What are some trends you are seeing in housing prices?
It’s all about demand and supply. When supply is low and demand is high, prices will increase. And that is what we’re basically seeing in home prices ... In 2008, when the market crashed, there were not enough buyers, so home prices fell. Now, it is the complete opposite. Buyers are really struggling to find homes right now, and some sellers are part of it because their houses are going quickly, but they can’t find another place to live.
With all the unemployment, why are housing prices so high?
The first thing with that is the government stimulus package. That has helped a lot of people. Some of them actually made more through government aid than in their original jobs. Second, we are seeing a lot of relocation from out of town. People from California, New York and New Jersey are moving down to Texas. We are also seeing local investors who have a lot of interest in purchasing properties with cash.
What are differences in trends between cities?
With different cities, there is no telling. For example, in Flower Mound, 113 houses were sold in May 2020. In May 2021, 121 houses were sold. The median price, however, shot up from $430,000 to almost $511,000. In Highland Village, in May 2020, 15 houses were sold. This number went up to 26 houses in May 2021. The house price median went from $406,000 to $540,000. That is a huge increase. But if you look at Lewisville, [the market] declined in the number of houses sold from last year. They still raised median prices, but not nearly as much as Highland Village and Flower Mound.
What advice do you have for homebuyers?
They just need to be patient and watchful of the market. Homebuyers need to work with their agents, and they need to try and find houses that haven’t even been on the market yet ... It is the agent’s job to constantly check the market and regions to provide the best options for buyers. It is the buyer’s job to also constantly be looking and communicating.
How long do you think this positive trend will last?
From what I heard from the tax assessor in Denton County last month, he said that we are about one million houses short in the North Texas area. That is going to take at least a year and a half to two years to recover from.
Eyad Salloum, owner, Weichert Realtors-Classic, 614 S. Edmonds Lane, Lewisville. 214-562-5039. www.weichertclassic.com
For the full Home Improvement Guide, check out Pages 10-11 in the e-edition of Community Impact Newspaper.
