Check out our new billboard at I-35E and 407!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Customer Satisfaction of New Home Construction Gains Ground
I read an interesting article on CNNMoney this morning that should be of some interest to anyone considering purchasing a new construction home this year, especially those interested in taking advantage of the $8000 first time homebuyer tax credit. According to the 2009 J.D. Powers and Associates U.S. New Homebuilder Satisfaction Study, although less new construction homes are being built, overall customer satisfaction increased for the second year in a row, up 32 points to 811 on a 1,000 point scale. Fierce competition amongst builders has lead to benefit for home buyers. Only the strongest builders have survived and they have survived by offering better home construction quality, more upgrades, and functional floorplans all at a discount from previous years. Also, of special interest to first time homebuyers, there are many homes at the finish out stage or almost there, that can be closed on by the November 30th deadline to qualify for the new homebuyer tax credit. To read more, click here.
Darling Homes tops the builder satisfaction study for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Drees Homes and Ashton Woods homes follow Darling in the number two and three spots.
Looking for a new construction home? Visit our website's new construction home search for the Dallas and Fort Worth area! See floorplans, community information, and many homes that you won't find on the MLS.
Top Dallas/Fort Worth home builders
Based on 2009 survey of consumer satisfaction with 1,000 being a perfect score:
1. Darling Homes 876
2. Drees Custom Homes 865
3. Ashton Woods 864
4. Pulte Homes 860
5. Standard Pacific Homes 858
6. David Weekley Homes 850
7. Highland Homes 849
8. Horizon Homes 836
9. Ryland Homes 816
10.K Hovnanian 813
11. Del Webb 811
D-FW average 809
12. Lennar 805
13. Meritage Homes 800
14. D. R. Horton 792
15. KB Homes 783
16. Beazer Homes 779
17. Centex Homes 774
18. Grand Homes 761
19. First Texas Homes 752
20. Fox & Jacobs 752
21. History Maker 749
22. Toll Brothers 716
SOURCE: J.D. Power and Associates 2009 New-Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Study
Darling Homes tops the builder satisfaction study for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Drees Homes and Ashton Woods homes follow Darling in the number two and three spots.
Looking for a new construction home? Visit our website's new construction home search for the Dallas and Fort Worth area! See floorplans, community information, and many homes that you won't find on the MLS.
Top Dallas/Fort Worth home builders
Based on 2009 survey of consumer satisfaction with 1,000 being a perfect score:
1. Darling Homes 876
2. Drees Custom Homes 865
3. Ashton Woods 864
4. Pulte Homes 860
5. Standard Pacific Homes 858
6. David Weekley Homes 850
7. Highland Homes 849
8. Horizon Homes 836
9. Ryland Homes 816
10.K Hovnanian 813
11. Del Webb 811
D-FW average 809
12. Lennar 805
13. Meritage Homes 800
14. D. R. Horton 792
15. KB Homes 783
16. Beazer Homes 779
17. Centex Homes 774
18. Grand Homes 761
19. First Texas Homes 752
20. Fox & Jacobs 752
21. History Maker 749
22. Toll Brothers 716
SOURCE: J.D. Power and Associates 2009 New-Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Study
Thursday, September 10, 2009
DFW Area Sees Decline in Number of Homes Sold, But Prices Hold Steady
12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, September 10, 2009
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
stevebrown@dallasnews.com
North Texas home sales fell by double digits in August from a year earlier.
But despite the steep decline, prices are holding up.
Local real estate agents sold 6,338 pre-owned homes though their Multiple Listing Service last month – a 15 percent falloff from August 2008, according to the latest statistics from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and North Texas Real Estate Information Systems Inc.
For the first eight months of 2009, home sales are down 19 percent compared with the same period last year. But median sales prices have fallen only 2 percent and were unchanged last month at $150,000.
The latest data is in line with recent national reports that show only modest declines in local home values – unlike the big drops still being experienced in many U.S. markets.
