January's DFW market report is surprising, yet not. Sorta.
If you’ve been around for a while, you probably know that I am not one to “predict” what is going to happen in the market often.
In fact - I am super cautious about it because if there is one thing that has slapped me in the face over and over during my 12 years of real estating it’s this –
The market does not give AF what you think is going to happen and ABSOLUTELY LOVES to keep you on your toes.
With that said, I do believe that Nov-Feb are generally the best months to buy a house.
Are they the best months to list a home? Not always. These are the months that it is absolutely imperative that you hire an agent that knows how to market your home.
January data surprised me a bit at first. It felt like my personal business had taken a turn with an influx of buyers reaching out to strategize their 2024 home goals. It’s been busy-busy since December for me.
After looking at the data and chewing on it a bit, it actually makes sense. We are seeing multiple offers on certain price points, but not all. The main difference? The damn marketing. Pricing competitively and realistically. However, the increase in buyers is just putting us in a more normal market after a 29-year low in total sales in 2023.
Spring market has arrived a little early - but it still remains to be seen what happens. Interest rates dropped significantly from October’s 8%, and will hopefully stay under 7% through the year. Some have predicted us hitting high 5’s but…. I still feel that’s optimistic for now.
Let’s get to it –
AVERAGE SALES PRICE
January 2024 - $493,620
December 2023 - $511,082
MEDIAN SALES PRICE
January 2024 - $390,000
December 2023 - $400,000
What is the difference between average and median sales price? The median is the exact middle value, which separates lower and higher values into two groups. The average is the sum of all of the values, divided by the number of values.
NITTY GRITTY - This is what we see in January year after year with the holidays and traveling that happens in November and December. Nothing unexpected here.
CURRENT DAYS ON MARKET
January 2024 - 41
December 2023 - 36
DAYS TO SELL
January 2024 - 35
December 2023 - 31
CLOSE TO LIST PRICE RATIO
January 2024 - 98.5%
December 2023 - 98.5%
NUMBER OF NEW LISTINGS
January 2024 - 6,878
December 2023 - 4,668
NUMBER OF SALES
January 2024 - 3,909
December 2023 - 4,876
NITTY GRITTY - Here’s where it got a bit interesting to me. There was a minimal increase in DOM, almost a week. We’ve stuck around here for the past 5-6 months though.
December had more sales than it had new listings. January sales made up only 56.8% of the 6800+ new listings. Number of sales decreased. BUT - sales to list price ratio stayed the same at 98.5%.
This data seems on par for what Q1 tends to do. Any additional decreases in interest rates will increase sales. A 1% decrease brings in an additional few million buyers.
A FEW MILLION.
MONTHS OF INVENTORY
January 2024 - 4
December 2023 - 3
A balanced market is considered 6 months of inventory. We aren’t there yet and as we are moving into Spring market, I doubt this will increase. My buyer business is up substantially and it looks like there are still good deals to be found.
Here’s a note - as I pulled the stats a little later than normal in the month, February’s number of sales has surpassed January’s #s. I am very intrigued to see what this month has brought compared to January…
DFW is a macro market compared to your city, neighborhood, street and house. If you’d like a more accurate idea of what your home is worth and to stay updated on it, click here. You’ll receive a monthly email with a neighborhood specific digest. My clients absolutely love it.
Reminder - This data is Denton, Dallas, Collin, Tarrant and Rockwall county, Single family homes only.