Housing-Insight-July-2022

Texas Housing Insight July 2022 Summary

by Real Estate ArticlesResources

Aggressive central bank policy continues to drag down the housing market, stalling the previously hot streak of housing sales. The housing sector continues to show signs of easing as housing inventories recover and home prices depreciate. Amid a statewide retreat in construction permits, the elevated demand for construction suggests many prospective homebuyers might be putting off their big-item purchases. Sales of homes below $300,000, an attractive market for first-time buyers and younger households, diminished more than sales of higher-priced homes.

Supply1

Texas’ single-family construction permits marked the largest monthly decrease since April 2020, sliding 16.1 percent month over month (MOM). Permits for building construction and renovation fell in all four major metros, but contractions were most significant in Houston and San Antonio, falling at 19.9 percent and 12.7 percent MOM, respectively. Amid the drop, DFW (3,626 permits) surpassed Houston (3,471 permits) as the metropolitan area with the most construction permits. The last time DFW surpassed Houston on the national permit list was one-and-a-half years ago. On the other hand, permits between Austin (1,626) and San Antonio (781) continued the 1:2 ratio. While the single-family sector shrank to 11,900 permits, Texas’ multifamily sector rose to an historic high with 12,500. The growth was heavily concentrated on permits for apartment buildings, doubling the year-ago level.

Lumber producer price index (PPI) balanced at the year-ago value, and the July value was four-fifths of March’s record-high metric. Despite the recent lumber price deduction, material prices are still soaring compared with historical prices. Additionally, rampant mortgage rate increases suppressed the South’s total housing starts to a rate of 710,000 units. Single-family housing starts, which account for the biggest share of homebuilding, plunged to 511,000 units. Correspondingly, single-family private construction values tumbled to a two-year low, withdrawing 13.2 percent MOM. All major metros reported double-digit negative year-to-date (YTD) growths.

While homebuilding is expected to continue decelerating, the state’s current supply is starting to accumulate. Active listings rose more than 17,000 units since May. This loosening up of housing availability indicates a break-through after the abnormally low inventories of the past two years. As a result, Texas’ housing supply, which has been below two months of inventory (MOI), recovered to 2.2 MOI. The Texas Real Estate Research Center considers six to 6.5 months of inventory a balanced market. San Antonio led the pack with 2.5 MOI, and Dallas remained the tightest with 1.9 MOI (Table 1).

Demand

Record home prices and rapidly rising mortgage rates continued to discourage buyers. While summer is normally peak season, July’s total housing sales sank according to the Texas Real Estate Research Center’s Data Relevance Program. The state’s sales volume lost over 3,000 deals, falling to a seasonally adjusted rate of 28,121 closed sales. Sales in all major metros declined under falling demand. Austin and Houston’s closed sales took the biggest hits, each dipping almost 16 percent MOM, while DFW and San Antonio each shrank close to 8 percent. While every prospective homebuyer has to confront financial challenges, affordability most adversely impacted first-time buyers, resulting in a significant shrinkage in sales of homes below $300,000.

Texas’ average days on market (DOM) remained low at 34 days, suggesting a persistent imbalance between sellers and buyers’ bargaining power. Homes sold quickest in Austin and Dallas, leaving the market in 22 days, while Houston and San Antonio’s DOM hovered around 30 days. When DOM is differentiated based on the home market, the DOM for existing homes is conspicuously lower than that of new homes. Existing homes are still in a tight housing market. 

Categorized by price cohorts, homes priced in the $300K and $400K cohorts sold fastest, typically in 28 days. Meanwhile, homes priced at more than $750K had interestingly shorter listing periods than those priced at less than $300K.

Prices

In July, the Texas’ median home price fell $5,000 to $344,000. Prices dropped in all metros (Table 2). Austin ($510,000) and DFW ($406,000) fell $7,000 and $8,000 in a month, respectively. Meanwhile, Houston ($338,000) dropped $3,000, and San Antonio ($328,000) dropped $4,000. Amid the statewide downturn, Austin prices had the steepest decline, falling $33,000 in three months. Housing prices are under correction, but they remain much elevated from a year ago, accelerating 13.2 percent year over year (YOY).

