Dallas-Fort Worth home prices edge higher in report
07:53 AM CDT on Thursday, August 12, 2010
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
stevebrown@dallasnews.com
Dallas-Fort Worth home prices continued to edge higher during the second quarter.
D-FW was one of 100 U.S. metropolitan areas that saw improved home prices from a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.
Median home sales prices in the area rose 2.1 percent in the second quarter from the same period the previous year, the Realtors said. That beat the nationwide increase of 1.5 percent.
And it was more than double North Texas’ first-quarter gain.
Almost two-thirds of the U.S. markets that the Realtors track had year-over-year price rises at midyear.
But analysts aren’t overselling the latest numbers, which are compared with the depths of the housing shakeout in 2009.
“The recorded home prices in many markets were significantly depressed last year because of a large percentage of distressed homes sold at discount,” said Realtor economist Lawrence Yun.
“Now as more normal, nondistressed home sales are occurring, the median price in many areas is showing higher values,” he said.
Sales of distressed homes still account for almost a third of U.S. purchases nationwide, according to the Realtors.
An increase in the number of sales of higher-priced homes in some markets may also increase the median price, Yun said.
In the Dallas area, sales of homes in affluent neighborhoods are up sharply this year.
Nationwide, prices were up for the first time since 2006 in the closely watched report.
Some of the biggest second-quarter price increases were in California, which in recent years suffered huge residential value declines. Prices were up 36 percent in San Jose, 25 percent in San Francisco and 17.8 percent in Riverside.
Prices were still falling in more than 50 areas, including Cumberland, Md., -15.4 percent, and Tucson, Ariz., -13.7 percent.
The D-FW area had the best quarter price performance among major Texas markets. Prices were up 1.3 percent in the Austin area.
But median home sales prices fell 1 percent in Houston and were down 3.2 percent in San Antonio.
EXISTING HOME PRICE CHANGES
| Home prices in North Texas were up 2.1 percent in the second quarter of 2010 compared with a 1.5 percent nationwide increase. Median home price for each city for second quarter of 2010 and the percentage change from the same quarter of previous year. | ||
| BIGGEST INCREASES | ||
| Akron, Ohio | $119,700 | 36% |
| San Jose, Calif. | $630,000 | 26% |
| San Francisco | $591,200 | 25% |
| LARGEST DECLINES | ||
| Cumberland, Md. | $104,500 | -15.4% |
| Tucson, Ariz. | $150,200 | -13.7% |
| Beaumont, Texas | $120,700 | -12.9% |
| U.S. Median | $176,900 | 1.5% |
| MAJOR TEXAS CITIES | ||
| Austin | $196,600 | 1.3% |
| Corpus Christi | $135,500 | 1.6% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $134,700 | 2.1% |
| El Paso | $133,800 | 1.5% |
| Houston | $155,900 | -1% |
| San Antonio | $148,200 | -3.2% |
