Source: Flickr user stephenhanafin.
Now is not a good time to be looking for a home to buy in Arlington, Texas with prices the highest they have been in the last five years and inventory dropping all the time. It’s a seller’s market yet there aren’t too many sellers who are listing their homes. This may be because they’re wondering what’s going on too and are sitting it out to wait and see. Unless you have to buy, this really doesn’t look like a good time to be purchasing a home in Arlington.
Inventory Dropping
A year ago real estate inventory in Arlington, Texas was at a fairly healthy level with around 1,000 properties listed for sale. Since then inventory in the city has been steadily decreasing and although there have been a few small ups and downs levels are far lower than in recent years. Today 667 homes were listed for sale compared to this time last year when there were 929, showing a decrease of 28 percent. At least there has been a small increase from last month when only 654 homes were listed. Today’s figure is up by 2 percent from last month which may be because we’re coming into the peak summer season.
List Prices Highest in Over 5 Years
The reduced inventory in Arlington is having an effect on list prices. Median list prices in the city have increased by a large 21 percent from last year when the median was $140,000. Today that median is $170,000, which, actually is a 3 percent decrease from last month when the median was $174,900. Even so, prices are at their highest levels in over five years, having increased year on year during that period. Increases haven’t been quite so marked if we look at median prices per square foot though we are still seeing rises here too. Last year the median price per square foot was $72 but today (the same as last month) the figure is $79 per square foot, which is an increase of 10 percent.
Median Days on Market At Lowest in Over 2 Years
Median days on market have been dropping to their lowest numbers seen in the last couple of years. If we look back to September 2008 median days on market dropped right down to just 11 days though several months later this figure spiked and hasn’t really come back down again since, until now. But, still nothing like the lows of 2008: last year the median was 55 days but today it is only 46 days so the figure has decreased by 16 percent. Having said this, last month was even lower at 40 days on the market so it’s actually gone back up.
With increased median list prices, decreased inventory, and a relatively low median days on market Arlington is experiencing a seller’s market right now. If you’re a buyer and you don’t have to buy, it may be best to hold off and see what happens to the market. How long you’d need to hold for is uncertain though and you have the problem of rising mortgage rates to contend with too.
Mortgage Rates Still Rising
Texas mortgage rates are seeing the same increases that the rest of the country is experiencing and they’ve been going up steadily since April when the state and national rate was around 3.34 percent. Today mortgage rates in Texas have risen again to 3.89 percent which is on par with the national average and is now slightly higher than it was this time last year. Texans have been spoilt with low mortgage rates, especially toward the end of 2012 but whether rates will continue to climb to the higher levels they reached a couple of years back remains to be seen.
