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This year I’ve had a bunch of buyers moving to Texas from out of state. One question that gets asked all the time with these out-of-state buyers is, “What’s going on with your property taxes in Texas?”
Texas is one of seven states without a state income tax. (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming are the others.) While that’s great for your paycheck, our state and local governments have to get money some way to operate, so they make up for the lack of a state income tax in the form of property taxes. We’re up there with New Hampshire as far as our high property tax rates. These taxes go to pay for schools, roads, police and fire departments, emergency response services, libraries, parks, and other services provided by the local government. The good news is the sky isn’t falling in Texas. Our property values are still on the affordable side of the spectrum compared to the rest of the United States. When we look at this affordability distribution score, the least affordable state is, no surprise, California at a score of 0.50 and Iowa and Indiana tie for the most affordable state at 1.17. Texas… well we’re at .82. We’re pretty close to the average for the U.S. which is .85. 
As far as our cost of living, we’re below the national average. We rank #19 as the state with the lowest cost of living and we're 4.9. If we’re going to be below average on something, I’m fine with it being on this data point.
So back to these property taxes. First question, how are they determined? It’s actually the local governments that set the property tax rates. This means there can be big changes in your taxes between cities, counties, and taxing districts. Let’s say you live in a brand new neighborhood on one side of town while your friend lives in an older neighborhood on a different side of town. You will likely have two completely different tax bills. Your tax bill in Texas lines out what entities are taxing your property and their tax rate. Taxing entities could include the county, the city, the local school district, the local hospital, and the local community college. The taxing entity takes your appraised property value and subtracts any exemptions you have, divides that result by 100 and multiplies it by the property tax rate to get your total amount of property taxes due. What are these exemptions? Different exemptions offered are homestead, inherited residence, age 65 or older, disabled persons, veterans, solar and wind-powered energy device, and charitable organizations and businesses. The most common one we have in Texas is the homestead exemption. To qualify, all you have to do is have an ownership interest in the property, use the property as your principal residence, and have occupied the home as of January 1 of that year. This exemption offers you a $25,000 reduction on your valuation for your school district taxes. Other taxing units may offer additional benefits with a homestead exemption but those are on a case-by-case basis. The over-65 or disabled persons exemption gives you an additional $10,000 reduction on your assessed value for school district taxes. You can visit Comptroller.texas.gov for more details on all available exemptions. Okay, so you have your taxing entities and your exemptions. So now it’s starting to make a little sense, right? Well, hold on there. I’m going to throw a wrench into the works. We also have additional land use development taxes. Wait… What? So, I’m going to get a little technical here. These are levies within defined geographic boundaries designed to raise capital so developers can finance the infrastructure needed to support new developments within those geographic boundaries. So basically, developers pass on the cost of creating new infrastructure for new communities to the homeowners in the form of a land use development tax known as a MUD or a PID. A MUD is also known as a Municipal Utility District while a PID is known as a Public Improvement District. Some of their differences are in the entity that establishes the district and the entity regulating the district. Per our property code, a seller must disclose if they’re in one of these districts, so you won’t come in unaware. So, while no one really gets excited about paying taxes, when you look at the net difference between what you’d pay in an income tax in another state from what you’d pay in property taxes in Texas, a lot of people still come out ahead and save more money by moving to Texas. Are you one of those folks? If you’re looking to buy real estate in Texas, let’s talk. I specialize in the DFW metroplex real estate market but have a database of great Realtors all over the state so you don’t have to go into this blind. Contact me to get started on buying a home in Texas or you can go ahead and schedule time on my calendar, click here.
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Hello Rockwall! Welcome to the Rockwall Real Estate Market Update. Each month I take the highlights from the news and market data then condense them into a quick update.
