The Dallas Morning News reports that median home prices in Austin were up 5.2% in July compared to last year and prices in Dallas were up 3.5%. The fresh data comes courtesy of CoreLogic, which also calculated the national numbers at 3.6%. "Sales of new and existing homes this July were up from a year ago, supported by low mortgage rates and rising family income," said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic. "With the for-sale inventory remaining low in many markets, the pick-up in buying has nudged price growth up. "If low interest rates and rising income continue, then we expect home-price growth will strengthen over the coming year."
CoreLogic estimates that 40% of the country's biggest metro areas have overvalued home prices - including the Dallas area. Looking at the major U.S. markets, home prices in July were up 5.3% year-over-year in Las Vegas and rose by 3.7% in Denver. Houston home prices increased by only 2.4% from a year ago and prices in San Antonio were 2.8% higher.
CoreLogic predicts that nationwide home values will grow by 5.4% in the next 12 months. Continued home price growth in most U.S. metro areas is impacting the sales of homes to first-time buyers. "A growing number of millennials are expressing an interest in buying homes, reinforcing the theory that this cohort is continuing to engage within the housing market."
Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic, said in a statement. "But, with so few homes available for sale, the imbalance has created an affordability crisis that is getting worse every day. "Demand exceeds supply and we're unsure of when the two will balance out."
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