The Federal Reserve is expected to impose more forceful monetary policies in the second half of the year to combat inflation. The ten-year U.S. Treasury bond yield retreated to 2.9 percent2, while the two-year counterpart continued to march upward. The spread between the ten-year and the two-year bond yields entered the negative territory for the first time since 2008, indicating the market’s economic uncertainties about the near future. The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation’s 30-year fixed-rate, which for years hovered around 3 percent, elevated to 5.52 percent. The last time the mortgage rate was this high was 2008. For more information on the effect of mortgage interest rates on purchase affordability, see “How Higher Interest Rates Affect Homebuying.”

The Texas Repeat Sales Home Price Index, which accounts for compositional price effects, corroborated the trend of slowing price growth, as the index shrank from increasing 20.4 percent YOY in January to increasing 14.9 percent YOY. Falling prices pulled the state YOY growth down by 55 basis points in the last seven months. Austin fell from the fastest appreciating metro to second, behind San Antonio’s yearly growths.

Household Pulse Survey

Homeowners who just closed a deal were likely to start off in good financial standing. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, in spite of rising mortgage rates, the share of Texas homeowners caught up on mortgage payments improved 60 basis points YOY in July, and the share of people who were behind shrank to 4 percent (Table 3). Houston owners’ bolstered ability to pay their mortgage increased the owned free/clear homes ratio to the state average. On the other hand, when asked about the future payments, fewer Texas homeowners were confident they would not face foreclosure. The proportion of delinquent individuals at risk of foreclosure shot up 80 basis points to 8 percent (Table 4).

_________________

1 All measurements are calculated using seasonally adjusted data, and percentage changes are calculated month over month, unless stated otherwise.

2 Bond and mortgage interest rates are nonseasonally adjusted. Loan-to-value ratios, debt-to-income ratios, and the credit score component are also nonseasonally adjusted.

Source – Joshua Roberson and Weiling Yan (September 14, 2022)

https://www.recenter.tamu.edu/articles/technical-report/Texas-Housing-Insight

Avoid-Common-Closing-Delays

Avoid Common Closing Delays

by Real Estate ArticlesResourcesTitle Information

Remember – Prior planning prevents inconvenience.  Awareness of the following items will help to ensure a smooth closing.

LOAN REQUIREMENTS
Be sure that you return all lender requested documents and complete lender required tasks so they are able process your loan and get you through underwriting as soon as possible, in order to keep your closing date as scheduled. Failing to turn in documents in a timely manner can slow down the closing process.

TAX INFORMATION
If any delinquent taxes are found in your name during the title process, you will need to pay them prior to closing, and you must furnish an original tax receipt, otherwise you will not be able to close until payment of these taxes can be confirmed.

POWER OF ATTORNEYS
If either party intends to use a Power of Attorney at closing; i.e., will not be there to sign:

  • The title company must approve the Power of Attorney prior to closing.
  • The original Power of Attorney must be delivered to the title company prior to closing, as the original must be recorded with the County Clerk ahead of all other closing documents.
  • The title company must be able to contact you via telephone on the day of closing to be certain you are alive and well and have not revoked the Power of Attorney.

COMMON NAMES
If you have a common surname, please complete a Confidential Information Statement and return it to the title company prior to closing.

MARITAL STATUS
     A.  Texas is a community property state. If you purchased your property when you were single and you have married, the title company will require that your spouse join in signing the deed at closing, due to Texas Homestead Laws.

     B.  If you are divorced and your divorce proceeding was handled in a county other than the county you are in, please have a certified copy of the Divorce Decree delivered to the title company prior to closing.

OUT OF TOWN MAIL-OUTS
If any documents must be mailed out of town:

  • All documents must be signed exactly as requested.
  • All documents must have proper notarization.  Any documents mailed out of the country must be notarized in English.

REVIEW IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS
There a few important documents that the Buyer and their REALTOR® will need to review prior to closing. They include the Survey, Title Commitment, HOA documents (if applicable) and the Closing Disclosure. When the title company sends these documents, review them in a timely manner and alert your REALTOR® and/or the title company to any errors or discrepancies.