I’m Jennifer Shannon. I’m a Realtor with the Patty Turner Group at Keller Williams. Here’s your update for the month now that February’s numbers are in. Interest Rates http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ Since hitting an amazing low of 2.65% in January, rates have risen more than 30 basis points and buyers are taking notice. The change in the number of buyers in the market is more in line with this same time last year and we just have 1% more buyers in the market. That’s a lot more manageable if we can get more homes listed for sale. Even with the interest rate slowly ticking up over the last few weeks, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is still at 3.02% with .6% in fees and points. For this local market data, I use numbers from single-family home sales in Rockwall County. These numbers are based on sales data from February. The average sales price is at $418,910. That’s a 34% increase from just one year ago. The number of homes for sale is at 143 homes. We are down 74% in the number of homes available to buy in Rockwall County. Rockwall County had 138 sales in February, 20% FEWER than last year. Homes sold 41% faster in February than they did last year, and we averaged 38 days on the market. Our months of inventory is down more from last month and is now at .6 months. This number tells us that based on current demand, if no new listings came on the market, it would take just about two to three weeks for all of the current inventory to be purchased. We listed 158 homes in December which is 25% less than last year. Our average sales price per square foot is at $150 per square foot, a 20% increase from last year. The Takeaway Well, everyone wants to sell when the market is at the peak. If you’re considering a sale, we’re starting to see signs that the demand sellers have been enjoying might be wavering a little. The fact the number of buyers in the market is no longer severely outpacing what we had last year in addition to the fact sellers tend to prefer to list their homes in the spring, gives me hope that pressure on buyers will ease up a little. So, if you want to try and get ahead of the curve and sell while the market is hot, or just find out what your home could sell for, let’s talk. You can call me at 214-803-4444 or fill out the form on my website to get an equity analysis. Just go to LivingInRockwall.com and click on the button that says ‘Equity Analysis’. For more updates you can follow me on Facebook at Jennifer Shannon, Real Estate Broker. That’s all for now and I’ll see you next month! Hello Rockwall! Welcome to the Rockwall Real Estate Market Update. Each month I take the highlights from the news and market data then condense them into a quick update. I’m Jennifer Shannon. I’m a Realtor with the Patty Turner Group at Keller Williams. Here’s your update for the month of January now that December’s numbers are in. Interest Rates http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ First we start with interest rates. After hitting a record low for interest rates last week, they did tick up a bit this week and interest rates average 2.79% for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage with .7% in fees and points. A 15-year mortgage is at 2.23% with .7 in fees and points.  These low interest rates continue to draw buyers to the market. No surprise there. We have 69% more buyers now than we did this same time last year.
Source: https://www.mba.org/2021-press-releases/january/mortgage-applications-increase-in-latest-mba-weekly-survey Refinances are up 93% from last year. This means lenders are being overwhelmed with loans right now so things are starting to take longer to close than the typical 30-day period we generally expect. So what does this mean for Rockwall real estate? Well, as I’m sure you’ve heard, it’s a great time to be a seller. I’m not sure how long this will last for sellers and here’s why. At some point the grace period for these mortgages in forbearance will end and some people won’t be able to afford the restructuring plan from the bank. I don’t think you’ll see the level of foreclosures we saw in 2009 and 2010 where people owed more than their homes were worth because people now have a lot of equity in their homes due to the sharp increases in value over the last year. This will bring those folks who can’t afford the restructured mortgage to sell and cash out with their equity in hand. This will bringing more inventory to the market and soften the current demand. So the only way to help you take advantage of the market at the moment as a seller is if you list your home in the market of the moment and here’s what that market looks like in Rockwall now. For this local market data, I use numbers from single-family home sales in Rockwall County. These numbers are based on sales data from December. The average sales price is at $407,475. That’s a 23% increase from just one year ago. The number of homes for sale is at 188 homes. We are down 67% in the number of homes available to buy in Rockwall County. Rockwall County had 241 sales in December, 32% more than last year. Homes sold 49% faster in December than they did last year, and we averaged 40 days on the market. Our months of inventory is down more from last month and is now at .8 months. This number tells us that based on current demand, if no new listings came on the market, it would take just about three weeks for all of the current inventory to be purchased. We listed 161 homes in December which is 14% less than last year. So again, we have more buyers and fewer homes for them to buy and remember we have 69% more buyers in the market right now. Our average sales price per square foot is at $151 per square foot, an 18% increase from last year. The Takeaway If you’re in the position where you want to sell or need to sell, now is the time to do it. When we look at data over the last 10 years, the inventory has never been lower. Your competition has never been easier. Hello Rockwall! Welcome to the Rockwall Real Estate Market Update. Each month I take the highlights from the news and market data then condense them into a quick update. I’m Jennifer Shannon. I’m a Realtor with the Patty Turner Group at Keller Williams. Here’s your update for the month now that November’s numbers are in. Interest Rates http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ Good news for you buyers out there! Mortgage rates remained flat. We’ve stayed under 3% for the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage and currently sit at 2.71% with .7% in fees and points. These low interest rates are keeping buyers in the market and we have 22% more buyers looking for homes this year than we had this same time last year.  What’s going to happen with real estate in 2021?
