Though the supply of pre-owned homes available for sale in the northwest Dallas suburbs does not come close to being as tight as on the east and west coasts and in the upper mid-west, a drop in June's inventory absorption rate to a 2.9 months supply appears to be providing sellers somewhat increased leverage when selling their homes. This is occurring despite area home sale volume being down slightly from a year ago.

June's inventory absorption rate of 2.9 months supply is more than 9 percent lower than May's revised 3.2 months supply. Even more remarkable, it is nearly 15 percent less than the 3.4 months supply of pre-owned homes listed for sale a year ago.

Sales of pre-owned, single family homes reported through mid-July showed sales to be 1.4 percent lower than the same month a year ago, 775 homes versus 786 homes. However, it is likely that subsequently reported additional sales will cause June's final sale volume to be equal or perhaps be higher than same month sales for the previous year. While sales have been basically flat for the past month, and for the past three months, sale volume for the past 12 months is up approximately 6 percent.

The number of pre-owned homes listed for sale in the northwest Dallas suburbs continues to drop rather precipitously. According to data maintained by North Texas Real Estate Systems, approximately 2,250 pre-owned homes in these northwest Dallas suburbs were listed for sale at the end of June. This is a 16.2 percent drop from the 2,685 homes listed a year ago and 1.3 percent fewer than the approximately 2,280 homes listed at the end of the previous month.

Average days on market for northwest Dallas suburban pre-owned, single family homes sold during June rose slightly to 54 days, as compared to a revised 52 days on market in May. However, similar homes sold in June 2004 were listed for an average of 90 days.

As would be expected, given the market conditions described above, sale prices in June continued to climb in the slow, but consistent manner we have seen during the previous nine months. The square foot price of a typical $250,000 pre-owned home sold in the northwest Dallas suburb during the past three months was $90.35 per square foot, up 1.9 percent over the same period a year ago. The typical $350,000 home sold for $102.82 per square foot, up 2.6 percent over a year ago, and the square foot price of the typical $450,000 home was $116.12 per square foot, up 2.0 percent.

The median price of homes sold during June in Argyle, Bartonville, Coppell, Copper Canyon, Colleyville, Double Oak, Flower Mound, southwest Frisco, Grapevine, Highland Village, Keller, west Plano, Southlake, Trophy Club and Westlake also was up, coming in at $277,000. This is a 4.1 percent over the $266,000 median price posted a year ago and 7.2 percent higher than $258,500 median price two years ago.

June market indicators again point to market conditions continuing to grow slowly stronger. This likely means that home prices will continue for the time being to increase at a similar pace as we now have seen for nearly a year.

Market Highs And Lows

The two northwest Dallas suburbs home resale market segments with the largest annual increase in the three month average per square foot prices were in Grapevine and Southlake. The square foot price of an average $350,000 home in Grapevine jumped 9.5 percent to $104.57. Southlake homes selling for an average $250,000 sale price sold for $98.52, a 7.9 percent increase over the previous year price.

Homes in southwest Frisco, selling for between $200,000 and $299,999, came in at $82.15 per square foot, an 8.4 percent decrease from the previous year. The average price per square foot of Highland Village homes that sold for between $400,000 and $499,999 averaged $109.90, a 1.8 percent drop from the previous year price.

Southlake, with 1.7 months supply, had the least available inventory of pre-owned homes among all the northwest Dallas suburbs during June. Coppell was close behind, with a 2.1 months supply, along with Grapevine, which had a 2.4 months supply.

The inventory absorption rate was lowest in southwest Frisco, which had a 7.5 months supply of pre-owned homes listed for sale. The 4.6 months supply posted for the Argyle, Bartonville, Copper Canyon and Double Oak area also was significantly higher than the northwest Dallas suburbs' average 2.9 months supply, as was Highland Village's 4.0 months supply.