Print Version

Republic-Title-Mobile-900x506

Republic Title Mobile

by Real Estate ArticlesResourcesTitle Information

If you haven’t downloaded our app, Republic Title Mobile, now is the time! Join other real estate agents using Republic Title Mobile and see why we have a 5 star rating in the Apple Store!

Republic Title Mobile is a mobile app that provides easy access for real estate professionals, buyers, and sellers to closing cost calculators, educational videos and articles on title insurance and the real estate industry, and more information on our services to serve your real estate needs.

Our convenient calculator allows users to quickly calculate closing fees associated with your transaction. Calculators include:

  • Title Quote
  • Closing Disclosure Quote
  • Loan Estimate Quote
  • Seller Net Sheet
  • Sell To Net
  • Seller’s Multiple Offers
  • Buyer Estimate
  • Monthly Affordability
  • Rent vs Buy

Other Helpful Real Estate Resources Include:

  • Contact Information for Republic Title’s 13 North Texas Locations
  • Insightful News on the Title Insurance and Real Estate Industries
  • Educational Videos and Monthly Real Estate Stats

Republic Title Mobile can be found in the Apple App Store or in the Google Play Store.

If you have any questions, please reach out to one of our Business Development Representatives.

Renting-to-buying

Is This The Year You Switch From Renting To Buying?

by Real Estate ArticlesResources

With rents on the rise this could be the perfect time for you to buy; but here’s what you need to consider first:

ADVANTAGES OF BUYING…

  • By maintaining regular mortgage payments, your credit score will increase over time.
  • If you itemize deductions, you could lower your federal tax liability by taking the mortgage interest deduction.
  • When you buy a house, you will know that the mortgage rate for the 5 to 30 years is going to be the same every month. Rent may continue to increase each year.
  • With each payment, you will build equity and increase the amount of total home ownership.
  • There may be down payment programs available in your area that can help you purchase your first home.

YOU SHOULD CONSIDER BUYING IF…

  • You want to build wealth.  Investing into real estate is the fastest way to add zeros to the end of your net worth.
  • You want to settle down, build community and know you will be in the same city or town for at least 2 years.
  • You want to invest your income into property that will hopefully provide you with a payoff should you decide to sell in the future.

YOU SHOULD KEEP RENTING IF…

  • You need flexibility and don’t want to commit to staying in the same location for the foreseeable future.
  • You have limited income or are unsure about your current job.  Renting allows you the flexibility to downsize 

If you are thinking about buying a home, reach out to your local Realtor to get started.

*Print version

 

Housing-Insight-June-2022

Texas Housing Insight June 2022 Summary

by Real Estate ArticlesResourcesStats

Texas’ housing market continues to cool as sales volume declines and housing inventories rise. While the pace of new listings begins to overcome housing sales, home prices are still elevated due to the tremendous housing pressures realized after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though home prices are still high, price growth is now retreating, providing a respite for potential buyers.

Supply*

According to Zonda, supply-side activities at the earliest stage of the construction cycle flattened at first quarter levels as inventory losses in Austin’s vacant developed lots (VDLs) offset gains in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. The number of new VDLs in Austin shrank 24 percent from last year’s quarterly average. Lot development in the $300k-$500k price cohort composed half of Austin’s total VDL investment, but it saw a double-digit reduction quarter over quarter (QOQ) while the same investment cohorts in other metros advanced.

Starting in May, Texas’ single-family construction permits retreated below 15,000 per month, declining 5.2 percent QOQ. Building permits fell significantly in Austin and Houston. Despite the drop, Houston and DFW remained the top two metropolitan areas on the national permit list. Each had a seasonally adjusted rate of over 4,000 permits for new-structure building or existing-structure renovation. In Central Texas, Austin issued 1,800 permits, while San Antonio issued 900. Meanwhile, Texas’ multifamily sector surged to 9,900 construction permits in June, the highest level since 2015. Permits for two-to-four units and five-or-more units expanded at 39.8 percent and 26.3 percent QOQ, respectively.

