Last updated on January 28th, 2025 at 03:26 pm
Dallas is a fast growing city in the United States, and its real estate market has grown exponentially? But can a city like Dallas crash?
As U.S. housing markets remain near historic highs, many people have started to worry about whether a crash is imminent—especially in Dallas.
It doesn’t look that way. Right now house prices are up 1.4% compared to a year ago.
A housing crash requires forced selling.
We’ll take a look at the current state of Dallas’s real estate market by discussing sales data and other relevant information from reliable sources.
We’ll also provide insight into what happened to the real estate market in Dallas during the Great Recession—including how much housing prices fell—and offer expert opinions on what could be coming next.
What Is a housing crash and correction
When it comes to the real estate market, you may have heard people talking about whether the market is due for a crash or correction.
But what exactly is the difference between a crash and a home price correction?
A crash is much more drastic than a correction. It typically occurs when there’s a quick and severe drop in housing prices, usually as the result of an economic downturn.
2008 was a market crash. A glut of inventory caused the market to drop fast!
On the other hand, while also potentially resulting in decreased home values, housing corrections are usually more gradual than crashes with more moderate declines.
If you’re concerned about whether real estate could be headed for a crash or correction in 2024, it’s important to take into consideration factors like existing market conditions and economic indicators such as job growth and income levels.
We may see a correction, but no crash is on the horizon.
Dallas real estate market statistics
According to Zillow, Dallas-Fort Worth home prices rose 13.8% in the past 12 months and that’s significantly higher than the national average of 7.6%.
But what do experts think?
The consensus opinion appeared to be right. There was no housing crash in Dallas in 2023. There wasn’t even much of a price dip.
According to Realtor.com it is going to be a nobodies market in 2023. They also appear to be right.
Home prices will stay elevated and affordability will be tight.
The demand for homes is clearly evident as price increases are continuing into 2023 and probably into 2024.
Real estate professional Julie Thompson-Adolf even goes so far as to say “We can expect slight changes in this market but no crash is imminent”.
The evidence seems to be on her side too – during the Housing Market Crash of 2008-2009, Dallas-Fort Worth prices declined about 20% from top to bottom, but climbed quickly!
So while it pays to stay informed, there’s no need for panic when it comes to the Dallas real estate market or the region.
- Median prices are up 1.4% to $355,000 compared to Oct 22
- Closed sales are down 3.5% compared to the same time last year.
- Days on market are up to 39 days.
- Inventory is sitting at 2.8 months, this means it would take less than 3 months for all of the inventory to be sold off.
- Realtors suggest 6 months represents a market where buyers and sellers are on equal footing.
Comparing Dallas to other US Cities
So how does the Dallas housing market compare to other cities in terms of pricing and crash potential?
Well, earlier this year, it was reported that Dallas-Fort Worth will be the top buyer’s market in the nation by year-end 2023, due to net migration consuming a large share of new housing supply.
It is simple math, if more people are moving into a city than out, there will be a need for homes.
This means that while there won’t be a crash in housing prices, competition will be fierce.
Unlike Austin, Texas, Dallas, is a much larger area that includes Fort Worth and a number of other cities that have much more homes for sale and availability.
Home prices weren’t bid up like Austin was in 2021-2022.
According to Dallas News, Nashville, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston rank in the top 10 for best U.S. housing property markets for 2024.
It’s also worth noting that when the Great Recession hit back in 2008/2009, Dallas-Fort Worth was one of only two US metro areas where housing prices didn’t decline substantially.
Important Fact:
- While prices in many cities in the U.S. were crashing, home prices in Texas in 2009 were rising.
In fact, median home price actually increased 3% during that time period—compared to some metropolitan areas that saw declines of over 30%.
No matter what happens with the US housing market over the next few years, it looks like Dallas is primed for solid long-term growth.
Based on the data, Texas might be a good place to own a home the next time a crash happens!
Lessons learned during the Great Recession
The Great Recession of 2008 was an especially tough time for real estate market in the US, and Dallas was no exception. House prices across the country declined.
According to Texas Real Estate Research Center:
- The average price of a home (Texas) topped out at $202,400 in June 2008 with 7 months of inventory.
- The average price (in Texas) bottomed at $176,298 in Jan 2010 with 6.9 months of inventory.
- That gives us a decline in housing prices in Texas of 12.8%.
- Average housing prices reached a peak of $216,212 in June of 2007.
- Then prices bottomed at $171,379 in January 2009.
- That is a 20.7% decline from peak to trough.
