Coronavirus News

COVID-19's effect on Dallas real estate market will benefit the suburbs

Head to the suburbs.

Photo by fstop123/Getty Images

Editor's note: Terry Tremaine is the 2020 President of The MetroTex Association of Realtors is the largest Realtor association in North Texas and sixth-largest real estate association in the U.S.

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COVID-19 has disrupted lives with health concerns, financial struggles, and restrictions on activities. Amidst this uncertainty, real estate professionals, buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants, and investors are trying to figure out the best course forward.

According to Dr. James Gaines, chief economist for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, sales of existing homes in Texas fell in May to their lowest level since 2012.

"The month of May marked the housing market's deepest decline thus far during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic," Gaines says in a release. "Texas' existing-home sales plummeted 32 percent year over year on top of a 22 percent slide in April."

Single-family homes performed better than condominiums and townhomes.

I recently listened to Dr. Gaines on a webinar regarding the coronavirus crisis and what it means to consumers. Here are a couple of takeaways I found very important.

Home sales on hold
Three things have a positive effect home sales — low interest rates, job growth, and inventory — and right now, only one of those is guaranteed.

Interest rates are anticipated to stay low for an indefinite period of time. It's been proven in the past that there is no better way to come out of a recession than "cheap money."

Job growth is a challenge. Gaines worries that there won't be enough jobs for those who were furloughed or laid off.

Inventory is down. Active listings in May 2020 were down across the board:

11.8 percent down in Dallas County
15.2 percent down in Tarrant County
22.3 percent down in Denton County
10.7 percent down in Rockwall County

Active listings need to rebound, but buyers and sellers are on pause.

Suburbs trending
The suburban market is going to have a lot more demand than we've seen in the last decade. The same is true for communities within 40 minutes of a major urban area.

As managers and business owners have gotten comfortable with remote work, there are more opportunities for people to live 40 minutes away and get their job done remotely.

We may have changes on the horizon, but as we have proven before, North Texas is resilient and in the end, we will come out of this with stronger communities and neighborhoods.

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A version of this story appeared on Candy's Dirt.

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Dallas Got Robbed

The richest small town in Texas is surprisingly not in Dallas

Facebook / City of Bellaire, Texas

Houston neighbor Bellaire is the richest town in Texas.

A survey of affluent small towns has found one town in Texas to be at the top of the list, but shockingly, it is not in Dallas. The town of Bellaire, a small enclave within the Houston metro area, has earned the top spot as the richest small town in Texas for 2025. Boo.

The report, "The Richest Small Town in Every State," from GoBankingRates, selected one city from each state, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey to determine the 50 richest small towns based on their median household income.

Describing Bellaire as a "small town" might be a misnomer. It's located less than 10 miles from downtown Houston and is fully surrounded by the City of Houston. It's really more of a wealthy enclave within Houston, with a population of just over 17,000 residents.

Those affluent citizens earn a median $236,311 in income every year, which GoBankingRates says is the 11th highest household median income out of all 50 cities included in the report.

The average home in this city is worth over $1.12 million, but Bellaire's lavish residential reputation often attracts properties with multi-million-dollar price tags.

Bellaire also earned a shining 81 livability score for its top quality schools, health and safety, commute times, with an abundance of exceptional local amenities.

Those include conveniently located grocery stores, coffee shops, diverse dining options, and spacious parks.

It's not the first time that Bellaire has caught the eye of GoBankingRates, which previously ranked it as the No. 23 wealthiest suburb in America, and it's been named on similar lists comparing the richest American cities.

Dallas can take comfort in the fact that a different survey found Lewisville to be of the cities attracting the most high-income households, meaning those that make more than $200,000. However, census data places the most recent median income in Lewisville at $85,002 — so it's nowhere close to catching up to Bellaire.

suburbs houston bellaire affluent households