North Texas' housing market cools but challenges remain

The housing market appears to be cooling off in North Texas, but home prices are climbing in towns that were once considered to be way out in the boonies, per an Axios analysis of Zillow data.

Why it matters: People who were priced out during the pandemic may have more options now, but they will likely have to compromise on features, location and mortgage payments.

The big picture: The demand for houses outpaced supply at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. A fear of missing out-driven hype around the housing market, paired with supply-chain disruptions, drove up prices even more, per a Dallas Fed analysis.

Zoom in: The Zillow data shows that average home prices decreased across North Texas between July and October.

• Homes in ZIP code 75226, which includes Deep Ellum, saw the biggest drop in prices compared with other North Texas ZIP codes.
• The average price in the same ZIP code in October was around $331,000 — 5.4% lower than in July.

Yes, but: Houses in desirable areas like Dallas, Plano and Allen remain pricey, posing a disadvantage for middle- and low-income families looking to replace their rent payments with a mortgage.

Meanwhile: Cities outside North Texas, where land is cheaper, experienced a spike in their average home price between July and October.

• The largest increases west of North Texas were in Crafton, which is between Fort Worth and Wichita Falls. The typical home price was $337,000 — almost 5% higher than in July.

• In the northeast, the largest price hike was near Commerce in Flat Prairie and Ladonia, where the typical home price increased by 5.5% to $146,000 between July and October.

What we're watching: Realtor.com expects the average inventory of homes for sale nationwide to be higher in 2023 than this year and last year, but it is projected to still fall 15% short of the 2019 average.

Go deeper: Browse our interactive graphic to see how prices have changed in your ZIP code.