12/11/2006

Single women take No. 2 spot in home market

The latest housing industry surveys show that single women are the fastest-growing segment of homebuyers – now second only to married couples. They account for nearly one in four homebuyers and purchase houses at more than twice the rate of single men. Researchers say it's a combination of social changes and finances that's causing the increase.

11/17/2006

Blogs give Realtors another way to reach home clients

Austin real estate agent Dee Copeland has put up a bigger sign in cyberspace. Since March, Ms. Copeland has been running a blog to inform potential buyers about her local housing market. "I use the blog to communicate market conditions and updates to my clients, other agents, investors and anyone interested in my market," says Ms. Copeland, who's an agent with Keller Williams Realty.

11/27/2006

Luxe over loft
Two new apartment high-rises are taking a less lofty approach to downtown living.

11/14/2006

Realtors adapting to new reality
With home sales and prices falling in many parts of the country, real estate agents are having a tough time dealing with the new reality.

11/15/2006

Horton profit halved
The new-home market faces at least six months of further declines, predicts the chief executive of the country's largest builder.

11/13/2006

Hunting for bargains at auctions

Auctions are attracting an increasing number of bargain-hungry homebuyers who have never bid for anything, much less a house. But interest is rising because of the soaring number of foreclosed homes.

Realtors lament prices

Despite low interest rates, the high cost of home ownership has priced many first-time buyers out of the market.

11/10/2006

Is housing already poised to recover?
The top economist for the national Realtors group predicts that the national housing downturn is leveling out and a recovery may be at hand.

11/08/2006

North Texas home prices fall again
North Texas home prices fell for the second consecutive month in October.

10/27/2006

North Texas home market slows

The North Texas housing market has shifted into slower growth. Through the first nine months, home sales in the Dallas area are up about 2 percent from a year ago. Prices are up a scant 3 percent. Some neighborhoods are bucking the trends. For example, home sales prices are up 15 percent this year in the Park Cities and up 10 percent in East Dallas.
• See home sales and prices for your neighborhood

11/03/2006

Telecom Corridor has a new calling

FILE

Developers are adding retail and apartments to the mix in Richardson't Telecom Corridor

Richardson's Telecom Corridor has long been known for its office and industrial buildings. Now apartment and retail developers are finding building opportunities in the area along U.S. Highway 75 with planned mixed-use projects. The first big development is under way – a 15-acre retail and apartment community being built at the southeast corner of Campbell Road and North CentralExpressway. Called Eastside, it's one of three major projects in the works for the area.

Costs deterring apartment builders
A shortage of building sites and high construction costs are preventing developers from providing enough Dallas-area apartments to meet current demand.

10/26/2006

Sales of pre-owned homes fall, prices tumble
Sales of existing homes fell for a sixth straight month in September and the median sales price dropped on an annual basis by the largest amount on record, further documenting a lukewarm housing market.

10/23/2006

Company looks to get Deep Ellum project on track
Developers aren't waiting for DART's new southeast corridor light rail line to be finished. Phoenix-based Alliance Communities hopes to break ground soon on a residential and retail complex in Deep Ellum.

10/20/2006

Foreclosures jump to '80s level

DMN file

Home foreclosure postings in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have surged to their highest level since the 1980s. Nearly 4,000 homes in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties have been posted for possible sale in November, up 49 percent from the same period a year ago. "It's high, much higher than normal," said George Roddy, president of Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service, which compiled the data.

10/11/2006

Area builders start 12% fewer houses

FILE 2006/Staff Photo

North Texas homebuilders have gotten the word about the softening housing market. Builders cut back starts by 12 percent in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the third quarter. Even so, they started work on more than 12,000 houses in the three months through September, housing analysts at Metrostudy Inc. said Tuesday.

10/13/2006

Collin County to add more shopping sites
Two Collin County towns that have experienced a residential boom are about to get some new retail space.

