Could The Holiday Season Slow Down The Blazing-Hot Dallas Real Estate Market?

Real estate, under normal circumstances, is cyclical. It follows the seasons — the market heats up just before Easter and the onslaught of the holidays in November tends to cool the market. It has boom-bust cycles, too. However, it would be more than generous to call the market we’re experiencing now “abnormal.” Demand for Dallas real estate continues to be high — both with rentals and homes for sale.

We know because one of our perennial struggles is getting homes on this award-winning real estate news site before they are under contract. The saying is true — you snooze, you lose.

So will the start of Fall break, the return of in-person college football games, and every other holiday that follows put a damper on the Dallas real estate market? Will buyers get a break?

New numbers reported by Zillow suggest that, though still hot, easing competition in the housing market could reward persistent shoppers.

“Homebuyers shopping this fall shouldn’t expect the same frenzied demand that triggered bidding wars on listings this spring and summer,” said Zillow senior economist Jeff Tucker in a statement.

“Buyers can expect less competition,” Tucker added.

Slowing, But Not Dropping Any Time Soon

On top of last week’s news from the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M, it’s even more encouragement for harried buyers who have had listing after listing get snatched up in front of them.

However, the numbers show that while home values may be slowing, they aren’t exactly dropping off. If you’re waiting for a bubble to pop or the market to crash before buying a home, you may be waiting for a long while.

Zillow’s report shows the Dallas-Fort Worth’s Zillow Home Value Index for October 2021 is up 23.3 percent year-over-year at $332,118. The average number of days on market for our region is just 17, according to Zillow’s stats, and there isn’t enough data on price cuts for them to show what proportion of the market they occupy (spoiler alert: it’s crazy rare!).

Any relief at all from skyrocketing rent prices wouldn’t go unnoticed, especially with study after study coming out over the summer showing that rent prices are climbing at a rate previously unheard of. Zillow’s rent index puts Dallas-Fort Worth rentals on market for an average of $1,707, a monthly increase of 0.5 percent.

“October had the lowest monthly rent appreciation in 2018 and 2019 and saw no growth in 2020 as rents recovered from the shock of the pandemic,” the report stated. “Still, the rapid rise in rents since March has pushed annual growth to 14.3 percent, the highest rate in the series’ history, which began in 2015. Typical rents in the U.S. are $1,873, now $234 higher than last October. “

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Are you seeing price reductions and fewer rent increases?