Real Estate Market in Dallas

There are only a handful of markets in the United States that have escaped the recent sub prime lender housing market crash. Long time stalwarts like Boston and Miami have been hit so hard, people seem to be losing their homes right and left. But the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex seems to be immune, at least for now, from the terrible market conditions that are affecting the rest of the country. A report released at the end of August by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight shows that home prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are actually still rising, even though most of the country has seen a sharp decline in home prices. What does this mean for the future of the Dallas real estate market?

While no one can be 100 percent certain about the future of real estate, the Dallas market has experienced a slow down in recent months in the local real estate market. It is just that Dallas hasn’t experienced the catastrophic collapse of the housing market like many other cities have. For instance, recent housing statistics released in mid-August 2007 show that foreclosure numbers in the entire state of Texas are actually down, unlike most of the country where they are at record levels. The driving force behind this lack of a collapse has been more responsible lending by Texas banks, a strong local economy that has meant more money flowing into the pockets of Dallas residents and an unabated flow of people from other areas that continue to move into the Dallas Metroplex. While it can’t be guaranteed that this trend will continue, it is likely that if Dallas does experience a further slow down in the local real estate market, it will be what is known as a “soft landing” instead of burst bubble.

With a soft landing, the market simply slows down further at a very gradual rate, instead of a sudden, sharp drop off in home prices and a sharp rise in foreclosures. Many neighborhoods in the Dallas Metroplex remain red hot, such as Las Colinas and Arlington. McKinney, which was one of the fastest growing cities in the country for most of this decade continues to grow, albeit at a slower rate. The only part of the state that is really showing anything near a precipitous drop off in home sales is North Texas, but a drop is to be expected after decades of near record growth in that region.

The apartment rental market continues to flourish in the Dallas area. With construction of condos and apartments unabated over the last five years, there is more and more choice out there for consumers looking for a home away from home. Of course, some areas of the Metroplex are more exclusive than others, with Las Colinas leading the way, but even in Irving and downtown Dallas and Fort Worth, apartment bargains can be had.

No one knows for sure if the Dallas Metroplex will continue to buck national trends and enjoy a stable housing market. As the rest of the country recovers from the current malaise, you can bet that Dallas will once again heat up and become one of the top markets in the world.