09/27/2006

Developer aims for 1,300 units in Dallas area
Phoenix-based apartment developer Alliance Residential said Wednesday that it will complete more than 1,300 apartments in the Dallas area by next year. The projects are located in both the central city and suburbs and are already under construction.

10/03/2006

Housing costs taking a bigger bite of paychecks
Americans are becoming increasingly house poor. Homeowners in every state but one spent more of their incomes on housing costs last year than at the start of the decade, according to data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau. Those in Alaska spent the same.

09/25/2006

Chicago firm buys lot near Quadrangle
The parking lot at Vine and Howell streets in Uptown has been on developers' radar screen for more than 20 years. But now Chicago-based AMLI Residential has purchased the 2.5-acre site and plans to build more than 300 rental units. MLI purchased the land from Fairfield Residential, which had owned the property for about a year, according to Miller Commercial's Chris Colombe, who brokered the land sale.

09/22/2006

Residents split on possible sale

SMILEY N. POOL / DMN

Little Mexico Village was built in 1942 to replace shacks in what used to be one of the poorest parts of Dallas. Now, the public housing project sits near American Airlines Center and amid multimillion-dollar high-rise condos in one of the city's richest neighborhoods. The land has become a gold mine, and the Dallas Housing Authority, which owns and operates the property, is considering whether to cash in.
• Tell Us: What should the housing authority do?

09/19/2006

Neighbors in bitter feud over building limits

JIM MAHONEY

Dallas' Stonewall Jackson neighborhood isn't the first to try to install a Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay, a tool designed to protect established blocks from teardowns and large, lot-hugging houses. But its zoning case is the messiest yet. The 280-home enclave tucked off of Mockingbird Lane - the second ever to petition for the controversial overlay - is at war over whether to limit new construction in the community, named for its well-regarded elementary school.

08/31/2006

National retailer will set up shop downtown

FILE 1992/DMN

With thousands of new residential units in downtown Dallas, retailers have been taking a hard look at the central business district. Now a national apparel retailer has decided to take the plunge and open a store on Commerce Street.

08/24/2006

Design District to get a residential element

STEVE BROWN/Staff

Dallas' Design District – a close-in neighborhood with acres of aging showroom and industrial buildings – will soon be an urban apartment address. Crow Holdings, the major property owner in the area between Stemmons Freeway and the Trinity River, and an Atlanta developer plan to build a retail and residential complex on Oak Lawn Avenue at Hi-Line Drive.

08/23/2006

Suburbia moves to Baja Oklahoma
Suburban Dallas' newest home community will be closer to Oklahoma than downtown. The 1,587-acre Bridges at Preston Crossing will be built just east of Gunter. That's about 30 miles south of the Red River and 40 miles from downtown Dallas.

08/16/2006

At Inwood and Royal, a neighborhood for the elite is in the works
Hillwood Residential – the Perot family's community building company – is shopping for 17 well-heeled buyers who want to live in Preston Hollow. After months of negotiation and planning, the developer has purchased 22 acres at the southwest corner of Inwood Road and Royal Lane, where it is going to build an exclusive neighborhood.

07/27/2006

Tax rolls show big increases
Healthy growth in Dallas County commercial values gave some cities double-digit hikes in their tax rolls this year, while the county saw its best overall increase in four years, according to final certified numbers released Wednesday. Values were up even higher in rapidly developing Collin and Tarrant counties – driven generally by home construction.
• Area property values (.pdf)

07/17/2006

Angela Shah: Soaring energy prices boost Houston housing
The national housing boom may be coming to an end, but Houston's is soaring, thanks to record energy prices. A buzzing Houston Oil Patch is luring in workers from Jakarta and Singapore to fill executive suites and workday cubicles, keeping the city's Realtors busy as they respond to the need for housing.

