DFW home price gains the smallest in almost five years

Dallas-Fort Worth home prices rose by only 6% in the first quarter.

It was the lowest year-over-year price gain in almost five years for the DFW area in the National Association of Realtors' quarterly home price comparison.

Nationwide median home sales prices were 5.7% higher than in first quarter 2017, according to the real estate trade association.

The first quarter annual price increase in the DFW area is less than half the year-over-year price rise in first quarter 2017, according to the Realtors.

Home prices rose in more than 90 percent of the 178 U.S. metro areas included in the quarterly survey.

And 30% of the home markets the Realtors looked at had double-digit percentage price jumps.

Fort Worth
View of the Fort Worth Downtown. Texas, United States

"Prospective buyers in many markets are realizing that buying a home is becoming more expensive in 2018," Realtors' chief economist Lawrence Yun said in the report. "Rapid price gains and the quick hike in mortgage rates are essentially eliminating any meaningful gains buyers may be seeing from the combination of improving wage growth and larger paychecks following this year's tax cuts.

"Home shoppers are increasingly struggling to find an affordable property to buy, and the prevalence of multiple bids is pushing prices further out of reach."

The biggest first home price increases from a year ago were in San Jose, up 28.3 percent, and Gainesville, Fla., up 22.2%.

DFW's first-quarter median price of $250,700 was near a record high for the Realtors' survey and was higher than the national median price of $245,500.

Austin had the highest prices among the major Texas metros with a median of $296,400.

While DFW home prices are still rising, the rate of residential appreciation in North Texas this year is much lower.

Through the first four months of 2018, the median sales price of preowned single-family homes in the area rose by only 5%, according to data from local real estate agents.

Tribune Content Agency
Home prices Housing markets Real estate NAR Texas
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