Friday, May 8, 2015

The Latest In Conflicting Home Sale Research

The barrage of  "half full" vs. "half empty" opinions and statistics regarding the current home sales market continues, while the problem isn't any closer to being fixed.


A new report by Fitch Ratings, which reviews current home prices in markets around the country, shows that home prices in Texas "are 11% overvalued". Specifics include claims that Austin and Houston are "overheated by almost 20%".


In a separate report issued by Arch Mortgage Insurance Company claims that "Texas has a nearly 33% chance of a housing decline", and puts the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex and San Antonio first on its list of cities with "moderate" risk for a softening.


 
This Arch report adds North Dakota and Oklahoma among its other "moderate risk" states. Because of its direct involvement with home sales around the country, this report has some meaning, adding to the "half empty" scenario.


Both of these reports were the primary elements of a story in the Dallas Morning News earlier this week, which is quite understandable. And that's the rub here.


On the very same online page with this story is the first "other news" story to be linked to. The headline on it reads, "Dallas/Ft. Worth Housing Market Rated Hottest In the Nation by Realtor.com".


According to that story, Texas home sales "rose by more than 4% in the first quarter of 2015". It then goes on to say that the increase comes as the inventory of available properties "dropped to an all-time low" in the latest report from the Texas Association of Realtors.




There you have it. From the same link on a newspaper web site, we see two sources showing doom and gloom, while two others show a most positive spin.




What do I think? I'm sticking with what I consider to be more important facts. Such as this being the month of May, and that I'm still finding photos of available homes for sale in the northeast part of the country with piles of snow in the photos.


While I look at those, others sit and wonder why those homes aren't selling at all, or fetching the prices they once did.  












http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2015/05/texas-dallas-fort-worth-home-prices-are-significantly-overvalued-analyst-warns.html/

No comments: