Buyers & Renters In The Hunt For North Texas Housing
NORTH TEXAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - With home prices nearing all-time highs, and rent rates setting records across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, it is not an easy time to be in the buying market.
"I've seen a few places, and know that they're few and far between," said Brooke Beavers.
Beavers is looking for a condo in the Oak Lawn/Uptown area of Dallas. She recently sold her current home to a developer who was interested in buying the entire block.
Now a buyer again, she knows the inventory is slim.
Her agent, Joe Atkins of Joe Atkins Realty, said he's very clear with his clients. "I tell everybody, 'you've got to be able to jump when I say jump,' because coming in a day late, you could miss out on a home. Homes are selling, in some neighborhoods, in a matter of hours."
Currently there are an estimated 10,000–plus people, per month, moving to the Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton County regions.
The Dallas Builders Association (DBA) says inventory of homes on the market is low. One measuring stick for supply and demand is the number of single-family home building permits issued for new construction.
To keep up with the projected population demand, the DBA estimates, 32,000 to 33,000 new permits is a healthy number to be issued per year. According to the DBA, just 24,646 permits were issued in 2013.
But the numbers are moving in the right direction. Builders estimate by the end of this year, 27,000 to 28,000 permits will be issued -- with the vast majority for the first-time construction of single-family homes.
Realtors hope the market will ease up in the next few years, as construction catches up.
"That could take two to three years, seeing as there was a period where there weren't a lot of houses or condos built, when we were in the recession," said Atkins.
Master-planned developments also play a key role. Multiple homes built at once in a community are helping fill the gap, according to the DBA.
Having found a condo in her same neighborhood, Beavers does not plan to wait on the market. She plans to make an offer now, and hope the investment pays off in the long run.
"Never stop looking. If there's something out there you would want – get it," she said.
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