Fort Worth (Texas) Real Estate Situation Report - 9/16/10

Fort Worth (Texas) Real Estate Situation Report - 9/16/10

The timing is right for our North Texas real estate market to really be in a position that is the envy of almost every other region and state.  Sure things are off from what has become the norm.  Here are a few of the negative indicators:

1. Housing starts barely topped 16,000 in the most recent 12 month period compared with 50,000 home starts in the same period in 2006.

2. The number of home builders have been cut in about half - down from the peak of 76 builders that operated in the late 1990s.

3. Existing home sales "fell off a cliff" dropping by 29% in July and 17% in August.

4. There were 674 existing home sales in August in Fort Worth.  This is down by about half of the 1,169 sales that occurred in August of 2007.

Amongst this doom and gloom, buyers have made the mental shift back to buying homes not because they are get rich quick investments, or investments period; but, because they want a better place to live and to put down roots. 

Once the government intervention programs stop creating artificial ebbs and flows, the supply and demand will even out to what becomes the new norm.  We'll truly see what the market will bear and can start to adjust to it.  

Because of the current housing climate, there are late teens and early twenty children who are delaying leaving the nest; there are other children who are moving back with their parents; and there are plenty of families who are currently sharing quarters.  This is all creating a pent-up demand for future homes.

I'm not trying to be "Polly Anna-ish" here; but, there are already plenty of signs that the economy is starting pick up a bit.  This, coupled with the pent-up demand I think is obviously building, added to the the strong business environment and relatively high employment that we enjoy in North Texas, will surely cause a steady increase back into home purchases at a realistic and sustainable rate.

As a real estate professional and not an economist, I'm don't dare try to "call any bottoms" or venture specific time-lines but I'm willing to say that there are lots of reasons to anticipate that the housing market in North Texas will pick back up and be strong in the not too distant future!