07/11/2006

Masons selling campus in FW
A developer is buying an historic 200-acre Masonic campus on Fort Worth's south side. Mallick Group plans to redevelop the property while maintaining landmark buildings at the Masonic Home and School of Texas on State Highway 287. "We're going to do a master-planned development with commercial and residential," said developer Michael J. Mallick. "It's something that is really needed in the area."

07/08/2006

Frisco to open 1,000 acres to development
A Michigan developer has received approval to build on one of the largest undeveloped tracts in Frisco. Crosswinds Communities Inc. plans to develop almost 1,000 acres on Lebanon Road west of the Dallas North Tollway into a master-planned residential community. Work will begin next month.
• Tell Us: Is Frisco changing too much too quickly?

07/09/2006

From wreckage to riches
Some big houses have been built on teardown lots, but one planned in Highland Park may be the most expensive yet.

07/05/2006

Apartment demand plummets
A sudden slowdown in leasing has North Texas apartment landlords wondering where all the tenants went. After more than a year of runaway rental activity, demand for apartments plunged in the second quarter. The trend is apparent around the state.

07/06/2006

Cameras credited for drop in crime
Richland Park Estates residents hoped surveillance cameras they installed in February would reduce crime in their northeast Dallas neighborhood. But they never imagined their crime rate would drop to almost nothing.

06/22/2006

Colossal retail project revs up
Developers are breaking ground across the street from NorthPark Center for an even more expensive project. The Park Lane development will cost north of $500 million and will include more than 2 million square feet of retail, apartments, condominiums, hotel rooms and office space.

07/03/2006

Construction spending drops
Construction spending fell in May by the largest amount in nearly two years as the once booming housing sector suffered another big decline.

06/23/2006

Hopes are high for downtown Dallas
When Los Angeles investor Zaya Younan started buying Dallas-area office buildings three years ago, all of his purchases were in the suburbs. But after spending more than $200 million buying properties in the 'burbs, Younan Properties is headed downtown. Other investors are on the same page.

Dallas may fund downtown apartments
Downtown Dallas' housing boom continues creeping southward, with City Hall's preliminary grant of nearly $20 million in tax incentives to a large apartment project and a hotel and apartment development along Young Street.

Steve Brown: Building with an exotic touch
A new Plano apartment community is heading halfway around the globe for its inspiration. Legacy Partners' Kiora Park apartments on State Highway 121 will be constructed with a "New Zealand theme," according to the developer.

06/20/2006

Uptown gets Ritzy again:
2nd luxury tower in the works
Uptown's luxury condo boom is getting its second wind. Another tower will soon be going up in the Ritz-Carlton project under construction on Pearl Street. And it will be even larger than the first phase.

06/21/2006

Fate tops list of fastest-growing Texas cities
No other city in Texas surpassed Fate's 63.4 percent growth, but plenty of other North Texas cities posted high population percentage gains.

06/15/2006

High-rise is heading to next level
Downtown Dallas' oldest residential building is getting a makeover. The Manor House is surrounded by newer residential projects including SoCo Urban Lofts, Dallas Power & Light and the Metropolitan condominiums. With 252 units, the apartment tower includes commercial space on the lower floors and a garage.

06/16/2006

Steve Brown: Dallas market 'undervalued'
A new survey finds that Big D has the most undervalued housing of any big-city market in the country. That's right – the best buy in the nation. Normally, it wouldn't be bragging material to have "undervalued" real estate. But with the buzz about cooling residential prices in many cities, it's good news that Dallas doesn't have a housing bubble hanging overhead.

06/08/2006

Home sales remain flat
North Texas home sales were unchanged in May.

06/05/2006

Residents attracted to heart of town
It's happening from Denton and Granbury in North Texas to Huntsville in southeast Texas and Colorado City in West Texas. Small-town coziness and old-fashioned character are drawing people to live in historic downtowns.

Site of burned mansion is sold
Investors have purchased a pricey North Dallas estate, the location of a huge house that burned in 2002.

