Lochwood Market Update October 13, 2022

Lochwood Market Update – Oct. 2022

 

If you try to stay up to speed on what’s going on with the real estate market, you may be unsure which sources you should trust. After all, the national media would have you believe that the real estate sky is falling. Local publications, like the Dallas Morning News, print conflicting headlines and information, sometimes within the same issue. So, who should you trust and what should you believe? The truth is that real estate is extremely hyper-local and time-sensitive, so it’s best to weight local analysis (not just sensationalized headlines) over national analysis. Let’s dig into September sales in Lochwood, along with sales that will be closing soon and what’s going on with the homes currently listed for sale, so that you have the most up to date and accurate information about our neighborhood. Be sure to read all the way to the end to learn the key takeaways from my detailed analysis.

Looking Back: September Sales

The table below details all of the Lochwood homes that sold in September 2022. In all, there were  11 sales. Four of these homes sold for 100 percent or more of the seller’s original list price (far right column). For the purpose of comparison, there were 10 total sales and 9 of those homes sold for 100 percent or more of the seller’s original list price, in September 2021. 

I have added a new column to this table this month: No. of Price Reductions. The reason I have included that information is because price reductions have become more common. Four of the 11 Lochwood homes that sold in September had one or more price reductions before going under contract. 

Looking Back: Year-over-Year at a Glance

The table below gives you a snapshot of how the market performed in September of 2022, compared to September 2021. The categories that I think are noteworthy are outlined in blue. Let’s look at Median Sale Price first. The reason there appears to be such a large drop is that many of the homes that sold in September of 2021 were larger and more updated, and many of them had pools. Homes that sold in September 2022 were smaller, had fewer updates, and none of them had pools. It’s like comparing apples to oranges. So that’s the real explanation about the drop in Median Price. 

The other categories that are important are Days on Market and Showings per Listing. The number of showings have dropped by about 50 percent and that’s because fewer buyers are tolerant of todays higher interest rates. Many buyers have stopped their search and they think they will wait to buy until interest rates go down again. I have news for them. I don’t think that will be happening anytime soon.

Because there are fewer buyers looking to purchase a home, it takes a little longer for a home to go under contract. Year-over-year, days on market increased from 6 to 24. That’s really not too bad considering how much more expensive it’s gotten to borrow money, and it’s actually a normal timeframe for selling a house.

Other than the 3 categories that I highlighted, year-over-year numbers are quite comparable. We still have a very limited amount of inventory and the number of sales that closed was virtually unchanged. 

What’s Happening Right Now? Pending and Active Listings

There are currently eight home sales pending in Lochwood. List prices for pending sales range from $292,000 to $639,000. Three of these listings had one or more price reductions before going under contract. 

There are currently 10 homes listed for sale in Lochwood. Prices for these listings range from $400,000 to just under $1.3M. Six of these listings have had one or more price reductions. The price adjustments range from $10,000 up to $200,000. To view homes that are currently on the market, you can always visit the Lochwood Community Page on my website.

The new construction project on Lochwood Boulevard that was listed for $995,000 fell out of contract and the listing has been taken off the market. The other new construction project on Farrar was also taken off the market. Lastly, the new build at 10510 Swallow that’s listed for $1.275M did receive an offer within 10 percent of the seller’s asking price. Apparently, the seller responded with a counteroffer and the buyer just disappeared. Something tells me that buyer wasn’t very serious about buying the house. What a waste of time.

Key Take-Aways

    1. Year-over-year, the number of homes sold is quite similar. That’s encouraging given how much interest rates have gone up. It indicates that buyers are still very interested buying homes in Lochwood. 
    2. Fewer homes selling for 100 percent or more of the seller’s original asking price indicates that there are fewer buyers competing to get these homes under contract.
    3. Price reductions indicate that sellers can no longer ask whatever price they want for their home. Buyers will wait for a price reduction so that the list price comes in line with what they believe the value should be and what they are willing to offer for the property.
    4. Our market has gone from 100 miles per hour back down to the posted speed limit. For the time being, with the information currently available, our neighborhood market appears to be normalizing.
    5. If you decide to sell your home in the near future, it’s important to work with someone who really has a pulse on the market. I’ve sold several properties in the neighborhood in the past few months and I know that sellers need up to date information so that they feel confident walking away from low ball offers. There is a lot of that going on right now. 
    6. Because I have received low-ball investor offers on my listings, I’m pretty sure you’re getting calls from investors about cash offers for your home. I know for a fact that many of them do not offer true market value. If you are considering selling to one of these predators, please call me first. I will give you my honest assessment of what you would walk away with based on the terms of their offer, and how that compares to what you would walk away with if you put your home on the market. This assessment should give you the information you need to make a truly informed decision.

Now that you know what’s really happening with Lochwood home sales, you may also be interested in getting the full story about my listing at 10510 Lippitt. There’s no need to rely on what the neighbors have to say because I am going to give you the full story about how many offers the seller received, how many times it went under contract, and how the seller confidently told numerous buyers to take a hike.

Stay tuned in for that information in the coming weeks and contact me if you have any questions about anything real estate related in our great little neighborhood.

Be well,