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Dallas-Fort Worth — one of the most powerful housing metros in the United States — has seen a gain in housing values of 11.1 percent or $45.7 billion through the end of 2016, with all homes in the region totaling $456.9 billion.
That total value of housing roughly equates to the national gross domestic product of Poland.
"Over the past year, Dallas has been one of the power housing markets, along with Seattle, Denver and Portland — which are all places that have seen extraordinary strong home value growth," said Aaron Terrazas, a senior economist for Seattle-based Zillow, which tracked the housing data.
"Dallas continues to be an attractive option for corporations or people looking to escape pricey metro options," Terrazas told the Dallas Business Journal."Dallas seems like a bargain, but for people who have been there for a long time are seeing increasingly expensive homes."
The combined value of all the homes in Dallas-Fort Worth is higher than it was during the housing bubble years between 2006 and 2012. In all, Terrazas said the total value of housing stock in North Texas is 34 percent above that pre-crisis peak.
"There was almost no drop in housing prices in Dallas-Fort Worth during that time and the Dallas area has had a very strong recovery," he said.
During the crisis, the cumulative value of homes in the United States dropped $6.4 trillion during the housing market collapse. This year, the U.S. housing stock grew to a record high totaling $29.6 trillion, with an appreciation of 5.7 percent in value or $1.6 trillion.
"The U.S. housing stock is worth more than ever, which is a sign of the ongoing housing recovery," said Zillow's Chief Economist Svenja Gudell, in a statement.
"As buying a home gets more expensive, affordability remains a concern for many, and these numbers highlight just how much people are spending on housing," she added. "The total value of the housing stock grew nearly 6 percent this year, a pace that will likely mean some American families are priced out of homeownership."
Portland saw the biggest increase in value among large housing markets, with an increase of 13.4 percent by years-end.
Nationally, there's been a steady decline of home ownership as young would-be buyers decide to rent apartments instead of buy homes, but Terrazas said he expects to see Millennials to continue to be the driving force behind home ownership.
He says Dallas-Fort Worth remains a comparatively affordable market when measured against Los Angeles or southern California, where the prices are "out of whack."
Meanwhile, North Texas apartment renters paid a total of $11.1 billion in 2016, which is up 4.8 percent year-over-year and is also similar to the magnitude of Apple's profits at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015.
Nationally, the country also added about 635,000 new renter households, which contributed to renters paying $17.7 billion more this year for a total of $478.5 billion.
The appreciation of apartments in the United States sat a full percentage point below Dallas-Fort Worth's rental growth at 3.8 percent. And Terrazas says he expects North Texas to continue to be a powerful housing market into 2017.
"We are still very bullish on the Dallas housing market," he told me. "It's a very strong housing market — even though it's less affordable than it was — and continues to be an attractive location for corporations."
Original article by Candice Carlisle, Dallas Business Journal, Jan 3, 2017.
Topics: Dallas, economy, real estate