Well probably better than consulting my crystal ball is listening to what some smart economists are saying. And what are they saying? First, that housing prices are predicted to increase 8% next year and 5.5% in 2022. Mortgage rates will hover around 3% and go up to 3.25% in 2022. So if you were worried that you might have missed out on these rates, it looks like you'll still be able to take advantage of them next year. And here’s to hoping the sellers who have been on the fence about selling because of all the uncertainty we’ve had this year, decide to sell and help ease the supply and demand challenge we currently have since rates will continue to be favorable for buyers. Source: Click Here That’s a big picture look at the real estate world, but what’s happening in Rockwall? For this local market data, I use numbers from single-family home sales in Rockwall County. These numbers are based on sales data from November. The average sales price is at $381,722. That’s a 13% increase from just one year ago. The number of homes for sale is at 223 homes. We are down 64% in the number of homes available to buy in Rockwall County. Rockwall County had 192 sales in November, 18% more than last year. Homes sold 40% faster in November than they did last year, and we averaged 39 days on the market. Our months of inventory is down more from last month and is now at one. This number tells us that based on current demand, if no new listings came on the market, it would take just one month for all of the current inventory to be purchased. We listed 176 homes in November which is 11% less than last year. So again, we have more buyers and fewer homes for them to buy. Our average sales price per square foot is at $140 per square foot, an 8% increase from last year. Source: Click Here The Takeaway If what the experts say comes true for 2021, it sounds like I might have the same overall report for the foreseeable future. We have more buyers than homes available for them to purchase. If you’re in the position where you want to sell or need to sell, now is the time to do it. When we look at data over the last 10 years, the inventory has never been lower. Your competition has never been easier. If that's you, let's talk. Send me a message or post on this video and I will follow up with you about selling in this market. That's all for this month. I hope you have a Merry Christmas and I will see you with a recap of 2020 numbers next month! A question that I’m starting to hear more and more is, “Are we headed towards a bust after this boom?” It’s no secret that we’re in a crazy real estate market. We have record-breaking numbers when we look at DFW as a whole. Looking at data over the last 10 years, here are the records we’re breaking:
With this information at hand, it’s hard to not question if we’re in a bubble and speculate when it might crash because we all saw what that did in 2006.
