Plano Texas Real Estate Blog - Local Plano Real Estate.

The one thing about real estate data is that it's always looking in the rear view mirror.  What's happening now isn't what happened last year or even a month ago but you can spot trends.  Yes, sales are better but you really can't go by percentages because it makes it look better than it really is.  You would think a 30% increase in sales great but considering last year was most likely our hit bottom year, and sales are not even as good as 2010, you do have to take everything into consideration. 

What is definitely going to stall the market is the lack of inventory available, 30% increases in depleting home inventory supply will not keep the sales momentum going.  For example, as of today sales for Collin County are 637 units vs 881 sold units in 2011.  There is only more day to close this month.  We could end flat for the month.  Buyers are shopping but if sellers aren't selling homes then that's a new issue to deal with.  Buyers that have exhausted all available inventories in areas of interest will pounce on new listing and get them under contact fast and that's a trend that's happening now.  So if you're thinking of selling or been sitting on the fence - check out the inventory in your neighborhood and now could be the time.

North Texas Real Estate Information System (NTREIS)  reports median single-family home price up 3.8% in Feb-12 over Jan-12, sales climb to 3,868.

Feb-12 Quick Facts:

• The median price of existing single-family homes increased to $137,000 up 3.8% vs Jan-12.
• Existing single-family home sales increased 14.9% from Jan-12 for a Feb-12 total of 3,868 sold units.
• Condos increased in price to $128,500 up 10.1% vs Jan-12.
• Existing condo sales increased 10.8% in Feb-12 over Jan-12 for a total of 235 sold units.

Feb-12 North Texas Real Estate Information System (NTREIS)  Regional Sales and Price Activity

North Texas Real Estate Information System (NTREIS)	Median Price	Percent Change in Price from Prior Month	Percent Change in Price from Prior Year	Total # Units	Percent Change in Sales from Prior Month	Percent Change in Sales from Prior Year
	Feb-12	Jan-12	Feb-11	Feb-12	Jan-12	Feb-11
MLS Wide
NTREIS (Single Family)	$137,000	3.8%	2.2%	3,868	14.9%	19.1%
NTREIS (Condo)	$128,500	10.1%	34.0%	235	10.8%	12.4%
NTREIS Region Cities
Single Family Only
Abilene	$115,000	0.9%	9.5%	91	54.2%	35.8%
Allen	$180,000	2.9%	-9.5%	76	33.3%	24.6%
Arlington	$107,000	0.0%	-9.3%	153	-6.7%	37.8%
Bedford	$152,500	-21.8%	10.4%	32	52.4%	100.0%
Burleson	$120,000	-12.4%	-2.2%	41	86.4%	7.9%
Carrollton	$147,000	-0.6%	-3.0%	60	-1.6%	20.0%
Cedar Hill	$119,000	16.1%	5.3%	23	-11.5%	-14.8%
Coppell	$284,000	17.7%	30.0%	25	25.0%	0.0%
Dallas	$187,250	43.3%	28.5%	446	13.8%	20.5%
Denton	$132,500	1.9%	6.4%	46	-19.3%	4.5%
Desoto	$107,900	30.8%	-4.9%	23	-8.0%	21.1%
Euless	$126,949	-9.5%	-6.8%	17	-5.6%	21.4%
Flower Mound	$237,500	-3.4%	0.3%	63	117.2%	40.0%
Forney	$126,400	14.4%	1.1%	26	18.2%	44.4%
Fort Worth	$106,950	6.9%	10.3%	342	20.0%	10.7%
Frisco	$241,450	2.2%	11.0%	100	-5.7%	-11.5%
Garland	$94,000	9.3%	6.0%	113	21.5%	20.2%
Granbury	$142,500	3.6%	-26.9%	34	6.3%	-12.8%
Grand Prairie	$107,000	-17.7%	-6.6%	63	-4.5%	-14.9%
Grapevine	$214,950	2.0%	1.2%	32	0.0%	23.1%
Hurst	$151,000	2.7%	40.5%	29	31.8%	26.1%
Irving	$134,250	-0.6%	22.3%	66	-8.3%	6.5%
Keller	$191,488	9.4%	-4.3%	92	4.5%	29.6%
Lancaster	$66,500	-6.3%	11.0%	19	-20.8%	-20.8%
Lewisville	$143,500	-1.8%	-4.5%	58	16.0%	61.1%
Little Elm	$147,450	9.6%	2.0%	36	33.3%	80.0%
Mansfield	$168,000	6.7%	31.8%	49	58.1%	44.1%
Mckinney	$175,000	5.4%	1.3%	131	28.4%	39.4%
Mesquite	$68,000	-2.9%	13.3%	65	18.2%	38.3%
Midlothian	$146,000	-7.4%	-26.1%	23	0.0%	4.5%
North Richland Hills	$138,000	30.8%	-17.6%	35	16.7%	45.8%
Plano	$210,500	10.6%	6.0%	158	41.1%	22.5%
Richardson	$184,000	-1.1%	10.2%	57	50.0%	-5.0%
Rockwall	$158,000	-2.2%	-10.6%	31	6.9%	-6.1%
Rowlett	$131,375	1.9%	3.4%	34	25.9%	-24.4%
Sherman	$90,250	-5.0%	67.1%	24	26.3%	41.2%
The Colony	$121,500	15.7%	-7.3%	31	63.2%	24.0%
Waxahachie	$115,000	12.5%	-21.3%	23	-11.5%	9.5%
Weatherford	$125,000	-12.3%	3.7%	34	-15.0%	36.0%
Wylie	$145,000	8.4%	9.4%	27	-10.0%	22.7%

Knock Out Roses

What a brilliant day! Whatever you're doing.  Everything is Spring Green.  If you have your home on the market winter pictures need to be replaced.  Properties need to look pretty and perfect, or close to it.  Landscaping adds so much value to a property and knock out roses are a great addition.  Pest and drought resistant, Bloom all summer long and come in single or doubles, red or pink.  Go for it!