But analysts say it's probably too early to say for sure that North Texas residential values won't go a bit lower.
Any home price rebound will depend on a recovery of the local job market and the number of foreclosed homes coming on the market, said James Gaines, a research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M.
"So far, the D-FW market has absorbed these kinds of sales [foreclosures], and while there are individual neighborhoods or subdivisions where prices have fallen dramatically, the effect has not shown up as a major impact on the total market," Gaines said.
"Naturally, job loss is a primary cause of foreclosures and distressed sales, so the real culprit is the local economy.
"Dallas – like most of the rest of Texas – has sustained job losses since the first of the year," he said. "The losses need to stabilize and then reverse into gains for people to feel good about buying a home and having the income to do so."
The best news in the current local housing report is that the number of homes for sale continues to decline from year-ago levels.
At the end of August, 38,166 homes were listed for sale in the area, 14 percent less than a year earlier. That's about a 6.5-month supply.
"The key to house price stability is that there is not a surplus of listings," analyst Ted Wilson of Dallas-based Residential Strategies said. "Many households have elected not to put their houses on the market, and that has gone a long way to keeping prices firm.
"When there is an excess supply of housing for sale, on average it takes longer for a house to sell and, as a result, there is a tendency is for the seller to drop the price to garner buyer interest."
It currently takes 78 days on average to sell a house in North Texas. That's 3 percent longer than in August 2008.
So far this year, the smallest declines in home sales have been in properties priced below $80,000.
Sales of pre-owned homes with price tags of $600,000 and more have dropped more than 30 percent.
Agents and builders say that the federal homebuyer tax credit aimed at first-time purchasers has caused an uptick in sales of low- and moderate-price housing.
The tax credit expires at the end of November.
A second report released Wednesday predicted that despite continued sales declines, the Dallas area will be one of the top home markets in the country this year.
Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Wichita Falls also are on the list of what are expected to be the 10 top-performing housing markets, according to analysts at Local Market Monitor.
The study identified home markets where residential values are expected to remain level, that didn't have a housing boom and that have had modest employment declines.
"This means that Dallas-Plano-Irving will fare among the best over this next year, a factor that bodes well considering the state of the national housing crisis," a representative of the research firm said.
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
stevebrown@dallasnews.com
North Texas home sales fell by double digits in August from a year earlier.
But despite the steep decline, prices are holding up.
Local real estate agents sold 6,338 pre-owned homes though their Multiple Listing Service last month – a 15 percent falloff from August 2008, according to the latest statistics from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and North Texas Real Estate Information Systems Inc.
For the first eight months of 2009, home sales are down 19 percent compared with the same period last year. But median sales prices have fallen only 2 percent and were unchanged last month at $150,000.
The latest data is in line with recent national reports that show only modest declines in local home values – unlike the big drops still being experienced in many U.S. markets.
But analysts say it's probably too early to say for sure that North Texas residential values won't go a bit lower.
Any home price rebound will depend on a recovery of the local job market and the number of foreclosed homes coming on the market, said James Gaines, a research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M.
"So far, the D-FW market has absorbed these kinds of sales [foreclosures], and while there are individual neighborhoods or subdivisions where prices have fallen dramatically, the effect has not shown up as a major impact on the total market," Gaines said.
"Naturally, job loss is a primary cause of foreclosures and distressed sales, so the real culprit is the local economy.
"Dallas – like most of the rest of Texas – has sustained job losses since the first of the year," he said. "The losses need to stabilize and then reverse into gains for people to feel good about buying a home and having the income to do so."
The best news in the current local housing report is that the number of homes for sale continues to decline from year-ago levels.
At the end of August, 38,166 homes were listed for sale in the area, 14 percent less than a year earlier. That's about a 6.5-month supply.
"The key to house price stability is that there is not a surplus of listings," analyst Ted Wilson of Dallas-based Residential Strategies said. "Many households have elected not to put their houses on the market, and that has gone a long way to keeping prices firm.