- However, by May of 2009 (just 4 months later) average prices climbed to $195,925
You might say that the Dallas area largely escaped the Great Recession when it came down to housing prices compared to places like California and the Bay Area.
According to the Case Shiller price home index, prices in Dallas, Texas dropped about 11% from their peak in 2007 to their lowest point in 2009.
Dallas reached a peak in August of 2007 (126.30) and reached its valley in February of 2009 (112.25).
That represents a drop of 11.1%.
According to Bernard Weinstein, one of these reasons was the number of jobs lost in Dallas during the Great Recession.
- 300,000 jobs were added between 2004-2007
- In 2009 though, all those jobs were lost.
- By 2010 Texas had gained 129,100 jobs back.
This downturn was painful for many, but it offers valuable lessons that can be applied today.
One of the biggest mistakes homeowners in Dallas have made during the Great Recession was failing to properly prepare for an eventual market correction.
People overestimated their ability to pay off mortgages and underestimated the risks associated with potential downturns in the market.
Today, homeowners in Dallas need to be aware that these kinds of risks still exist and need to plan accordingly.
That means making sure they can handle even large changes in housing prices, such as those seen during the Great Recession.
Additionally, it’s important to keep track of economic indicators that may predict a downturn—things like unemployment rates, construction costs and housing vacancy rates could all be signs of a future crash or correction that homeowners should watch out for.
The unemployment rate in Dallas in September was 3.9%.
This rate must increase substantially in order for people to lose their jobs and thus sell their homes. There must be a glut of inventory.
What to expect in 2024
Investors in Dallas real estate are probably wondering, will a housing crash be on the horizon in 2024?
Here’s what the experts are saying.
Many attribute the current real estate market to low mortgage rates, which have allowed buyers to purchase more house for less money.
However, these low rates have disappeared, and now high rates have are all thats left.
According to research firm CoreLogic [they had it right], mortgage rates will begin to rise in the second half of 2021 and keep increasing into 2022.
This meant that prices could follow suit and begin an upward trend as buyers snapped up homes before the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates.
The is exactly what happened; there was an influx of homebuyers who bought everything in sight in North Texas and around the country.
When rates rise, this will ultimately cause a slowdown in the real estate market because payments go up!
Money becomes more expensive to borrow.
Today there is no reason for people to move. If you have an interest rate of 3%, why would you want a 7% rate?
This means less homes on the market, and this is exactly what is happening.
However, there are other factors.
As much as a housing market is usually on an 8-year cycle of growth and correction, many believe a crash isn’t likely until at least 2024 or beyond.
This is because Dallas home values, essentially, have been on the rise since 2012 without a major correction—which actually bears out that prices are still in an upswing.
That being said, keeping a tab on the market and watching for possible signs of a crash must not be left ignored.
Watch out for steep rises in rental prices over a few months or volume decreases in home sales not related to any clear events, such as COVID-19 restrictions.
Economic trends in Dallas 2024
It’s no secret that employment is critical to the success of the housing market, and that’s certainly true in Dallas.
The unemployment rate is very low in the area at this point and has a strong economy. In fact, recent data was 3.9 percent, something that could likely play into the real estate market a good bit over the next few years.
According to experts, this might probably diminish the outlook of the real estate prices in case the unemployment rate increases in 2024 as more and more people will be afraid of losing their financial stability.
The bottom line of it is that if there is more economic uncertainty, people tend to be more conservative over expenditure, which could create downward pressure on home values.
However, this doesn’t mean that we should be expecting a crash in either the Dallas real estate prices—some analysts say any decline will be more of a correction than an outright crash.
While prices may slide for certain types of homes, there are also reasons to believe that prices in other segments of the Dallas real estate market will stay strong or even rise.
The is also an influx of people into the Dallas region. That always helps!
Population growth in a city usually is followed by builders constructing new homes.
Foreclosures in Dallas
Lets look at the foreclosure Data today.
- There are 2.7 million properties in DFW.
- According to this source, the foreclosure rate is .30%.
In 2009-2010 the rate was much higher at 2.25%. Foreclosures are a sign of an impending crisis. This leads to more evidence there is no crash coming.
Final thoughts
The Dallas housing market is not currently in a state of flux, and the chance of either a crash or a correction is not showing its ugly head.
Ultimately, the fate of the market in 2024 relies on unemployment and a recession which would cause sellers to be forced to sell their home.
Looking back, the pandemic caused a boom in the housing market!
It is important for potential buyers and sellers to stay informed on current market trends, and be prepared for either a crash or a correction in order to adapt to the changing market accordingly.
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