The local housing market has been increasingly difficult for everyday Americans to afford, and 2024 is shaping up to be no different.
Dallas-Fort Worth is forecast to be one of the nation’s top housing markets in 2024, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). However, non-stop demand and unrelenting price increases have created an environment where fewer Texans can afford their first home.
Despite decades-high mortgage rates and local housing inventory remaining flat at around 2.5 months, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said he anticipates DFW home sales to “inevitably rise” in 2024, NBC 5 DFW reported.
If mortgage rates fall lower this year, Yun said he believes DFW will benefit from more home construction and more housing supply. However, if rates rebound higher, Yun said it could further “delay” potential home sellers from “coming into the market.”
He explained that homeowners who are locked in at a 2-4% mortgage rate are generally unlikely to sell their current home for a new one at a 6-7%+ rate. Once mortgage rates come down, homeowners will be more willing to sell, and buyers will have more inventory to choose from.
Even though many homebuyers are waiting for rates to come down before committing to a mortgage, Yun said it is wishful thinking and that a 6% rate is likely the new normal. A return to 2-3% “probably will not happen for the remainder of my lifetime,” he claimed, per NBC 5.
According to Yun, navigating the housing market in 2024 is “going to be difficult.”
“As more people move into the area and more companies relocate to the region, prices look like they are going to continue to rise. Let’s hope in a more moderate fashion with more adequate supply coming onto the market. But for residents, longtime residents who are not homeowners, they should really consider that they don’t want to be left out,” he told NBC 5.
