Economist Cites Pandemic For D-FW, State Active Listings to Fall in Q3

Active listings in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington market were down 37 percent, matching a statewide trend in the third quarter, according to the Texas Quarterly Housing Report.

Statewide, MLS active listings were down 32.4 percent.

“Active listings saw a sharp drop with many sellers hesitating to list their property in the middle of a pandemic,” Jim Gaines, chief economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, said in the report.

Meanwhile, the number of Texas homes sold from July to September increased 18.4 percent compared to the same time span from a year ago, according to the report, which was co-authored by the Texas Realtors’ report and the Real Estate Center.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington home closed sales were at about the same pace with an 18.6 percent increase.

Meanwhile, the median price for a home was up 9.1 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago. Statewide, it was up 8.5 percent.

The Texas housing market experienced a strong push-through of demand from the second quarter into the third quarter, Gaines said in the report.

Housing inventory continued to remain low. In the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington market, inventory was at 1.9 months, compared to 3.2 a year ago. Statewide, the months of inventory was 2.3 months. According to Real Estate Center research, a market balanced between supply and demand has between 6.0 and 6.5 months of inventory.

“The Texas real estate market’s resiliency, especially in the middle of a pandemic crisis, is nothing short of incredible, though our housing supply is still critically low,” Cindi Bulla, chairman of Texas Realtors, says in the report.

Additional quarterly reports are available here.