Lumber price trended downward, declining 19.6 percent in a month. As the lumber price reduction lowered the framing cost by nearly one fifth, total Texas housing starts increased 6.2 percent QOQ. Zonda data revealed roughly 38,800 homes broke ground in the major metros over 2Q2022. Amid the construction expansion, all metros saw an uptick except Houston, where housing starts contracted 1.5 percent. Dallas had the most housing starts and luxury home construction projects. For every six houses built in the median price cohort of $400k-$499k, one house priced over $1 million was built. While housing starts inched up, single-family private construction values tumbled to a six-month low, corroborating the lowered construction costs. All major metros except San Antonio reported negative quarterly growths. 

While Texas’ overall housing supply remains historically low, inventory throughout the state is currently on the rise. Texas’ months of inventory (MOI) has gradually increased over the past few months, doubling from one month in February to two months in June. At the metropolitan level, inventories grew most robustly in Austin. Austin’s MOI surpassed DFW’s and Houston’s for the first time since 2019. By price cohort, inventories jumped for homes priced between $300,000 and $500,000.

Prices

The Texas median home price may have reached a peak as the June value leveled out at a seasonally adjusted rate of $349,000, which is $3,000 below May and the first drop in home prices since December 2020. While home price growth may be slowing, current prices remain significantly higher than before the pandemic. Except for San Antonio, each of the big four metros had a slight dip in median home prices for June. Austin had the largest seasonally adjusted single-month dip in June at 3.7 percent, while DFW fell 0.8 percent.

The Texas Repeat Sales Home Price Index, which accounts for compositional price effects, corroborated substantial home-price appreciation as the index inched up 17.1 percent year over year (YOY). The falling prices pulled down YOY statewide growth by 3 percent in the last six months. Austin fell from the fastest appreciating metro to third place behind Dallas and Fort Worth.

The Texas Housing Affordability Index (THAI) reflects the relationship between the median family income in a locale and the computed amount required to purchase a median-priced home. A higher THAI indicates relatively greater affordability. Measured by the THAI metric for first-time homebuyers, Houston was the most affordable metro, followed by San Antonio, Fort Worth, Dallas, and Austin, respectively. Despite the marginal median price decline, Austin remained the most unaffordable metro in the state.

Demand

Record home prices and rapidly rising mortgage rates continued to discourage buyers and cool the market. In June, over 37,000 homes were sold throughout the state, 9.4 percent below June 2021 sales. According to seasonally adjusted sale estimates, the slowdown actually began in January of this year, but June had the biggest single-month dip. Even though June sales were down from last year, they’re almost identical to June 2019 sales, which was the last record-setting year before COVID. The drop in home sales coincides with the rapid increase in mortgage rates that began in January but picked up steam in recent months.

Because of softening housing demand, Texas’ average days on market (DOM) has begun to creep up. Seasonally adjusted DOM increased to 34 days, up from 28 days in March. Normally, home sales accelerate in the summer and DOM decreases. That has not happened this summer. Homes sold the fastest in Austin and Dallas, leaving the market in 21 days. Houston’s and San Antonio’s DOMs remained around a month. The DOM for new homes was notably higher than the DOM for existing homes, especially in the Houston area, where new homes on average lasted 60 days on the market while existing homes lasted 23 days. 

Homes priced in the $300k and the $400k cohorts were fastest at getting sold, typically leaving the market in 27 days. On the other hand, homes under $300k had a conspicuously longer market duration.

Household Pulse Survey

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, homeowners are benefiting from last year’s low-interest loans and rising wages. The share of homeowners behind on mortgage payments shrank 1 percent YOY at both the national and state levels (Table 1). Owners’ improved ability to pay their mortgage was notable in Dallas and Houston, as owned free/clear homes in each metro had a 4 percent increase YOY. Furthermore, fewer Texas homeowners who struggled to keep up with mortgage payments faced the possibility of foreclosure. The proportion of delinquent individuals at risk of foreclosure plummeted 70 basis points to 2 percent (Table 2). The share who were “not very likely” to leave their homes in the next two months rose 17 percentage points to 61 percent in Dallas.

