March sales of pre-owned, single family northwest Dallas suburban homes were down slightly compared to a year ago, 513 homes this year vs. 530 homes last year. This 3.2 percent drop in monthly home sales pushed year-to-year quarterly sale volume comparisons, coming in at a -2.0 percent, into negative territory for the first time since January 2004.

It additionally is most likely the principal reason that increases in home prices for the Argyle, Bartonville, Coppell, Copper Canyon, Colleyville, Double Oak, Flower Mound, southwest Frisco, Grapevine, Highland Village, Keller, west Plano, Southlake, Trophy Club and Westlake area continued their gradual slide from the 4.4 percent annual appreciation posted both this past October and November to the 3.3 percent appreciation figure posted in March.

On the other side of the ledger, while the number of homes sold have decreased, so too have the number of homes available for sale, and at an even faster pace. According to data compiled by North Texas Real Estate Information Systems Inc., slightly less than 1,800 pre-owned homes were listed for sale in the northwest Dallas suburbs at the end of March. This is 23.0 percent fewer than the approximately 2,330 homes available at the end of March a year ago, and 28.2 percent fewer homes than the 2,500 homes available for sale two years ago. This caused March's inventory of pre-owned homes available for sale to fall to 3.3 months supply, down 17.5 percent from the 4.0 months supply available a year ago.

Home price appreciation again extended across all price ranges. The square foot price of a typical $250,000 northwest Dallas suburban home sold during the three months ending in March was $91.58, a 3.1 percent increase over the price at which a similar home sold a year ago. The typical $350,000 home sold for $104.53 per square foot, up 2.4 percent over a year ago, and the square foot price of the typical $450,000 home was $120.29 per square foot, a 4.8 percent increase over a year ago. The average square foot price of homes selling for less than $200,000 was up 3.5 percent and the square foot price of homes selling for more than $500,000 was up 3.6 percent.

The average length of time homes selling during March remained on the market was 54 days, down some 14 percent from the 62 to 64 average days on market seen for the past six months. It also was down about 27 percent from a year ago, when 73 days in average were required to sell a northwest Dallas suburban pre-owned, single family home.

The $261,750 median price of pre-owned homes in the northwest Dallas suburbs sold during March was down 1.2 percent from the $265,000 median price posted a year ago, but up 4.7 percent from the $250,000 median price of homes sold in this area during March two years ago.

Market Highs And Lows

The northwest Dallas suburbs home resale market segment with the largest annual increase in its three month average per square foot price was in west Plano. The square foot price of the average $250,000 home there was up 8.9 percent, to $102.76. Keller homes selling for $300,000 to $399,999, at $105.28 per square foot, were up 8.8 percent from their previous year price.

The Argyle, Bartonville, Copper Canyon and Double Oak area had both price segments with the largest price decreases. Homes there, selling for an average of $350,000, brought $93.64 per square foot, off 6.7 percent from their previous year price. The average price per square foot of homes that sold for between $200,000 and $299,999 averaged $91.88, a 5.4 percent decrease.

Grapevine and Trophy Club switched places, but again had the lowest inventory of pre-owned homes among the northwest Dallas suburbs, coming in at 2.0 and 2.2 months supply of homes available for sale.

Colleyville had the highest inventory with 7.4 months supply of homes for sale. Southwest Frisco was next highest with a 6.8 months supply of available homes.