After a jump in May home sales, North Texas housing activity retreated in June.
Sales of houses in the area by real estate agents fell by 5% last month with more than 10,250 properties changing hands.
June's dip in home purchases was enough to put total sales for the first six months the year down 1% from the same period in 2018, according to data from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems.
Through the first half of 2019, real estate agents have sold more than 51,000 houses through their North Texas multiple listing service, according to preliminary numbers.
With lower mortgage rates in recent months, housing analysts and property brokers had hoped for a significant rebound in sales.
May's 6% year-over-year increase was encouraging but didn't hold up.
"It's bouncing around a little bit," said Ted Wilson with Dallas housing analyst Residential Strategies. "Affordability continues to be the big issue right now, although these lower interest rates have helped a little bit."
After approaching 5% at the end of 2018, mortgage rates for long-term loans have dropped to just under 4%.
While financing costs have moderated, home prices have continued to rise.
In June the median price of houses sold by real estate agents in the more than two dozen counties included in the survey rose 2% from last year to a record $277,000.
Housing costs in North Texas are more than 50% ahead of where they were a decade ago — one of the biggest metro area increases in the nation.
Almost 27,000 houses were listed for sale with area real estate agents at the end of June, about 9% more than a year earlier.
On average it took 45 days to sell a house in the area — 18% longer than in June 2018.