"When there is an excess supply of housing for sale, on average it takes longer for a house to sell and, as a result, there is a tendency is for the seller to drop the price to garner buyer interest."
It currently takes 78 days on average to sell a house in North Texas. That's 3 percent longer than in August 2008.
So far this year, the smallest declines in home sales have been in properties priced below $80,000.
Sales of pre-owned homes with price tags of $600,000 and more have dropped more than 30 percent.
Agents and builders say that the federal homebuyer tax credit aimed at first-time purchasers has caused an uptick in sales of low- and moderate-price housing.
The tax credit expires at the end of November.
A second report released Wednesday predicted that despite continued sales declines, the Dallas area will be one of the top home markets in the country this year.
Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Wichita Falls also are on the list of what are expected to be the 10 top-performing housing markets, according to analysts at Local Market Monitor.
The study identified home markets where residential values are expected to remain level, that didn't have a housing boom and that have had modest employment declines.
"This means that Dallas-Plano-Irving will fare among the best over this next year, a factor that bodes well considering the state of the national housing crisis," a representative of the research firm said.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
New Forecast States Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio Will Be in Top 10 Home Markets for 2009
A little more good news about the housing market in Texas courtesy of Local Market Monitor and Steve Brown with the Dallas Morning News!
Despite continued sale declines, a new forecast predicts the Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio areas will be in the Top 10 Markets in the U.S. this year.
Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Wichita Falls are all on the list of what are expected to be the 10 top-performing housing markets, according to a report released today, Wednesday, September 9, 2009, by analysts at Local Market Monitor.
To read the full article from the Dallas Morning News Click Here.
For more sales trends for the Dallas Fort Worth real estate market click here and find your favorite home, and click on sales trends.
Despite continued sale declines, a new forecast predicts the Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio areas will be in the Top 10 Markets in the U.S. this year.
Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Wichita Falls are all on the list of what are expected to be the 10 top-performing housing markets, according to a report released today, Wednesday, September 9, 2009, by analysts at Local Market Monitor.
To read the full article from the Dallas Morning News Click Here.
For more sales trends for the Dallas Fort Worth real estate market click here and find your favorite home, and click on sales trends.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Texas Tops U.S. in Housing Affordability
According to first quarter 2009 Texas Housing Affordibility Index (HAI) complied numbers, the Real Estate Center at Texas A & M University states that Texas is number 1 in the country when it comes to housing affordability.
The numbers reflect the ability of a median-income family's ability to afford a median-priced existing home in their area.
"The slowdown in the housing market nationally and within Texas has led to signifigantly increased housing affordability everywhere, and Texas continues to maintain its place as the most affordable high-growth state in the country," said Jim Gaines, research economist with the center.
The numbers reflect the ability of a median-income family's ability to afford a median-priced existing home in their area.
"The slowdown in the housing market nationally and within Texas has led to signifigantly increased housing affordability everywhere, and Texas continues to maintain its place as the most affordable high-growth state in the country," said Jim Gaines, research economist with the center.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Plano School Board Approves Tax Rate Increase
Do you live in a home that feeds into the Plano ISD? If so, you will soon be paying slightly higher property taxes. The Plano ISD school board unanimously approved a 2.5 cents tax increase last night, September 1, 2009, to help pay down debt. This vote comes as Plano ISD has started to selling more than $100 million in debt to fund campus renovations and school construction.
This increase will change the tax rate for homeowners whose homes feed into Plano ISD from 1.3034 percent to 1.3284 percent for public school taxes. This increase will mean a homeowner whose home's tax appraisal is $200,000 will have to start paying $50.00 per year more than before.
Click here if you are interested in purchasing a home in Plano or the Plano ISD!
This increase will change the tax rate for homeowners whose homes feed into Plano ISD from 1.3034 percent to 1.3284 percent for public school taxes. This increase will mean a homeowner whose home's tax appraisal is $200,000 will have to start paying $50.00 per year more than before.
Click here if you are interested in purchasing a home in Plano or the Plano ISD!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
