Pace of New Home Sales Slow in 2 of 4 Largest Texas Markets
HomesUSA.com Releases Index Tracking New Homes “Days on Market”
The pace of new home sales in the two of the four largest new home sales markets in Texas slowed slightly in March, according to the HomesUSA.com New Homes Sales Index released today. The number of Days on Market for new homes sold in Dallas-Ft. Worth and Houston both increased slightly between February and March 2017, according to the HomesUSA.com New Homes Sales Index, but in Austin and San Antonio, the pace of new home sales actually picked up. In Austin, the number of Days of Market for new homes sold declined from 113.17 in February to 112.69 in March, and in San Antonio, the Days on Market declined from 104.46 to 104.35
Overall, in the combined four largest new home sales markets in Texas, the overall pace of new home sales slowed slightly between February and March, according to HomesUSA.com, as the average number of Days on Market increased from 120.64 to 121.60.
Ben Caballero, owner of HomesUSA.com and the number one real estate agent in the U.S., notes that the slight increase in Days on Market for new homes in two of the four biggest Texas home markets aligns with the Commerce Department’s announcement today on New Home Sales for March.
“The data shows the Dallas/Fort Worth began to slow early last year and the Houston Market’s pace continued to slow before that,” said Caballero. “It’s clear evidence the Houston economy is still being impacted by depressed oil prices. The Austin economy is less sensitive to down turns due to being the state capitol, it’s growing status as a technology center and being the home of the University of Texas. San Antonio is blessed with a large military presence and many military retirees continue to make their home there. Dallas/Fort Worth has long been a banking and insurance center and the home of many large corporations. None of which have seen aggressive growth recently.”
Innovative new index
The HomesUSA.com New Home Sales Index is a first of its kind to track the sales activity of new home sales. Created by Caballero, who was named “Most Innovative Real Estate Agent” by real estate industry real estate news firm Inman News, the index is an analysis by HomesUSA.com of the sales of homes listed in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio Multiple Listing Services (MLS).
Caballero notes that the new index reveals that the average Days-on-Market for New Homes “is about 65 days higher for new homes than for existing or ‘pre-owned’ homes.”
“This should not be interpreted negatively,” said Caballero, explaining, “This is a natural consequence of listing new homes while under construction, often in the foundation or framing stage. Since most buyers aren’t looking to move immediately, early market exposure allows buyers an opportunity for some customization and expands the inventory of available homes, an important factor for agents and buyers in a tight housing market.”
Caballero adds, “Another important contributing factor to the difference is the average new home sales price is substantially higher than for pre-owned (existing) homes, so you really can’t make an apples-to-apples comparison between the Days on Market for new homes under construction with existing homes.
HomesUSA.com New Home Sales Index – Days on Market – Rolling 12 month average
About Ben Caballero and HomesUSA.com
Ben Caballero is the #1 ranked real estate professional in the U.S. two categories: (1) number of real estate sales transactions and (2) cumulative transaction (dollar) volume. In 2016, he completed 3,565 home sales totaling $1.449 billion in volume. Between 2010 and 2015, he had 16,618 home sales totaling $5.765 billion in volume. Ben has been the #1 agent in the nation in these categories for the last 6 years and is the first and only agent in U.S. history ever to exceed the $1 billion mark for residential sales transaction volume in a single year, accomplished in both 2015 and 2016. Caballero is an acclaimed innovator and technological pioneer within the real estate industry. His drive to leverage technology has allowed him to reach unprecedented, historic levels of sales, as he developed a proprietary SaaS platform, HomesUSA.com, to aid him in servicing his clients. His individual record-setting production is only possible due to the efficiencies it enables. He was named a 2017 Inman Influencer and a SP2017 Trendsetter by Swanepoel T3 Group. Caballero received the 2014 Pinnacle Award for Real Estate Entrepreneurship, presented by Keller Williams Realty. He was named the Most Innovative Real Estate Agent by Inman News in 2013 and a finalist in 2016. He is CEO and President of HomesUSA.com, Inc., operating in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Greater Metro MLS, MetroTex Association of Realtors. A lifelong Realtor and former homebuilder, Caballero has been a real estate broker since age 21. Follow Ben on Twitter at @bcaballero and learn more about HomesUSA.com online.