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* All measurements are calculated using seasonally adjusted data, and percentage changes are calculated month over month, unless stated otherwise.

Source – Joshua Roberson, Weiling Yan, and Rajendra Patidar (August 17, 2022)

https://www.recenter.tamu.edu/articles/technical-report/Texas-Housing-Insight

Slide1

July 2022 DFW Area Real Estate Stats

by Real Estate ArticlesResourcesStatsVideo

July stats are here and we have the numbers! 

Home prices continue to increase in North Texas! Collin County leads the pack with an average price of $602,166 which is up 19.2% over July 2021. According to a report from Texas Realtors, house prices are climbing faster in North Texas than they are in any other Texas metro area. The good news is that active listings are also up in each county including 3,532 active listings in Collin County (up 69.1% over July 2021) to 3,370 active listings in Denton County (up 77.4% over July 2021).  

Our stats infographics include a year over year comparison and area highlights for single family homes broken down by county. We encourage you to share these infographics and video with your sphere.

For more stats information, pdfs and graphics of our stats including detailed information by county, visit the Resources section on our website at DFW Area Real Estate Statistics | Republic Title of Texas.

For the full report from the Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center, click here. For NTREIS County reports click here.

Housing-Insight-May-2022

Texas Housing Insight May 2022 Summary

by Real Estate ArticlesResourcesStats

Both U.S. and Texas’ construction permits shrank, posting the third decline in the last four months, signaling a future slowdown in national and state homebuilding. Although the projection on Texas’ year-end supplies decelerated, current supplies expanded as new listings and active listings grew. Record-high housing prices and robustly rising mortgage rates deterred many potential buyers. Housing sales lost nearly 5,600 transactions from January’s record level, shrinking 14.5 percent. Price disparities were conspicuous between Austin’s new-home and existing-home markets. Prices for the former were considerably less than the latter as pressure in the existing market intensified.

Supply1

Texas had been the No. 1 state for issuing housing permits since May 2006. In 2022, for every six single-family homebuilding permits issued in the U.S., one permit originated in Texas. Despite the large market share, under the projection of cooling housing markets, both national and Texas permits had a mid-single-digit reduction in May. The Lone Star State retreated 1,000 permits to a seasonally adjusted (SA) monthly rate of 15,000 units. Dallas—the second largest metro on the national list—contracted by 700 permits for the month. Furthermore, multifamily construction permits for Texas’ two-to-four units and five-plus units saw a double-digit reduction. This signals a forthcoming deceleration of housing supplies.

Lumber prices moderated at April’s price level, falling 14.5 percent year-over-year (YOY). Texas’ total housing starts hit a three-decade high last month with 26,915 SA units. The number returned to the year-ago average, hovering around 20,000 SA units this month. As starts for housing projects dipped, Texas’ single-family private construction values fell 10.4 percent month-over-month (MOM) to $3.7 billion, the largest monthly decline since last July. Private construction values shrunk in all metros except Austin as finished projects exited the local construction market faster than new projects entered. Although only falling marginally in May at an annualized rate, Dallas’ single-family construction appears to have lost momentum compared with Houston.

While new listings for existing homes continue to climb, new listings for new construction through the Multiple Listing Services (MLS) grew aggressively at 17.5 percent MOM. Overall, new listings grew for all four major metros and across all price cohorts. Overall active listings reflected the same trend. The rising number of homes ready for sale pulled Texas’ months of inventory (MOI) up to 1.5 months. A six-month MOI is considered a balanced housing market (Table 1). After hovering below the one-month benchmark for 19 consecutive months (since October 2020) and hitting a record low of 13 days in May 2021, Austin’s MOI finally rebounded above 31 days. The rising MOI means the sales pace to the number of available properties is improving. As Texas’ housing market frenzy started to ease, MOIs in the major metros all advanced four to ten days.

