North Texas home sellers are retreating in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asking prices for homes listed for sale in Dallas-Fort Worth fell 3% in March from a year ago, a sign of what might be to come in the next month or two.
The median DFW list price with Realtor.com was $342,545.
Total area listings were down 10% from March 2019.
"Our inventory and listing data can provide some early insight into how housing markets may be impacted by COVID-19, but the situation and reactions to it are still rapidly evolving," Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale said in the new report. "The U.S. housing market had a good start to the year.
"Despite still-limited homes for sale, buyers were buying and builders were building," she said. "The pandemic and virus-fighting measures appear to be disrupting that initial momentum as both buyers and sellers adopt a more cautious posture."
Real estate agents have reported a sharp decline in homebuyer traffic, have canceled open houses and are doing more business online to cope with the coronavirus epidemic.
DFW had the biggest decline in March median home list prices, according to Realtor.com
Houston asking prices were down 1% year-over-year, and San Antonio prices were flat.
In the Austin area, median list prices were up 3% from March 2019.
DFW was one of the few major metropolitan areas in the U.S. that saw an annual drop in median asking prices last month.
The decline in home buying activity caused by the pandemic is coming at the time of year the housing market typically takes off.
The full impact of the COVID-19 infections, resulting layoffs and expected economic recession likely won't be known for several months.
"April and May are going to be the telling months," said Dr. James Gaines, chief economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. "The first half of March ,we were still gearing up for all the shelter in place."