06/02/2006

The Village springs eternal
Contractors are about to begin construction on the latest generation of apartments in the Village, on Northwest Highway just east of Greenville Avenue. The Dakota development, a 496-unit complex, will replace two Village complexes built back in the 1970s.

06/01/2006

Kids growing up downtown
Downtown Dallas' apartments and condominiums are filling with young professionals and even retirees. But children don't seem to fit the equation. There are no central parks or commons, only meager school choices and a dearth of playmates. But a small number of families with children now live in this neighborhood.

05/31/2006

Urban retirees
The last thing some retirees want is a quiet little house by a lake. They have their sights set on a luxurious high-rise near the symphony or theater. This emerging trend has arrived in Dallas, where two developers have launched sales campaigns for properties planned in the Turtle Creek neighborhood.

Foreclosures: '80s vs. '06
George Roddy is no stranger to real estate cycles. The president of Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service Inc. has been collecting data on the industry for 36 years.

05/26/2006

Parade of Homes will satisfy public's appetite for glitz
Five McKinney homes are open to the public as part of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas annual Parade of Homes. The trade group has been holding the annual tours since 1991 as a way for builders to show off their workmanship.
• Photos: McKinney Parade of Homes

05/23/2006

So happy together
More boomers and their aging parents want to enjoy each other's company these days, and they're discovering that active-adult communities are good places for that. "We're going to grow old together and, of course, have fun doing it," said LaDonna Gatlin who, along with her husband, will soon be living in the same active-adult development as her parents.

New housing stirs interest in
long-dormant Farmers Market area
Dallas' Farmers Market district is a sleepy pocket of downtown that seems remote from the nearby skyscrapers and condo projects. Now developers are hoping that the addition of hundreds of residential units will turn it into the next hot neighborhood.

05/18/2006

Former Park Place site leased
A Fort Worth developer has tied up a prime building site near Highland Park and is working on plans for a shopping and residential complex. Trademark Property Co. has leased the former Park Place Mercedes property at Avondale and Oak Lawn avenues from the Hillcrest Foundation.

05/12/2006

It's an Uptown whirl
The Dallas real estate market is going Uptown. The trendy neighborhood between downtown and Turtle Creek is sprouting construction cranes like weeds. Even more projects are planned to start in the coming months than are currently under construction.

05/16/2006

U.S. home prices are losing torrid pace; D-FW up 4.6%
Runaway U.S. home price gains began to moderate in the first quarter. And prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area were up by less than half the national rate. The first quarter's 10.3 percent rise in nationwide median home sales prices was the smallest such increase in a year. The peak was a 14.7 percent jump in third quarter 2005.

05/12/2006

Prosper to get huge project
Developers have tied up enough land in the Collin County town of Prosper for a 1,300-acre residential project. Called Brookhollow, the development on U.S. Highway 380 east of Preston Road is being touted as the largest residential project in Prosper.

Tax appraisals are a hot topic
On my street, it's the main topic for discussion when neighbors meet on the sidewalk. At work around the water cooler, co-workers share their horror stories.

Project on rise west of Galleria
Developers have broken ground just west of the Galleria mall on an 8-acre shopping and housing complex. The urban-style development, being constructed by builders Opus West Corp. and Alliance Communities, will replace an old industrial building.

05/01/2006

Enough buyers for luxury condos?
Faced with deciding between a condo in the W Hotel or in the Ritz-Carlton, Michael Sandlin chose one of each. "The W seems a little more young and sophisticated," he said, "the Ritz, more of a sure thing on a higher level of service." The 45-year-old Dallas attorney is part of an influx of pioneers returning to the center city.

05/10/2006

North Texas housing takes turn for worse
Has the North Texas housing market finally turned down? It's too early to say, but April's 13 percent drop in pre-owned home sales from a year ago should catch folks' attention.

