It’s Spring!! The housing market is slowing but home prices are still appreciating.  Real estate is cyclical and the spring market is traditionally when we see things begin to pick up after the slower winter months.  We have the numbers in for March and we are seeing an uptick in activity from the prior month, however, the sale activity is down from the same time last year.  All four counties are down from the same time last year for sales volume. We have been in a more frenzied market for a long time and are starting to see signs towards a more balanced market. A balanced mark ..read more

It’s March!  They say March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. So far in North Texas real estate we haven’t seen much of the lion, just a lot of rain!  In the real estate market, February wasn’t too different from January, not much lion happening in housing either!  Mortgage rates did rise some in February which tampered down any big moves in the market. The median sales prices are up from the same time last year in all of the markets with the exception of Collin County. Supply is up and sale volume is down.  Typically the markets will heat up in the spring but it r ..read more

Love in Real Estate I’m I wrote this blog– 4 Things I Love About Being a Real Estate Appraiser- 10 years ago!  So much has changed since that time!  We have experienced some very large swings in the market regarding the number of appraisals needed from a very high volume where appraisers couldn’t keep up, to the now very low volume of appraisal requests.  Mortgage interest rates dipped to historic lows around 3% in 2020 and 2021  then made big jumps in 2022, peaking at close to 8% in November of 2023.  Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter was released after I wrote tha ..read more

As we’re getting ready to say goodbye to 2023 and welcome 2024, we wanted to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!   2023 recap: This year, we saw many changes in the real estate market.  The rising mortgage rates slowed down the real estate market considerably.  This year marks the first year in over a decade that we show a decline in YoY median pricing.  The 30-year mortgage rate peaked the week of October 26th at 7.79% for the average.  Higher mortgage rates decreased the demand due to affordability.  This did not however bring on a hug ..read more

Winter is here! Last week we had one evening of beautiful snow that quickly melted away. As I type, we are receiving winter weather watch notifications as we are getting ready for a more dangerous icing event here in North Texas this week. As we prepare for the coming cold, I am reminded that, although dramatic, most of the weather events here never last long. So we will get everything done tomorrow morning before it hits and I’m planning to make some homemade chili! What’s happening in the housing markets? Well, 2022 started out with a bang as prices soared like a rocket. The rocket soon tur ..read more

“A fallen leaf is nothing more than a summer’s wave goodbye.”-Unknown Here in North Texas, we are finally starting to see the leaves turning colors and begin falling. It’s pretty but doesn’t last long and soon we will enter the bleak and gray winter months. I tend to make a comparison of the seasons with the housing market but it often works in tandem.  There is seasonality in real estate markets.  Within the past two years, the seasonality trends have been less because we had such high demand and low supply.  Low mortgage rates gave buying power as millennials finally jumped in ..read more

It’s hard to believe that it has been 2 years since we experienced the great Texas Winter Storm when the Texas power grid failed and we went several days without power in our Texas homes that are not built to keep heat. As much as I love the beauty of snow and the colder temps we occasionally get in North Texas, I still worry about the grid. I called it PTSD from that storm. So far, so good with the grid. Let’s keep it up. We are now entering the time of year when one day you need shorts and the next day you have to bring out your jacket. Gotta love North Texas weather! So what’s happening in ..read more

Happy October and Happy 8th Anniversary to our blog and 7th Anniversary of our newsletter. The first newsletter was published in September 2015. It has evolved since then and it has been fun reporting all of the different things that the North Texas markets as well as national markets have experienced over the last seven years!  From our rapid population, new construction, the popularity of barndominiums, the Texas ice storm, and the pandemic there’s been a lot to cover!  What’s happening now? We have been seeing and reporting the indicators signally a market shift within the past f ..read more

As we end this year and look to the new, we hope that you had a nice Christmas time and we wish you the best for the upcoming year! This month we celebrate 35 years of the D. W. Slater Company! In honor of 35 years, we have gone back to the original retro logo! The winter season is upon us and the slowdown in housing is partly seasonal. Mortgage rates peaked in November as the sales prices are declining from the previous month. The number of sales has also declined which is typical this time of year. Homes are staying on the market slightly longer and inventory is edging up. Here are the num ..read more

Happy Halloween! We wish you a safe and enjoyable Halloween. Enjoy these scary prior posts, just in time for Halloween! The Wylie Ax Murder House- Does Murder Impact the Value of Real Estate? HAUNTED HOUSES, HAUNTED REAL ESTATE Haunted House Adjustments 5 Scary Movies That Describe An Appraiser’s Job The post Happy Halloween! appeared first on DW Slater Company Blog ..read more