Well, there are some stark differences from this market compared to that one. In that market, adjustable rate mortgages stretched many buyers and we had stated income loans that didn’t require documentation. Today our inventory is lower, much lower, builders are underproducing compared to their historical averages, and we have a nation-wide housing shortage. Not to mention we have so much more regulation with lending that risky loans aren’t being showered on buyers like they once were. So, to answer the question, this all means that our current risk level for a bust is much lower than the last time the market was driven up. Hopefully that brings you a little peace if you’re in the real estate market at this time. And if you’re thinking of selling, your competition is at a record-low level. I highly encourage you to take advantage of this market that’s in your favor more than it has been in a decade. If that's you, let's talk. Contact me and I will follow up with you about selling in this market. And if you have a real estate question you want answered, contact me. Interest Rates
http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ Mortgage rates did go up slightly but they’re still about a percentage point below where they were a year ago. Average rates are at 2.84% with .7% paid in fees and points for a thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgage. Mortgage Applications Mortgage applications give us insight into the upcoming buyer demand. Simply put, when more people apply for mortgages, it means more people are out shopping for homes. We actually saw a decrease in mortgage applications over last week. That’s to be expected since this is the time of year when the market traditionally slows. But only getting a .5 decrease in demand isn’t that substantial when you consider that we still have 16% more buyers in the market now than we did this same time last year. I want to point out how much this number is starting to dwindle. We have consistently seen over 20% more buyers in the market for months, so perhaps the feeding frenzy for real estate is starting to soften a tiny bit. Refinances, on the other hand, are a completely different story. Those are up 67% compared to the same time last year. This is causing a lot of issues for lenders, big and small, who just aren’t staffed to handle the demand. We’re beginning to see a lot of loans, even on new purchases, take longer than 30 days to close. As far as closing on your refinance… well that can take months. Literally months to close on that loan. https://www.mba.org/2020-press-releases/november/mortgage-applications-decrease-in-latest-mba-weekly-survey Local Market News Now on to local real estate market news for Rockwall. For this local market data, I use numbers from single-family home sales in Rockwall County. These numbers are based on sales data from October. The average sales price is at $417,832. That’s an 29% increase from just one year ago. The number of homes for sale is at 264 homes. Compared to this time last year when there were 665 homes for sale, we are down 60% in inventory available to purchase. And remember, we have 16% more buyers in the market right now. Rockwall County had 234 sales in October. We actually had the same number of sales as we did in September. That is not typical. Usually we see sales decline from September to October. We’re up 40% in the number of sales from this same time last year. The average days on market is 43 days before going under contract, compared with 64 days from last year. Our months of inventory is down more from last month and is now at 1.2 months. This number tells us that based on current demand, if no new listings came on the market, it would take about five weeks for all of the current inventory to be purchased. Six months of inventory is considered a balanced market. So when we’re less than six months of inventory, that’s seller’s market territory. We listed 230 homes in October which is actually higher than what we typically see this time of year. In percent sales price to list price, sellers only had to negotiate about 2% off the asking price of their home to get a sale which is the same as it was last year. Our average sales price per square foot is at $148 per square foot. In October of last year, we were at $129. The Takeaway I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep reporting this same information and tell you that it’s a great time to be a seller and it’s also a great time to be a buyer. With incredibly low interest rates you can afford a lot more of a house as a buyer than you previously would’ve been able to. And as the seller if you’re priced right and your home is presented well, then you’re likely getting multiple offers. And we’re seeing strong numbers at all purchase price levels, not just the lower end of the range. If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times, it’s a great time to be a seller right now. If you’re in a position where you want to sell or need to sell, let’s talk. You can contact me at 214-803-4444 or email me at jshannon@kw.com. Just curious to know what your home might sell for in today’s market? Click HERE to get an instant market analysis on your home delivered right to your email inbox. If you want to buy in Rockwall, contact me to get started now so we can get you closed on a home before the end of the year. So have a happy Thanksgiving and I’ll see you next month!
Hello Rockwall! Welcome to the Rockwall Real Estate Market Update. This is for anyone interested to know what’s happening in the Rockwall real estate market. Each month I take the highlights from the news and market data then condense them into an easily understandable and quick update.
I’m your host, Jennifer Shannon. I’m a Realtor with the Patty Turner Group at Keller Williams. Here’s your update for the month now that September’s numbers are in. Interest Rates http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ Let’s start with interest rates. They’re pretty much the same as they’ve been, which is low. Very low. We’re currently at an average rate of 2.87% with .8% in fees and points. Over the last month we’ve seen the sloping line flatten out as the economic rebound has slowed. These near record-low rates have continued to generate a strong buyer demand with more affordable regions of the country, like the Midwest, seeing home prices increase at the highest rates over the last two decades.
Mortgage Applications
Mortgage applications give us insight into the upcoming buyer demand. Simply put, when more people apply for mortgages, it means more people are out shopping for homes. For months we’ve been seeing more buyers in the market than we did during the same time last year. That still holds true for the current market where we have 21% more buyers looking for a home than this time last year. There are indicators that entry-level buyer demand is on the decline. The lower priced homes are seeing slower growth and it’s likely a result of the current economic climate is affecting the hourly workers and households at the low to moderate income levels. https://www.mba.org/2020-press-releases/october/mortgage-applications-increase-in-latest-mba-weekly-survey
Rockwall County had 231 sales in September. We’re up 17% in the number of sales from this same time last year.