It's no secret that new construction in West Plano is pricey.  That's because most of the land was already built out a long time ago.  Goes to show the value of location.  The chart above is for 75093 and pricing comparisons for new construction and resale properties the past 3 years.  You can see in 2010 how pricing dropped considerably because the banks basically stopped lending especially in the upper range of home buying.  Now things have picked up to a more normal level as far as pricing goes.  One thing the downturn has done in new construction communities is lowered the pricing range.  Where new homes used to be 600K to 800K, it's now 400K to 600K.  Huge difference but it's important to know so not to over spend on new properties.  The biggest downside to buying a new home is recouping your initial investment, it will take at least 5 to 7 years depending on the location.  Kind of like buying a new car, as soon as you drive it off the lot you've lost 30% of value. Ouch!

Brand New on Market - 2601 Marsh Lane - Unit 194

If you're not familiar with Villages at Prestonwood, it's newer 1 story homes with open floor plans, vaulted ceilings and tons of light.  You'll find a prestigious gated community located right in the heart of West Plano - 75093.  It's a lock and leave community, perfect for empty nesters looking for low maintenance home ownership.

This particular unit is the lowest priced in the community and ideal location, close to community center and adjacent to a beautiful greenbelt. There are many upgrades in this 1538 sq ft unit with light and bright sunroom.  Nothing to do and move in ready.

Open House this Sunday - March 18 from 2-4 PM, call us for the gate code: 214.415.9829.  Take a look at some of the photos and come see this pristine unit for yourself.  Basic data...List Price: $197,500, 2 bdrm, 2 bath - 2 living areas, 2 car attached garage.  Listing Agent : Kitty Ross - Keller Williams.  Slideshow Link  - MLS 11736576

West Plano Closed Sales - Feb 2012

With February in the books here's a quick peek into the West Plano real estate market by price point.  Things are picking up and should be as the spring market is underway.  One important note is new listings are lagging as sales are brisk.  Take a look at the graph below for area 20-1, which is technically West Plano.  This is by price point so it gives you an idea of closed sales activity which is better than the past couple of years.  Pricing is still stable and low in my opinion.  Good time to jump in? Yes, but it depends on your personal situation.
February data will be out soon but it's more accurate toward the end of the month for the previous month.  The MLS has been so improved by technology that you can find out just about anything you want about a particular property to make a safe and secure buy if you know how to use it.

Coo Coo's at Jumpstreet in West Plano



Coo Coo's is a bounce house for Toddlers under 4, right next to Jumpstreet.
Hasn't been opened too long but tons of activities and fun for kids. Trains,
bounce houses - gorilla, space ship, alligators etc. etc...check it out. 8 bucks
for 2 Hours - nice helpful staff.  It's located behind Sonic in the strip center on
Midway and Plano Parkway.  Really fun!

Sellers - You Now Have More Control of Your Listing Data

If you're getting ready to list your home or thinking about it you need to know this.  Effective March 2, new revisions have been made to the residential listing agreements.  This information is so important because it lets the you (the seller) be in control of the listing data distribution on the internet and it also allows an option to not list the home immediately on the MLS but add a timeline to defer, which is more control for the consumer.

Here are the changes for the listing agreement:

The following items were changed in the Residential Real Estate Listing Agreement, Exclusive Right to Sell (TAR 1101); Residential Real Estate Listing Agreement, Exclusive Right to Lease (TAR 1102); and Farm & Ranch Real Estate Listing Agreement, Exclusive Right to Sell (TAR 1201):

• Paragraph 6B now includes an option for the seller to instruct the broker not to file the listing with the one or more multiple listing services until a certain amount of days after the listing begins.
• Paragraph 11B was added to allow the seller to control the display of the listing on the Internet.

So what does this mean?

• On paragraph 6B there will be a write in option, for example you want to finish updates or spring cleaning first, or you have guests etc. That way you control the exact day when you're are ready for the listing to hit the MLS.

• Paragraph 11B - below is exact wording from the listing agreement:

B. Broker is authorized to display this Listing on the Internet without limitation unless one of the following is checked:
 (1) Seller does not want this Listing to be displayed on the Internet.
 (2) Seller does not want the address of the Property to be displayed on the Internet.

This is so important for your privacy and safety.  What most consumers don't understand is that your listing data and photos (lots of them can and will remain online forever.)  MLS data as well as IDX home search sites will drop off after the status change but most of the popular real estate search sites like Zillow, Trulia and hundreds of others don't take it off.  They're not in the actual real estate business of providing services directly to the consumer because they're not a broker. This becomes an issue of your rights, privacy and safety.  They will continue to use your data as free content for an ad based platform model.  That's fine, but when it contains photos of your home and belongings -  it's a different story and you should be in control of that especially when a physical address is given.  Don't you agree?