05/08/2006

Danielle DiMartino:
Bubble's bursting on all fronts
The evidence of a deflating housing bubble is spreading to places less visible to the naked eye. We're not just talking record, and fast-escalating, inventories – one of the most glaring red, flashing lights and harbingers of falling prices. Or things such as Ameriquest laying off 3,800 workers and closing 229 branches in its mortgage-lending unit.

04/28/2006

Developers enter Cedars neighborhood
"When I found out Mark Cuban was buying over there, too; that did it for me," said Jerry Beauchamp, who bought a condo unit in Dallas' venerable Cedars neighborhood. Developers and urban homebuyers are attracted to the Cedars because of affordable property prices and proximity to downtown.

Area has more new homes than buyers, quarterly stats show
Dallas-area homebuilders are on a construction binge. But a market analyst worries that they may overdo speculative construction. "It does appear that the homebuilders goosed the market this spring in selected areas, being overly aggressive," said Ted Wilson.

04/24/2006

Costs hitting home
Recent mortgage rate moves have pushed financing costs to the highest point in four years. Housing industry analysts are hoping that the increases won't go above 7 percent. Last week, the average fixed-rate mortgage cost about 6.53 percent, Freddie Mac reported.
• Mortgage calculator

04/21/2006

1,000 apartments sold to NY investor
A New York investor has bought more than 1,000 Far North Dallas apartments in one of the biggest such buys this year.

04/07/2006

Townhomes booming in the 'burbs
East of White Rock Lake, builder Charles Magee is starting work on the first of 64 townhouses. Indeed, more than three-fourths of the townhouses being built in the Dallas area are in the suburbs.
• Housing market remains strong
• Online prices are out of touch

04/10/2006

Residential project going up on Lake Lewisville peninsula
On Lake Lewisville developers are starting work on a huge residential community that will total almost $1 billion in value.

04/07/2006

Area's employment growth boosts apartment leasing
Backed by a rebound in employment growth, Dallas-Fort Worth apartment landlords had a surge in rentals in the first quarter.

04/05/2006

Area avoids bubble trouble
While the buzz about a nationwide housing shakeout grows, Dallas and Fort Worth are near the bottom of the list of cities at risk of a price meltdown. North Texas real estate markets are among the safest in the country, according to the latest analysis released Tuesday by PMI Group, one of the country's biggest mortgage insurers. At the same time, the chances of a price slide have grown in many coastal markets, PMI analysts found in their first quarter survey.
• Tell Us: What's been your experience in the area housing market?

03/31/2006

Sales of expensive homes up
So far this year, sales of North Texas homes priced below $120,000 have fallen about 13 percent. During the same period, sales of houses costing between $120,000 and $200,000 have grown 14 percent, and sales of higher-priced houses have shot up 20 percent and more.

04/04/2006

Love Field shopping center to get update
Developers plan to transform a 20-year-old shopping center at the north end of Love Field into a mixed-use development with apartments and more retail space.

03/10/2006

Historic Maple Terrace offers Uptown condos

The developers of the historic Maple Terrace are hoping the landmark's appeal and lower prices will attract condo buyers. The building was a favorite of celebrities who were in town for a long visit. Former visitors include Greer Garson, Shirley MacLaine and Judy Garland.
• Photos: Uptown's cachet draws cash
• Map: Uptown is where it's at
• More Uptown Aspirations

03/24/2006

Woodlawn Hospital sale falls through
Three months after Parkland Health & Hospital System thought it had found a buyer for the historic Woodlawn Hospital complex, the deal has fallen through.

03/21/2006

Uptown high-rise sold to investor
One of Uptown's new residential towers has changed hands.

03/03/2006

Dallas home market isn't free of risk
D Magazine's current cover story extols the Dallas real estate market as bulletproof – to wit, that because our prices have not risen as fast as those in hot markets, we are not vulnerable to a housing downturn. Unfortunately, that theory ignores an old tenet of economics.

03/09/2006

Shifting sales data make for hazy housing picture
If you are wondering what's up with the North Texas home market, don't look for the answer in February's sales numbers.

