Here's what a Denton County realtor is saying about the housing market
DENTON COUNTY (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Buying a house is dream for many North Texans but lately, it might feel more of a burden given higher interest rates combined with inflation.
But how are our counties doing here in North Texas if you are in the market to buy or sell your house?
In Denton County, there are several metro areas along with a lot of open space if you're looking for acreage drawing many people to move to there.
These are the housing trends from September, according to MetroTex:
- Median home price is $450,000, up 1.1%
- There are 2,923 active listings, down 5.9%
- Closed sales are down 8.1%
- Days on market has increased by 14 days, up to 82 days
CBS News Texas spoke with Tanya O'Neil, a broker associate with Great Western Realty who said the market is interesting right now where it's trying to get back to pre-COVID levels and becoming very town and even neighborhood specific in real estate – where certain neighborhoods are selling better than others.
"What's interesting is we're seeing homes on the lower end go, and we're seeing homes on the higher end go, it's that middle ground that's really sort of taking the hit," she said. "People that can splurge on a house are still doing fine in this economy it seems like...it's just the everyday person's home that is really seeing the more days on the market."
Advice for buyers? According to O'Neil, decide what is important to you and your lifestyle.
"I would say the biggest competition for my existing home listings is new construction because a lot of new construction have lenders that they work with or their company may even own and they're just throwing money," she said. "So new construction is still doing well but they're throwing money at people, they're offering a lower interest rate they're offering sellers concessions."
For sellers, O'Neil urges patience.
"Don't assume you can put your house on the market and it's going to sell in any condition," she said. "People now more than ever expect it to look good, nobody wants a fixer right now unless they're an investor and they are going to low-ball you so you have to stay on top of your house,. Staged homes sell about 70%faster than other homes so you really want to take time and make sure you prep your house so it goes quickly."
This story is part of a series, to look at the housing market in Collin County, click here.