The average days on market is 44 days before going under contract. The median is 20 days. I wanted to look at the median this month since that data point looks at middle of the range of numbers. Here’s why. We’re seeing listings go under contract quickly and when homes are priced and presented well, multiple offers are common. And I’m not saying these homes are priced below market. No. I just mean that if you list for a fair market value and you’ve taken care to make sure your house is presentable with it being clean, clutter-free, and even staged, a lot of these get multiple offers. I was surprised at the average days on market last month because I expected it to be lower. My thinking is that because there are listings that are overpriced and not presented well, those listings are skewing the average to make it high. So the median is actually on 20 days. That’s not a lot of time for homes to sit on the market. Our months of inventory is down more from last month and is now at 1.6 months. This number tells us that based on current demand, if no new listings came on the market, it would take less than two months for all of the current inventory to be purchased. Six months of inventory is considered a balanced market. It’s a Sellers Market. We’re down again in the number of new listings to only 248 homes listed in September. The good news is this is slightly higher than September of last year, which hopefully means prospective sellers are beginning to get the message that now is a great time to sell. In percent sales price to list price, sellers only have to negotiate about 1.3% off the asking price of their home to get a sale. Last September, on average, sellers had to negotiate 4% off their asking price. When you consider our current average sales price of $371,615, that means sellers only have to negotiate about $3,700 off their asking price as opposed to this time last year when they had to negotiate almost $15,000 off their asking price. Our average sales price per square foot is at $136 per square foot. In September of last year, we were at $128. The Takeaway If you’re a seller and your home is presented well in this market, be prepared to have your next home lined up quickly. As you can clearly see from the data, homes don’t sit long in this market. How long will this trend last? Unfortunately, my crystal ball doesn’t say. The word used more than any other this year to describe our market has been, “unprecedented.” The current trend line shows that inventory will continue to be constrained and buyers will keep entering the market at levels higher than previous years to take advantage of great interest rates. And that’s my market update for the month. If you’re looking to buy or sell real estate in Rockwall, let’s talk. For you folks out there starting to kick around the idea of selling, really, let’s talk. We need more listings. If you want to jump straight to an estimate of what your home might sell for in today’s market, click on the link in the description of this video and plug in your home address and email to receive a comprehensive report on what’s happening in the market around your home. Hello Rockwall! Welcome to the Rockwall Real Estate Market Update. This is for anyone interested to know what’s happening in the Rockwall real estate market. Each month I take the highlights from the news and market data then condense them into a quick update you can be in-the-know on the real estate market.
Here’s your update for the month now that the numbers for August numbers are in. Interest Rates Let’s start with interest rates. During the month of August, interest rates stayed below the 3% mark (not including fees and points) and kept a lot of buyers in the market. On September 10, Freddie Mac announced that mortgage rates have hit another all-time low due to the slowing economic recovery. They also pointed out that buyer demand has been growing at double digit rates for four consecutive months and sustaining that growth will be a challenge given the already short supply of homes for sale. On Wednesday, September 9, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications increased 2.9% from the week prior. This is the time of year we typically start to that number decrease week-to-week, so we’re going against the historical trend. In addition we have 40% more people applying for mortgages than we did this same time last year. The Economy Another major factor at play for our market of the moment is the status of our economy and overall economic sentiment. Now before your eyes glaze over at the mention of the word, “economy,” hear me out, it’s good stuff. In general, buyers are sensitive to what the news says about the future and it’s easier for them to purchase a home when they don’t have to be as fearful of the economy and whether or not they’ll have a job next month. On a national scale, according to Bloomberg’s Recover Tracker, we’re seeing some positive indicators for a continued recovery.
