Inventory continues to drive up home prices across North Texas, but new home builder confidence should increase over time and offset inventory levels.
Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) April 01, 2014
Confidence among home builders is not just occurring in North Texas, but also across the country, and has many experts hoping for a replenished inventory and more balanced real estate market in the coming months and years.
Citing data from the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index, The Dallas Morning News reports that builder confidence climbed to 47 on the index, up from February’s 46 but still below the marker of 50 that denotes positive conditions overall. Still, there is plenty of time for the index to reach 50 as the spring and summer are prime building seasons across the country.
The winter season is typically a slow time for new home construction activity, as evidenced by the fact that the index was above 50 between June and January. A combination of particularly inclement weather during the late winter months through much of the country and labor shortages have put a hamper on home builders everywhere.
However, new home sales are keeping pace as January posted a 9.6 percent boost here, bringing the seasonally adjusted annual rate to 468,000. That represents the strongest pace in more than five years.
“Inventory continues to drive up home prices across North Texas, but new home builder confidence should increase over time and offset inventory levels,” said DD Flynn, VP of Marketing at Prudential Texas Properties. “Current home owners are also showing signs they’re confident in their ability to sell in 2014, which should further benefit North Texas real estate in the months to come.”
According to Altos Research, a California-based data analytics company, there were 1,941 properties on the market in Dallas as of March 14. This figure offsets several straight months of decline, and for the first time since mid-2013, inventory appears to be leveling out and possibly even pointing upward with the spring and summer months just around the corner.
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