Steve Brown

This morning Steve Brown of the Dallas Morning News gave a detailed report of the local housing market, noting that Dallas is poised for a bounce-back in 2010. What makes him think so? Here is a quick overview of his data:

• Sales of pre-owned homes have increased significantly from year-ago numbers
• Home price declines have slowed and almost stopped
• Median home prices have inched up from their bottom in February
• North Texas housing inventory has fallen to the lowest level since 2007
• Home buyer demand is up, which will lead to more building starts in 2010

Brown reports that foreclosures are “unlikely to ease” in 2010. George Roddy, president of Foreclosure Listing Service, commented that even when the economy rebounds in North Texas, the foreclosure market will lag.

Nonetheless, economist David Berson of the PMI Group remains confident: “We expect the Texas economy to perform better than the national average over the next year.”

For further details, visit dallasnews.com.

For those who missed Steve Brown’s report on Tuesday, here are North Texas’ November real estate numbers:

• Median home sale prices rose 5%, the largest gain in over two years
• North Texas realtors sold almost 5,500 pre-owned homes in November through MLS
• The housing inventory is below a six-month supply – its lowest level in over three years

Compared with November 2008…

• North Texas pre-owned home sales are up 31% and condominium and townhouse sales rose over 60%
• Park Cities’ pre-owned home sales are 81% higher
• Close-in North Dallas sales increased 60%

To read more details, visit dallasnews.com.