Hill and 25 percent in Fairview.

I’ve told you about Cedar Hill. Next I’ll tell you about southwest Fort Worth. It’s on fire — hopping!

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Candy Evans, founder and publisher of CandysDirt.com, is one of the nation’s leading real estate reporters.

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