Housing is Hot!
Housing in DFW is hot, getting hotter
When Brent Alexander began his search for a new home, he wanted a large yard and good schools for his three children in the suburbs north of Dallas-Fort Worth.
It took some time, but he and his wife settled on a neighborhood called the Lakes of Prosper and signed mortgage documents in September 2012.
Since then, Alexander says he has seen prices rise upwards of $80,000 year-over-year in his little neighborhood in the Town of Prosper, which sits 35 miles north of Dallas.
“It’s eye-opening; this really shows the price jump,” said Alexander, who is the director of demographic research at Dallas-based Residential Strategies Inc., which tracks and reports on the residential real estate market. “The prices up here have all jumped.”
Today, North Texas’ home prices are at all-time highs, surpassing even the peaks hit before the recession and growing 8 percent year-over-year, according to S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. The increase stems from rising demand, coupled with increases in the price of land, labor and materials such as lumber, insulation and concrete.
Higher prices have revived a number of billion-dollar, single-family home developments, which, in turn, have created jobs in DFW. The region is one of the top 10 metro areas for construction job growth, adding 6,300 construction jobs during the year ending in July, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.
“Historically, the housing market has led the economy out of recession and there’s a ripple effect in the economy,” said David Brown, regional director of the DFW office for Metrostudy, a housing industry research provider. “We’re seeing positive job growth, and we expect this to continue as the demand for housing remains strong.”
Candace Carlisle
Staff Writer- Dallas Business Journal
“The Region is one of the top 10 metro areasfor construction job growth, adding 6,300 construction jobs .”