13Oct
The DFW market is showing some seriously erratic behavior. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of correlation between the pricing and sales movements in different areas of town. Arlington for the most part is down; both in numbers of sales and in prices. Certain parts of Central Fort Worth, on the other hand, have risen in both of these departments.
The only clear trend that I can see is that the markets focused more on city center remain strong. That is to say that those markets around downtown, like the TCU area, have performed better than the areas farther removed. I suspect that we will continue to see this trend.
For several decades now the US has nurtured a culture of suburbanization. Those daily may certainly be coming to an end. The best investments will most likely be the ones that equate into short commutes. I see this study as proof of that happening.
01Oct
A mother and daughter have filed a suit against their neighbor and their property management association. The crime? The neighbors cigarette smoke.
The women claim that the smoke permeated the walls and HVAC of their high end Estancia town home in Dallas. They are seeking six figures in damages from the two co-defendants.
The property manager said that they have done more for this tenant than they have ever done for anyone else, and she doesn’t think it is possible to satisfy them. Among other things the management changed air filters, installed electric plates with sealant, and re-caulked around plumbing pipes. The women complained, but continued to renew their lease. Now they have filed for disability under the fair housing act due to the harm they have suffered from the cigarette smoke. They also claim that they cannot enter their residence without wearing goggles and gas masks.
This is completely insane. I hope they lose their case, and I hope they have to repay the defendants legal fees.
30Sep
The big talk in the financial world is that home prices are beginning to rise. This is based on the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Survey, and has implications not only for economic recovery, but also for the inflation/deflation debate that will guide a lot investment.
So, I was pretty damn surprised when I saw an article run by the ST saying that home prices were down in July. The S&P/Shiller follows the 20 largest markets, and surely we are in that. Turns out that the Startlegram was being a little creative with their headline. Home prices are down in July from a year ago, but they are up in July over June.
I think the article title was a little negative. At least the market is starting to correct. Maybe “Home Prices Correcting” would have been a better title for them.
29Sep
The Startlegram has a great article about the exodus in the downtown market. This year only 21 units have moved, and that is about half of last years sales figures. I am really surprised that T&P lofts was able to wring out almost 100% percent sales, but I suppose they got a little bit of a head start on most projects.
The one thing that just continues to boggle my mind are all of these extremely high end units. Le Bijou, De Leon, Omni, etc. Where are all of the muli-million dollar tenants supposed to come from? I just can’t help but think that most people around Fort Worth that can afford $1MM plus homes, wouldn’t opt for a single family residence. I suppose we’ll see; but my money would be on the $200-$400k units making the most progress
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