No Ceiling on Housing Costs

For anyone thinking about buying a home it’s bad news, but for those who already own one it’s good news. The news: The average price of a new single family home in the Dallas area has reached $45,000, up from last year’s $42,200. For those who already own a well selected home, that means the value of their home investment should be up. For those looking to buy, waiting around means watching prices continue upward.

The figures come from MP/F Incor-porated’s latest Dallas-Fort Worth housing survey. The survey indicates that last year’s hottest new housing area, Piano, is still going strong, but has been replaced by the Mid-Cities as the fastest growing area in Dallas and Tarrant Counties. New home buying in Arlington is up 79 percent and in nearby Hurst-Euless-Bedford, it’s up 191 percent. Richardson and Garland are the second fastest growing areas, with buying up 20-30 percent over last year.

Finding an apartment in North Dallas is more difficult this year than it was last year. The survey indicates apartment occupancy rates in the Park Cities and Richardson have reached 98 percent, followed by 96 percent in far North Dallas. The countywide average occupancy rate is 91 percent.

It’s also considerably more expensive to live in a North Dallas apartment, than it is to live elsewhere in Dallas County. While the average Dallas County one-bedroom, unfurnished (bills paid) apartment is renting for $187, in far North Dallas it’s $217. For an average two bedroom apartment, it’s $227 countywide and $284 in far North Dallas.

Generally the housing figures reflect a strong rebound for home building, especially in the suburbs. But there is one home building disaster in the suburbs, out in Flower Mound, a hapless New Town which has become a political and economic football between HUD and Flower Mound’s developers. Caught in the middle are builders, who are staying away in droves. In the third quarter of 1976, Flower Mound had 273 lots developed and ready for home-building. A grand total of two houses were under construction.