North Texas home sales pass a record 10,000 in June

Existing home sales in North Texas continued at a record-setting pace in June as the number sold passed the 10,000 mark for the first time.

Sales of single-family homes reached 10,575, a 12 percent jump from June 2014 and nearly 1,100 more than in May, according to the latest data from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

The record month is another sign of the strengthening housing market, which has benefited from continued job growth and low interest rates that have first-time buyers hitting the market and others looking for larger homes.

This week, a report by Residential Strategies showed that home starts in Dallas-Fort Worth increased by 25 percent in the second quarter as builders expand their offerings. For the first six months of 2015, new home sales were up 4 percent over last year.

Moreover, real estate agents continue to report multiple offers on existing homes for sale.

The Texas A&M Real Estate Center report, which covers 29 counties, is compiled from sales recorded on the Multiple Listing Service. The number of sales is about 56 percent higher than what was recorded in June 2010, when the housing market was recovering from the Great Recession.

The median sales price also rose in June to $220,000, up 12 percent from a year ago. In May, the median price hit a record $215,000, a 14 percent boost from May 2014.

At this pace, home sales for 2015 could pass the record set at the end of 2014, when more than 90,000 homes were sold.

In June, homes that sold were on the market for an average of only 39 days, a 13 percent drop from a year ago.

Sales were pending on more than 8,700 homes, up 14 percent last month.

A tight inventory continues for the area. Active listings were just under 20,000, a drop of 12 percent from June 2014. New listings grew by only 7 percent.

This story was originally published July 8, 2015 at 11:40 AM with the headline "North Texas home sales pass a record 10,000 in June."