Prices

Although housing inventories slowly started to build up, housing prices did not immediately reflect the supply shift. The Texas median home price hit a record high every month starting in January 2021, and the median price rose to a record-breaking $354,000 this month, climbing over 25 percent since the beginning of 2021 (Table 2). All metros hit new price levels. Austin ($534,000) and Dallas ($446,000) were the two most expensive metros in which to own a single-family home. Amid all expanding metros, the median price growth was most notable in Austin where it rose almost 40 percent since January 2021. Data suggest in Austin it may be more affordable to buy a new home than hunt for an existing one. The median price for new homes sold in Austin through the MLS was $437,000, more than $100,000 less than the price of existing homes. In either case, housing in Austin is still out of reach for many potential buyers. Median prices in San Antonio ($337,000), Houston ($341,000), and Fort Worth ($373,000) advanced at a double-digit rate, albeit at a slower rate.

The Federal Reserve is expected to reduce its balance sheet assets and increase the Federal Funds rate several more times by the end of 2022. The ten-year U.S. Treasury bond yield shot up to 2.9 percent2, increasing 15 basis points in one month. The spread difference between the ten-year and the two-year bond yields rebounded 7 basis points to 0.3 percent, yet the spread between the two was still alarmingly low, signaling economic uncertainties and rising risks in the near future. The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation’s 30-year fixed-rate, which for years hovered around 3 percent, elevated to 5.23 percent. The last time the mortgage rate was this high was in 2008. For more information on the effect of mortgage interest rates on purchase affordability, see “How Higher Interest Rates Affect Homebuying.”

The Texas Repeat Sales Home Price Index accounts for compositional price effects and provides a better measure of changes in single-family home values. Texas’ index corroborated substantial and unsustainable home-price appreciation, soaring 18.7 percent YOY. Dallas’ and Fort Worth’s index rose 26.4 and 24.6 percent, respectively, as home-price appreciation shot up in North Texas. Meanwhile, the metrics climbed around 19 percent in a year for the other three metros. Increasing home prices pressure housing affordability, particularly in an economic environment where mortgage rates are hiking and real wage growths are slow.

Demand

Record home prices and rapidly rising mortgage rates discouraged buyers and cooled the market. According to the MLS, total Texas housing sales peaked in January with nearly 39,000 transactions. Sales have declined each month since then. Total housing sales fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 33,097, down 1,080 deals from April’s housing transactions. Sales in all major metros declined under the price pressures. Houston closed 9,100 sales, contributing one-third of the state’s total lost transactions. Dallas followed with 5,700 closed deals. Austin, Fort Worth, and San Antonio hovered around 3,000 units, each losing around 100 home transactions. Home appreciation drastically changed the price structure of home purchases. Housing sales slipped by double-digit percent for homes priced below $400,000, while transactions for more expensive homes (greater than $750,000) accelerated for the sixth month.

Texas’ average days on market (DOM) inched down to 28 days, the lowest on record. The historical low DOM indicated buyers’ eagerness to own a house. Austin and North Texas’ home purchases were the most frequent, closing in 20 days. Houston and San Antonio’s DOM inched down to 29 and 30 days, respectively. When days on market were differentiated based on the home market, the new home’s DOMs were notably higher than existing home’s, especially in the Houston area where homes lasted 61 days on average in the former market and 23 days in the latter. The existing-home market is hot. 

Homes in the $300K and $400K price cohorts sold fastest, typically leaving the market in 27 days. Homes under $300K had a longer market duration. Many of these homes may be older and not market-ready.

Note: Data collection for Household Pulse Survey was paused in May because the U.S. Census Bureau was making survey revisions. The survey analysis will resume in June.

________________

1 All measurements are calculated using seasonally adjusted data, and percentage changes are calculated month over month, unless stated otherwise.
2 Bond and mortgage interest rates are nonseasonally adjusted. Loan-to-value ratios, debt-to-income ratios, and the credit score component are also nonseasonally adjusted.