For Texas, the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University says that if projections become reality, in a span of four months we could recuperate around 44% of the 1.4 million jobs lost between March and April. https://www.recenter.tamu.edu/articles/special-report/COVID-19-Impact-Projections According to the Dallas-Fort Worth Economic Indicators report released on August 28th, the area is continuing to recover from the effects of the downturn. We saw an increase in payrolls and a decrease in unemployment. Local Market News For local market data, I use numbers from single-family home sales in Rockwall County. The average sales price is up about $7,248 from last month and is now at $376,704. We had 326 sales for the month of August this year. Last year we had 248 sales. That’s a 31% increase. As for how many homes we have available to purchase, in August of this year we had 337 active listings. Now compare that to last year when we had 655 active listings, that’s a 49% drop in available homes to buy. To drive this point home a little more. As I mentioned earlier, we have 40% more buyers applying to get a mortgage and we have 49% fewer homes they have to choose from. You can see, this causes quite the predicament for buyers. Our current supply of inventory is down to 1.6 months. That means that if no new homes were listed on the market, it would take about six weeks for our current inventory of homes to be purchased. Last year at this time we had 3.8 months of inventory on the market. The average days on market is 50 days before going under contract. Last month it was two weeks more at 64 days, so homes are selling faster at a time when the market generally starts to slow down. Our average sales price per square foot has gone up to $139.This time last year it was at $130 per square foot. In percent sales price to list price, sellers have to negotiate about 2% of the asking price of their home to get a sale, which is the same as last year. When you look at our average sales price, that is a roughly $7,500 decrease. Now you might pause and say, wait, why do sellers have to negotiate at all with this market? Can’t they just name their price and call it a day? Well, not exactly. Anyone buying a home with a loan has to get an appraisal on their home. Since prices have jumped so quickly and by so much, appraisals aren’t following suit. Some buyers are being too aggressive in their pricing and because of comps and appraisals, end up having to come down on their sales price. So while it’s still an incredibly great time to be a seller, you still have to pay attention to your pricing and overall positioning of your home in this market. The Takeaway It’s the same as last month, if you’re a seller and your home is presented well in this market, the numbers favor you tremendously. Because supply is dwindling against the demand, we’re seeing a rapid increase in prices and therefore, appraisal issues are starting to creep up again. If you’re thinking of selling, we can help guide you through that process. Right now our sellers are getting top-dollar for their homes. We believe that if you put your home on the market now, you will get the most amount of money that you’re going to get for some time. Why do we say that? There’s a great likelihood that in a few months, or four months, or six months, things could change dramatically. We cannot predict the future. If you’re in a place where you want to sell or if you need to sell, what I want to share with you is that this is a great time to do it. If you’re a buyer, buying is a little more difficult at this time. You’ll want to work with an agent who has experience in negotiating multiple offer situations. Here at The Patty Turner Group, we’ve been on both sides of the multiple offer table and have great insight as to how to write and present offers to sellers in a way that favorably positions your terms. And that’s the market update for this month. This is a time when it’s critical to have a knowledgeable and experienced agent on your side whether you’re buying or selling. So, if you’re looking to buy or sell real estate in Rockwall, let’s talk. You can call or text at 214-803-4444.
Wow. What a week it has been. The best way to sum this up is from a meme I saw online. It said, “Anyone else feel like life is being written by a fourth grader right now? ‘And there was this virus and everyone was scared. And then the world ran out of toilet paper. Yeah, and there was no school for like a month!” Sound about right? I hear ya.
So what does this crazy environment we’re currently in mean for real estate? The challenge with reporting data is that most data has weeks of lag-time before it’s reported. So we won’t start to see a real picture on how Covid-19 is affecting real estate for a few weeks. Interest Rates Mortgage rates went up again this week. Why? Turns out people love to refinance when rates are low and that bogged down the system. Lenders couldn’t process the demand. So, they increased prices to help decrease the demand. It’s likely only temporary as they work through the backlog. Rates are currently at 3.65% with .7% in fees and points. 
