Economy

Rising Interest Rates Aren't Slowing Pre-Owned Home Sales, But Builders Need to Ramp up Construction

By Joanna England / October 9, 2013 /

You’d think that rising interest rates would slow the real estate market, but that’s not the case for the Dallas Area. According to Jim Gaines, an economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, Dallas-area pre-owned home sales are up 20 percent year-over-year. In a conversation with Steve Brown, Gaines had this to…

Survey Says: Luxury Real Estate Buyers Are Getting Younger According to Coldwell Banker, Luxury Institute

By Joanna England / October 8, 2013 /

No, it’s not that Baby Boomers have found the fountain of youth. Instead, it’s the younger crowd that is becoming a growing share of the luxury real estate market, making purchases at an unprecedented clip according to a Coldwell Banker Previews International and Luxury Institute survey. Around 43 percent of the $1 million-plus homes are…

Do On-Line Home Price Estimators Distort the Market, Creating Drag or Distortion?

By Candy Evans / October 8, 2013 /

I have never met a real estate agent who likes Trulia or Zillow’s market home valuation estimates. Excuse me, “Zestimates”. I have never met a real estate consumer who didn’t like searching for real estate online and being able to get values instantly. We live in a real time society, which means, we want information…

Dallas Home Builders Kick It Up, Swear 'Em In, and Pledge to Build Fabulous Houses

By Candy Evans / October 4, 2013 /

Last Friday evening Rockwall builder Mike Mishler, of Mishler Builders, was honored with the prestigious 2013 Hugh Prather Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Dallas Builders Association. The award has been presented annually for the past 63 years to a builder, remodeler or developer who has done the most for the betterment of his…

Dallas Real Estate News: Local Market Monitor Report Projects Growth in Home Prices, Rents as RedFin Analysis Says Market is Transitioning to Benefit Buyers

By Joanna England / October 3, 2013 /

Rarely do you see both home prices and rents grow in the same market where, as we reported earlier this week, net migration is in the red. And yet that’s what Local Market Monitor is projecting for Dallas-Irving-Plano area over the next 12 months.

That’s partially due to unemployment rates dropping and a strong financial and service job market in the Dallas area. Local Market Monitor projections show 9 percent growth in housing prices over the next 12 months and 12 percent growth over the next three years. And demand for housing, both buying and renting, will grow thanks to overall population growth that is outpacing the national average.