Source – Joshua Roberson and Weiling Yan (July 25, 2022)

https://www.recenter.tamu.edu/articles/technical-report/Texas-Housing-Insight

Important-After-Closing-Reminders-for-Buyers

Important After Closing Reminders for Buyers

by Real Estate ArticlesResourcesTitle Information

Congratulations! You’ve just closed on the purchase of your new home! Here is a helpful list of important to-dos and reminders for after closing:

  1. A copy of the recorded Warranty Deed
    that transferred title of the property will be sent to you via email with your Owner’s Title Policy approximately one month after closing. Your Owner’s Title Policy should be printed and stored for safe keeping and/or saved on your personal computer.
  2. It is the taxpayer’s responsibility to be certain the property is rendered in the current taxpayer’s name
    for the upcoming tax year. Contact the County Appraisal District (CAD) for assistance in making certain this is done.
  3. Make certain to file your homestead designation with the County Appraisal District.
    If you have any questions about your homestead exemption for property tax purposes, or any other exemption which may be available to you, please contact your County Appraisal District. The forms necessary to apply for exemptions are available online from your Appraisal District at no cost. See the reverse side of this card for area County Appraisal District’s website and contact information.
  4. Contact the Home Warranty company if you received a home warranty and want additional coverage.
    If you received a Home Warranty (also known as a Residential Service Contract) in connection with your recent closing and wish to add additional coverage, please contact the Home Warranty company directly.

Collin County
Collin County Central Appraisal District
collincad.org | 469.742.9200

Dallas County
Dallas County Central Appraisal District
dallascad.org | 214.631.0520

Denton County
Denton County Central Appraisal District
dentoncad.org | 940.349.3800

Grayson County
Grayson County Central Appraisal District
graysonappraisal.org | 903.893.9673

Johnson County
Johnson County Central Appraisal District
johnsoncad.com | 817.648.3000

Kaufman County
Kaufman County Central Appraisal District
kaufman-cad.org | 972.932.6081

Rockwall County
Rockwall County Central Appraisal District
rockwallcad.com | 972.771.2034

Tarrant County
Tarrant County Central Appraisal District
tad.org | 817.284.0024

Exemption forms can be downloaded from the Central Appraisal District’s website for the county in which the property is located.

Click here for print version

Slide1

June 2022 DFW Area Real Estate Stats

by Real Estate ArticlesResourcesStatsVideo

June stats are here and we have the numbers! 

In June, home inventory increased in each county with new listings up ranging from 6% to 32% over June 2021. There is also an increase in inventory compared to last month in each county which is welcome as the DFW housing market has experienced tight supply conditions for some time. Average sales prices are up ranging from 15% in Dallas County to 27.9% in Collin County compared to June 2021. According to the Home Buying Institute, we are still in a seller’s market, but “these recent trends should make things a bit easier for buyers going forward”.

Our stats infographics include a year over year comparison and area highlights for single family homes broken down by county. We encourage you to share these infographics and video with your sphere.

For more stats information, pdfs and graphics of our stats including detailed information by county, visit the Resources section on our website at DFW Area Real Estate Statistics | Republic Title of Texas.

For the full report from the Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center, click here. For NTREIS County reports click here.

ABCs-of-the-Title-Commitment2

The ABC’s of Title Commitment

by Real Estate ArticlesResourcesTitle Information

A commitment is a document the title company provides to all parties connected with a particular real estate transaction. It discloses the title of record to the property as well as all the liens, defects, burdens and obligations that affect the subject properties. It is comprised of four schedules. Schedules A, B, C, and D are as follows:

A – Actual Facts – Is the Who, What, Where and How Much section of the commitment. You will see the names of the buyer, record owner (seller), a legal description of the property, the sales price and the name of the lender, if applicable. It is a good idea to double check this information with the contract.

B- Buyer Notification – This section lists the general and specific exceptions to the property. It will list items such as survey matters, taxes, easements, setback lines and a variety of other items that will not be covered by the title policy. It is important to review and discuss any questions you have with your title company.

C- Clear In Order To Close – These items must be resolved in order to transfer title to the new owner. They might include such things as a mortgage that will be paid off at closing, liens for home improvements or unpaid taxes. All items shown on Schedule C should be discussed and resolved before the closing.

D – Disclosure – This section outlines the ownership of the title company and all the parties who will share in any part of the insurance premium collected to issue the policy. It includes underwriters, title agents and attorneys.

This information is not to be substituted as legal advice and is descriptive only. If you have any concerns about any portion of your title commitment or any portion of Schedule A,B,C, or D, please contact your attorney.