Mortgage Applications
If you recall, a few weeks ago I said that I’d start paying close attention to the mortgage application numbers to see how the coronavirus was affecting home buyer demand. This metric is one that has the smallest gap from when the data is collected to when it’s reported of only five days. That means this report that was released on Wednesday covers numbers up through last Friday. It’s one of the reasons I love looking at this data. Mortgage applications decreased 8.4% from one week earlier. Keep in mind interest rates also ticked up. So the decrease in applications could be from people avoiding buying a home right now or it could simply be a result of the rise in rates. Joel Kan, Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting for the Mortgage Bankers Association said, “Purchase activity was flat but remained over 10 percent higher than a year ago. The purchase market was on firm footing to start the year and has so far held steady through the current uncertainty. Looking ahead, a gloomier outlook may cause some prospective homebuyers to delay their home search, even with these lower mortgage rates.” National Market News Today the National Association of Realtors released their Existing-Home Sales report and it showed that on a national level we had an increase of 6.5% in February after a decline in January. We’ve seen eight straight months of increased year-over-year sales data and February was no exception. Sales increased 7.2% from February 2019. In fact, February was our strongest February since 2007. The report revealed that the median existing home-price was up 8% from February 2019 is at $270,100. I’ll point out the obvious in stating this data comes from February, which is before the Covid-19 news started affecting our day-to-day lives. It’ll be interesting to see how this number changes next month. Local Market News In local market news, here are some key takeaways from February’s Monthly Indicators Report provided by North Texas Real Estate Information Systems
The Takeaway If you’re a seller, take comfort in a few facts: 1.If a buyer applied for a mortgage when rates were at record lows and they locked it in, they only have that rate for up to 60 days, depending on the terms of their rate lock. That gives them an incentive to move forward with a purchase. 2.We are hearing that the number of new Covid-19 cases in China are decreasing, giving us hope that we will soon follow that trend. If you’re a buyer, you’re in a great position. Rates are still very low and sellers may be more negotiable when selling for fear of having to sit on the market while we ride out Covid-19. That’s the update for this week.
Interest Rates
Well, you’ve probably heard the big news by now: The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit an all-time low at 3.29% this week with .7% in fees and points. It’s now the lowest it has been in its nearly 50-year history. 
What you’ve also probably heard was that the Federal Reserve cut rates on Tuesday in a knee-jerk reaction to fears of what the fallout from the coronavirus will do to our economy. On Wednesday it looked like we might possibly be on the trend up in the stock market but Thursday ended with the Dow down nearly 1,000 points. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for stocks and that might continue if more news of new cases in the US keep being reported.
Mortgage Applications Mortgage Applications showed a sharp increase of 15.1% from one week prior. The refinance index increased 26% from one week prior and was 224% higher than the same week one year ago. Market News How does the coronavirus affect new construction? There are two events home builders are preparing for. The first is that there may be supply-chain issues on building materials that may cause holdups in the upcoming months. The second thing they’re bracing for is a rebound. According to the National Association of Home Builders Chief Economist, Robert Dietz, we tend to see an economic rebound following “black swan” events such as natural disasters and health epidemics. We’ll have to see what happens to the supply chain and demand in the upcoming weeks and months to get a clear picture on how home builders will ultimately be affected. This week CoreLogic released their Home Price Insights report with analysis through January 2020 and forecasts from February 2020. It’s designed to give us the heads-up on home price trends. Some key takeaways from the report are:
Local Market News The Case-Shiller Dallas Home Price Index is down 21 basis points to 192.81 for December compared to November 2019. When you look at the numbers year-over-year, you get a modest increase of 2.6%. The areas with the largest year-over-year price gains were Phoenix at 6.5%, Charlotte at 5.3%, and Tampa at 5.2% This index measures the average change in value of all existing single-family housing stock. There’s a two-month lag in publishing the index levels, so that’s why we just now have numbers for December. The Takeaway Based on the news and the conversations I’m having with other real estate folks, we’re not sure how long the low interest rates will offset the economic issues that might linger from the effects of the coronavirus. While we hope that people will take advantage of the low rates, economic uncertainty does tend to have buyers press the pause button on home purchase activity. The mortgage application news isn’t showing that happening yet, so I’ll keep watching that metric closely to see if the momentum begins to shift. |
AuthorJennifer Shannon is a Texas real estate agent and broker, licensed since 2006. Archives
March 2021
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