Real Estate Report
Dallas-Fort Worth home values soar past $500 billion during record-breaking year
A new report from real estate data source Zillow says the positive growth of home values in Texas was on trend with the rest of the U.S in 2017.
The report, which includes information for 35 U.S. metro areas, shows that the total value of the U.S. housing stock gained $2 trillion in 2017, a 6.5 percent increase over 2016, the fastest pace in four years. All homes in the U.S. are now worth a cumulative $31.8 trillion.
“This was a record year for home values as the national housing stock reached record heights in 2017,” said Zillow senior economist Aaron Terrazas. “Strong demand from buyers and the ongoing inventory shortage keep pushing values higher, especially in some of the nation’s booming coastal markets.”
In Texas, the greatest growth was seen in Dallas-Fort Worth. The total value of all homes in DFW in 2017 was $517.8 billion — up 12.3 percent from 2016. That's the third-highest figure on the list (behind Columbus, Ohio, and San Jose, California). Renters in the area paid a total of $11.8 billion, up 2.4 percent from last year.
In Houston, the total value of all homes hit $393.4 billion, up 5.4 percent from 2016, while renters in the Bayou City paid a total of $10.3 billion, down 2.3 percent year over year.
The Austin metro area's total home value for 2017 was $174.7 billion, up 7.8 percent from 2016. Lessees paid $3.9 billion, down 2.1 percent from the prior year.
And San Antonio's cumulative home value reached $125.4 billion, up 7.1 percent. Renters paid $2.9 billion — about the same as 2016.
In 2017, renters across the nation paid a record high $485.6 billion, $4.9 billion more than they spent in 2016. However, analysis by Zillow indicates that the amount spent grew at the slowest pace in recent years as more tenants transitioned into homeownership and new rental supply slowed rent growth across the country.
As for the coming year, Terrazas notes, "Despite recent changes to federal tax laws that have historically made homeownership financially attractive, the long-term dynamics pushing up home values and rents are unlikely to change significantly in 2018."