Steve Brown via Redfin: About One-Third of Dallas Homes Have Buyers Within Two Weeks of Hitting the Market

I think that we have been preaching this here on CD ever since about January. Steve Brown reports that “more than 20 percent of the Dallas-area properties which were listed for sale in April had a contract in one week or less.”

We are hot, in fact, one of the hottest residential real estate markets in the country. And we have proof!

Almost a third of Dallas-area homes that sold in April went under contract within two weeks of coming on the market, this according to Redfin, a unique, discount, Seattle-based Internet real estate brokerage –– more on Redfin later.

And:  21 percent had a buyer in one week.

And: 170 Dallas-area houses had a buyer within 24 hours.

Not that is makes much difference, but Redfin has only been tracking data since 2011. The company was founded in 2004.

Dallas agent Yvette Grove is asking people to MOVE! “Dear Friends,” she writes on Facebook, “I know you keep hearing that inventory is low in this real estate market and you think we may be exaggerating the problem… WE ARE NOT! There are buyers desperately looking for homes, please contact me if you have even toyed with the idea of selling.”

Yvette needs to find two contemporary homes STAT!

One broker who has been in the business for 17 years as a broker, 24 as an agent, says he has never seen a market like this. Anything priced less than $450,000 is flying off the shelves. We are not talking Lakewood, Park Cities or Preston Hollow anymore. We are talking Frisco and Prosper. The broker told me of a $275,000 home that had 15 showings, got five offers, two over asking price and one of those was for $9000 over list! This all happened in the course of 24 hours.

Redfin estimates that 170 Dallas-area houses actually had a buyer within 24 hours, like my example. The number of homes going under contract in two weeks and one week are setting new records at Redfin, who also looked at the markets where homes are selling the fastest: Dallas ranked 17 out of 22. Three Texas cities made the list –Dallas, Austin and Houston.  San Jose, California is now the fastest moving U.S. housing market. My son recently bought a home in nearby Redwood City — do I have stories for you!

Now, back to Redfin. Redfin was founded by a guy named David Eraker in Seattle, Washington, in his apartment. The name, which always bugged me, is an inversion of the word “finder.” Get it? Redfin was one of the first companies to figure out that real estate could be done online, be more transparent for the consumer, and maybe even save them some money. The site combines real estate search with actual agents. The agents are slated to be more concerned over service and earn bonuses over commissions, or at least they used to. The consumer searches Redfins database, which comes from the MLS’s, and does their homework: broker databases, past sales records and third-party appraisals. When the client is ready to buy, the Redfin agents handle property access, legal paperwork, negotiations, whatever. For this the consumer can get up to a 50% rebate off the real estate commission, except in Oregon where real-estate laws prohibit it. In 2012, Redfin was named one of The DIGITAL 100: World’s Most Valuable Private Tech Companies by Business Insider.

So if you don’t think that Redfin stirred up the real estate world when it launched, well, let me tell you it was shock and awe! In 2006, CNN reported that Redfin had received threats from competitors seeking to “break their kneecaps.” Then in May 2007, just a few days after being featured on 60 Minutes, Redfin was fined for $50,000 by The Northwest Multiple Listing Service and was forced to shut down its “Sweet Digs” blog, which used to contain agent reviews of the homes on the market. I give you the background for several reasons.

One, though I don’t doubt the report, I wonder how Redfin’s data would compare to NTREIS, that’s our North Texas MLS here in North Texas? Redfin may be on fire in the west and northwest, but not sure if they have a huge presence here in Dallas — I know they have a presence, just not sure how deep? Is this Redfin data or MLS data?

And two, if you have ever thought about selling your house, just friggin’ sell it. There are people looking for homes, and I am getting concerned we may be seeing some Yurts around Preston Hollow. It’s too bad we cannot relocate homes from sluggish markets, or build them any faster. Thank God for Marc Kleinman, who can build a home in six months!

Hot, I’m telling you, on fire!