Falling Headlines, Rising Prices

The Dallas Business Journal reports "Major U.S. metropolitan area home prices fell in March by the most ever, with Dallas home prices down 3.3 percent in March from a year ago, according to a national survey of home prices by Standard & Poor's."

The Dallas Morning News reports the same tumbling prices.

But before you get worked up, take a closer look at the "plummeting" prices. The March decline (across the entire metroplex) represents a $16,000 drop on a $500,000 property. Not good, but not panic worthy.

And the good news - Here are the April 2008 numbers for our area for single family residence sales (from North Texas Real Estate Information Systems).

Comparisons from April 2007:

• Number of sales: Down across the board
• Average Days on Market: Up across the board
• Prices: Up most places!

Here are a few price figures:

N. Dallas (south of LBJ): up 10%

N. Dallas (north of LBJ): up 3%

Plano: up 4%

Carrollton/Farmers Branch: up 6%

Northeast Dallas: up 2%

Park Cities: up 8%

So what does this mean?

When you read the gloom & doom of our real estate market, remember that prices aren't plunging, diving, waning or tumbling. Despite all the headlines about foreclosures, the other 99% of the housing market is doing OK.

Don't panic, because the sky isn't falling in on Dallas ... and look for some different headlines when these April numbers hit the press.