Real Estate News: Realtors, Designer Awarded by Local Chamber

Which two realtors (and what designer) were recognized by a local chamber of commerce for their work in East Dallas? How do North Texas home sales in July compare statewide? And where is the job growth in Texas?
We answer all those questions in this week’s roundup of real estate news.

TWO REALTORS RECOGNIZED BY GREATER EAST DALLAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Nancy Wilson of Coldwell Banker Real Estate and Ben Lauer of Lauer Real Estate Group were recognized with the Live Local Award by the Greater East Dallas Chamber of Commerce this month.

The GEDCC held its annual Business Awards Luncheon on Tuesday, August 21 at the Lakewood Country Club. The Live Local Award is given to recognize a small business or small business owner in East Dallas, who is a community leader who supports and gives back to the community, the chamber said in a press release.

Wilson has been a Realtor with Coldwell Banker for more than 20 years. She has been involved in the Lakewood Early Childhood PTA, St. Thomas PTA, Lakewood Elementary PTA, William B. Travis PTA president, Woodrow Wilson High School cheer parent, the site-based decision-making committee at Woodrow, the Woodrow PTA, founder and chair of the Lakewood Crime Watch, and was an original member of the White Rock Lake Conservancy.

She also served on the City of Dallas police review board, Safer Dallas, and was named the Volunteer of the Year for city council district 9. She also founded the Woodrow Wilson High Peace Pantry, which provides students with healthy snacks and meals, as well as gently used uniforms for those in need.

Lauer began his independent brokerage in 2012 (and began his career in 2006), and joined Keller Williams last year. He is a founding member of the 100 Men of East Dallas, which has donated more than $8,000 to local charities. He also serves on the GEDCC’s board of directors and is a member of its legislative affairs committee, and is a founding member of the East Dallas Young Professionals, which was renamed as Business Networking.

In addition, Kathy Fielder of Kathy Fielder Design- Life-Style won the R. S. Munger Business Pioneer Award, which goes to an individual with business or community connections to East Dallas, who is engaged in some sort of technological, creative, or business innovation. Fielder is a lifestyle and design expert, blogger, TV host and entrepreneur. Fashion Group International nominated Fielder as a Rising Star in 2017 in the interior design category. She has also been named Entrepreneur of the Year by Women That Soar.

John Botefuhr of  Adjust Chiropractic also won the Live Local award. Additional award recipients included: Jeb Hensarling Business of the Year Award, La Popular Tamale House; Chairman’s Award, Youth Believing in Change; and Entrepreneur of the Year, White Rock Alehouse & Brewery.

SUMMER NEW HOME SALES STABLE STATEWIDE

The new home sales pace in Dallas-Fort Worth didn’t change last month, the monthly index from HomesUSA.com revealed last week.

“Statewide, new home sales were also up, as they were in both Austin and San Antonio,” HomesUSA said in a press release. “Only Dallas-Fort Worth, the state’s largest new homes market, showed a decline in new home sales in July.”

“Despite the fact that Houston’s sales pace continues to slow, there is still strength in their new homes sales numbers,” said Realtor Ben Caballero (and Guinness Book Record holder), owner of HomesUSA.com. “Houston’s average new home price is up for the second month in a row as are its total new home sales. What’s somewhat surprising is that Dallas-Ft. Worth, which has posted the strongest numbers in the nation month after month, has shown its first soft numbers in quite some time.”

New home sales in DFW fell slightly from 1,340 in June to 1,333 in July. New home sales statewide jumped from 3,719 in June to 3,745 in July.

DFW saw its Days On Market remain stable from June to July at 115 days. Statewide, DOM remained at 128 days. Average new home prices rose from $350,941 in June to $352,409 in July statewide, while in DFW, average new home prices climbed from $361,817 to $364,522.

DALLAS-PLANO-IRVING RANKS SECOND IN EMPLOYMENT GROWTH IN JULY YOY

The Dallas-Plano-Irving metropolitan area ranked second in employment growth in July’s year-over-year figures, the monthly review by the Texas A&M University Real Estate Center revealed.

The area’s job growth increased by 3.6 percent, a distant second to leader Midland, with 9.8 percent. Fort Worth-Arlington tied for eighth place at 2.6 percent. All Texas metro areas except Corpus Christi and Victoria created more jobs in July 2018 than July 2017.

When it came to shares of total Texas jobs in July 2018, the Houston area had the largest share of jobs, with the Dallas-Plano-Irving area coming in second with more than 21 percent and Fort Worth-Arlington coming in fourth with a little more than eight percent.

Statewide, jobs grew at a rate of 3.086 percent year over year. Dallas-Plano-Irving contributed 0.7463 percent of that growth, while Fort Worth-Arlington contributed 0.2177.

While the statewide unemployment rate for July 2018 was 4 percent, Dallas-Plano-Irving and Fort Worth-Arlington came in 11th and 12th, with unemployment rates of 3.6 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively.

Mining and construction jobs accounted for the most employment growth almost completely across the board in Texas, with it accounting for 9.23 percent of the growth in the Dallas area. Fort Worth, however, saw the bulk of its employment growth (nearly 7 percent) come from the leisure and hospitality industry.