Someone left a comment criticizing a particular home for being overpriced. Unfortunately, I can't publicly discuss homes that are not my listings. (Note that I have all of the local listings on my site, not just mine. The listing broker and agent are clearly identified in large bold type right under the photos.)
However, the gist of the comment was "not a home in town is going for 143 a square foot." This is incorrect. In the last six months, 227 homes have sold in Southlake and the average sold $/sf was $151. There were 33 homes sold in the past six months in the 3000-3500sf (the range of the home in question), and they averaged $130/sf with five over $143/sf.
And to determine if a home is overpriced, we need to look at the true comparables in the immediate area, not city wide statistics. If you'd like to know more about the value of your home, give us a call and we can pull some quick stats for you.
However, the gist of the comment was "not a home in town is going for 143 a square foot." This is incorrect. In the last six months, 227 homes have sold in Southlake and the average sold $/sf was $151. There were 33 homes sold in the past six months in the 3000-3500sf (the range of the home in question), and they averaged $130/sf with five over $143/sf.
And to determine if a home is overpriced, we need to look at the true comparables in the immediate area, not city wide statistics. If you'd like to know more about the value of your home, give us a call and we can pull some quick stats for you.
The past six months was a different world and not an accurate picture of what homes are worth. I would love to be able to sell some of my stock holdings today for what they were worth 6 months ago.
Cindy, I have to say your site is THE best!! Your site is the ONLY one that gives me all the information I am looking for! You are the "M" (James Bond character) of Real Estate... accurate, informative, accessible, and leading the way!! Thank you for having the best site and the most user-friendly spot in the entire DFW area! We should all use you because you are the one who ensures the information is easily accessed by potential buyers!!! Potential buyers HAVE to use your site because it's the only one that is dependable to give all the information they are looking for!! Thanks again!! You Rock Cindy Ruppert!!
Thanks for going to the trouble to put the information on this site, as it is very informative. Real Estate is unlike stocks, and any attempt to make an analogy linking the two is misleading. I have seen stocks that were worth 'X' amount six months ago, but had lost 70%-80% of their value; seemingly overnight. I have NEVER owned a piece of property that declined in value that dramatically in that short a time frame. If your analysis puts the price sq/ft. at $150 or so, then we appreciate that you took the time to analyze the recent sales. Furthermore, with your help, homebuyers and investors like us will gratefully use your site to invest our hard earned dollars in these troubling times. Southlake is a very desirable area, and many folks are interested in coming here and putting their kids in school in this district. This will help soften the impact of the current market conditions, though we are all vulnerable.
Thanks again for taking the time to keep all of us informed.
T.D. Dandan
Thanks for your comment. I think it was very informative. My whole point in writing the last couple of pieces is to remind folks that, unlike most stock portfolios, real estate is local. We all being inundated with horror stories about real estate and there really is a lot of pain out there on a national level. But we are fortunate to be in an area where real estate is, relatively speaking, doing well. I hope to continue to supply stats as they come available, be they good or not.
Southlake will soon be in the same economic market that the high end Chicago subs are in. It took about 24 months of a steady decline to get to this point.....a total buyers market. In subdivisions that experience re location turnover due to the amount of professionals, older homeowners who are no longer interested in the high end schools, and empty nesters looking to escape the high property taxes......the market takes on a life of its own.
Lower priced towns in close proximity to Southlake will drive the prices to a more competitive posture, and as sellers begin to loose serious buyers to more aggressive discounters the market shifts rapidly........throw in a dozen custom builders who are sitting on spec homes for 6 months or more and it gets even better....
My experience on the "best" schools is it always looks better looking in than looking out. Evaluate GPA compared to class rankings to determine if honors students skew the class rankings acheiving over 4.0 GPA's.....also be prepared to fund "olympic level" pre HS sports programs to ensure your kids can play HS sports....and dont forget the political connections.....
Just a heads up from an experienced homeowner in the market to re lo to Dallas..........
That's a very interesting comment.
Some of the price pressure you describe may be starting to hit the Southlake area. The very high end has been slow for a while now. There are a number of new high end developments without much happening.
For school ratings we tend to rely on standardized testing done by the Texas Education Agency, and its Accountability Rating System, rather than GPA. See http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/.
Thanks for your input!