Flurry of “for sale” signs emerges
April 14, 2011
By Steve Brown/Dallas Morning News

Sitting on my porch swing, I see signs of the spring housing market popping up along the street.

Prudential, Virginia Cook, Keller Williams, Ebby Halliday, Remax — it seems like every week another company banner is unfurled.

Seven houses on my block are now up for sale, the most I can remember in all the years I’ve lived in my little corner of East Dallas.

A year ago, “for sale” signs were sprouting because of the tax credits that caused a spike in home sales and got sellers’ hopes up.

This spring, some houses have been listed for sale because owners who’ve stood by for several years hoping for the market to rebound have decided this may be as good as it gets.

“There is a lot of pent-up demand out there from people who’ve been waiting two or three years for the market to come back so they can sell their homes,” said veteran Dallas real estate agent Allie Beth Allman. “They’ve finally come to grips with the prices and decided they don’t want to wait anymore.”

And with the real prospect of higher mortgage rates and even tougher lending standards in the near future, folks who want to move up to another house or relocate are pulling the trigger. Never mind how much they could’ve, would’ve, might’ve sold for three or four years ago.

Either sell or stay put — it’s that simple.

There’s also been a fundamental and painful shift in how Americans view the roof over their heads.

For years we bought into the notion that housing was the safest place to park our moolah. Americans were schooled to buy as much house as they could afford so they could make out like bandits in a few years when the prices went up.

Maybe that’s why almost a quarter of Americans now owe more than their house is worth. And their feelings about the housing market have understandably changed.

Young people — who are putting off purchases — are especially leery of homeownership.

Almost half of U.S. residents under 30 say they believe buying a house is too risky, according to a recent poll.

And while a majority of Americans still say that homeownership is a good investment, even more people now believe that it is more important to save for retirement instead of spending for that big house in the ’burbs.

I can certainly relate to that.

But I also can’t ignore the fact that the people who have the money to do just about anything are deciding to put it in housing.

During the last year to 18 months, the number of high-end home sales in North Texas has jumped as the more affluent have shifted money out of the stock market or gold — or wherever the well-to-do sock away their bucks — to put it in the housing market.

They are taking advantage of the best home prices we’ve seen in a decade.

Only the buyers — regardless of the price range — can tell you if they are making a good investment or just decided to finally get the dream house they’ve waited for.

Courtesy The Dallas Morning News
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