Denton County not immune to North Texas housing boom
In the southeast corner of Denton County, around Lewisville, The Colony, and Carrollton, real estate broker Christy Thompson has, “A list of buyers who are just waiting, and waiting, and waiting.”
She says realty in that area comes with a rough reality for buyers: “It’s going to be tough, and if you find a house for sale, we have to go look at it today. There is no more going to look on the weekends. You can’t do that.”
In this small enclave in May, an average of 16 homes were purchased every day. The blistering pace of sales is twice as fast as the increase in the sales rate in the rest of North Texas. Why?
Location, location, location.
The area is close to big new employers, like Nebraska Furniture Mart, the planned Toyota headquarters, a new Fed Ex office building, and new Liberty Mutual campus.
But most of the buyers Christy Thompson has dealt with aren’t going to work for any of those big businesses.
“What I am seeing is a lot of investors,” she said. “A lot of investors buying up the houses, paying cash.”
Investors know the market here will likely only get hotter as workers do start to move in.
Stephen Richter is relocating to this area and has seen almost 50 properties in 20 days.
“To try to find a place that is decent to move to, it has been hell,” he said.
Richter has made offers on three homes, only to be locked out each time by other buyers upping the ante.
“It sells in a day, so if you are not there first thing in the morning, by noon you are probably too late,” he said. “By the next day, you are definitely too late.”
Melinda Gibson is getting out at a good time.
“I sold the house and I have to be out in like 15 days,” she said.
Her buyer beat other offers, paid in cash, and didn’t even have the property appraised, as far as she knows. She said the best part is, she’s not trying to move to another place nearby — she wouldn’t be able to afford to stay in the area.
Christy Thompson said that sentiment is shared by many. She said other potential sellers are holding off putting their homes on the market because they don’t think they can afford to buy another property nearby. That may be contributing to extremely low inventory.
There is currently less than a two month supply of homes for sale in southeast Denton County. Three months is considered a “healthy” amount of inventory, Thompson said.
Read the original article at WFAA Channel 8.
