Real Estate Rumblings

This is how much a starter home will cost you in Dallas

The median starter home price in Dallas continues to increase.

Photo courtesy of Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

As real estate prices rise across the United States, buying a home has become more competitive than ever, and as more inventory moves off the market, historically affordable markets have become slightly less affordable. In certain areas, starter homes in particular are becoming non-existent, but in Texas, starter home prices are rising despite regular inventory levels.

On a national scale, the number of available starter homes this year dropped 12.1 percent. In addition, buyers now have to pay more than ever to get their hands on a starter home, as much as 1.9 percent more of their income, and likely to continue growing. However, Texas is faring relatively well. According to a recent Trulia research article, “Inventory and Price Watch: It’s Harder to Get Started,” price, not inventory, is the problem across Texas metropolitan areas.

In Houston, the median starter home price in Q4 of 2016 was $104,967 — a 16.6 percent change over Q4 of 2015. However, buyers in Houston needed a 3.4 percent additional share of income to afford a starter home. Dallas fared slightly better. The average cost of a home in Q4 of 2015 was $117,667, only a 2.9 percent additional share of income.

Austin is one of the fastest growing metros in Texas, so it makes sense that the median starter home price jumped considerably, to $182,867, a 4.2 percent additional share of income. The Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area saw the smallest increase in price and share of income, with a median starter home list price of $99,633 and a 0.8 percent increase in share of income.

The good news is that Texas is still a smart place to invest in real estate, despite the overall decrease in inventory and steady increase in price.

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Million-dollar homes

Multi-million-dollar gated home community The Preserve rises in Frisco

Preserve

A palace on the prairie of The Preserve in Frisco

Construction has begun on a multi-million-dollar custom home community in Frisco. Called The Preserve, it's situated among PGA Frisco’s championship golf courses and near the Omni PGA Frisco Resort, with multiple phases that will roll out over the next few years.

The Preserve is part of Fields, a 2,500-acre development in North Frisco off the Dallas North Tollway. Fields is co-developed and owned in partnership with The Karahan Companies, Hunt Realty Investments alongside investors Chief Partners and Cross Tie Capital.

The development will feature retail, dining, entertainment, hotels, corporate offices, native Texas plants, flowers, trees, and 250 acres of park space. It's designed by the same team responsible for Plano’s Legacy West, led by Fehmi Karahan.

Phase 1 of The Preserve will feature 233 homes crafted by 10 North Texas luxury homebuilders: Alford Homes, Coats Homes, and Starside Builders have all begun home construction. The other seven are The Preserve Bella Custom Homes, Endurance Homes, Faulkner Perrin Custom Homes, Hawkins-Welwood Homes, Shaddock Custom Builders & Developers, Sharif & Munir Custom Homes, and Ventura Custom Homes, for whom construction will start soon.

The Preserve Frisco The Preserve in Frisco, soon to be covered with homes.The Preserve

Lot sizes range from 6,800 square feet to more than an acre. Home design options will incorporate high ceilings, open floor plans, glass walls, and seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor such as patios, infinity pools, and landscaped exteriors.

The surrounding area will have more than 2,000 new trees plus views delivered via design elements such as floor-to-ceiling windows and expansive outdoor living areas.

Many of the homes will address sustainability, health, and wellness with green architecture, energy efficiency, water conservation, and recycled building materials.

It will combine the privacy of a gated community with resort-style living, featuring amenities such as the PGA golf courses, 20+ miles of hike and bike trails, and the exclusive Brookside Club with an expansive swimming pool, state-of-the-art fitness center, tennis and pickleball courts and a playground.

Prices will start at $3,500,000.

Hunt Realty SVP Todd Watson calls it one of the most anticipated mixed-use projects in the area -- æa perfect location for discerning buyers seeking their forever home or a secondary residence" — although he's involved with the project so he's probably biased.

“As part of the Fields development, with prominent neighbors like PGA of America and the Omni PGA Frisco Resort, we know The Preserve will be one of the most sought-after addresses in North Texas," Watson says.

According to the Frisco Economic Development Corporation, Frisco’s population has increased by 500 percent in two decades and was recently recognized as the fastest growing city in Texas and third across the U.S.

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