Led by Dallas-Ft Worth, Texas Sets New Housing Records in 2016

Texas home sales hit record levels last year for both prices and the number of properties purchased.  It was the second year in a row that the Lone Star State's housing market reached an all-time high, according to a report by the Texas Association of Realtors.  "Strong gains in end-of-year home sales activity were a key factor in making 2016 another record year for Texas real estate," said Vicki Fullerton, chairman of the Texas Association of Realtors. "Last year's record home sales activity was fueled by the momentum of multiple years' strong job and population growth across the state, despite the fact that Texas job and economic growth began to slow in 2016."  

Real estate agents sold 323,607 homes in the state last year — an increase of 4.4 percent from 2015, the Austin-based real estate trade group reports. Median sales prices rose 7.6 percent to a record $210,000.  The Dallas-Fort Worth area had even bigger home market gains in 2016.  Home sales in D-FW totaled almost 98,000, up about 5 percent from 2015. More houses were sold in the area than in any of Texas' other largest metro areas.  Houston was second with 80,604 home sales — 2.4 percent more than in 2015. Sales in Austin rose 4 percent, and they were 9.2 percent higher in the San Antonio area.  

North Texas also has the tightest home market, with just a 1.8-month supply of houses listed for sale with real estate agents. That's well below the statewide inventory of 3.3 months at the end of 2016.


Dallas Morning News, February 22, 2017