02/23/2006

Builder's retro units are hot sellers
Builder Terry Gaston has a thing for old fire stations. He's spent hours poring over pictures of historic firehouses and visiting the landmarks around town. And residents in his Dallas townhouse projects get to share in his love. At least on the outside, the central city projects are patterned after the early 20th-century fire stations.

03/01/2006

Oak Lawn complex approved
Developers have gotten preliminary approval to knock down a block of Oak Lawn apartments to make way for a new residential complex.

02/25/2006

Legacy project to add upscale apartments
Developers have started work on a centerpiece residential building in the Legacy Town Center project in Plano.

Property value is in eye of the beholder
Numbers may never lie, but an exact truth can be hard to find in real estate appraisals. Location, personal sentiment and potential uses of the property are all also taken into account. And that could inflate values already assigned by an appraisal district.
Stadium hold-out Evelyn Wray
• Home values: Search by property from tax districts

02/16/2006

Area home prices inch up
Fourth-quarter comparisons show that the Dallas-Fort Worth area continues to trail the rest of the country in home price gains.

02/10/2006

Thousands of apartments in works in Las Colinas
Developers are keeping the dirt flying in Las Colinas with a new round of apartment building. More than 1,000 rental units are under construction in the Irving development, and at least that many more are planned in the next round of building. Most of the apartment projects are being built in the Las Colinas Urban Center, a 900-acre complex of high-rise offices, hotels and residential space on the east side of State Highway 114.

02/09/2006

Area home sales drop again
The North Texas home market started 2006 with a drop in sales. Preowned home sales were down about 4 percent in January from a year earlier, according to statistics released Wednesday by the North Texas Real Estate Information System and Texas A&M; University's Real Estate Center.

02/04/2006

DART parking: Can they top it?
Developers are trying to strike a deal with DART to build apartments and retail on parking lots at the Mockingbird rail station.

02/03/2006

In comparison, D-FW houses undervalued
If a new study is correct, North Texas homeowners shouldn't worry about a housing bubble. Instead of an overheated market, Dallas-Fort Worth housing is among the most underpriced in the country, according to the year-end report by Local Market Monitor LLC. The Massachusetts-based housing analyst looked at prices in 100 U.S. residential markets before deciding that the D-FW area was among the most undervalued home markets in the country.

Construction costs hitting home
Rising construction costs are expected to hammer the housing industry again in 2006.

Developer plans third community
An Arizona developer that is already working on two large residential communities in North Texas has purchased land for a third project.

01/31/2006

Condos in the midst of culture
Dallas' newest residential high-rise will be a standout in an exclusive neighborhood.

01/27/2006

Real estate is booming, but can it last?

Last year builders sold almost 43,000 new homes in North Texas. Apartment landlords rented about 22,000 additional apartments. Almost 2.5 million square feet of net office leasing was reported, along with another 2.5 million square feet of retail leasing. And landlords leased almost 6 million square feet of industrial space.
• New home sales log another record in '05

New home sales log another record in '05
New-home sales for all of 2005 climbed to an all-time high, marking the fifth year in a row of record sales.

01/20/2006

Banner year for area housing
The North Texas housing market made a sales shift in 2005. Sales of low-cost houses to first-time buyers slowed, while the number of high-cost home sales soared. In properties priced below $110,000, sales were down by almost 4 percent last year, according to statistics from the North Texas Real Estate Information System. At the same time, sales of homes priced at more than $400,000 jumped by more than 20 percent. Total sales were up 8 percent.
• Interactive maps: Price | Sales
• Tell us: Hottest area in 2006?

A rough housing report
Residential foreclosure postings in North Texas spiked this month.

01/19/2006

Single-family home construction hits all-time high
Construction of new single-family homes surged to an all-time high in 2005 but construction activity fell sharply in December, sending a signal that the nation's long housing boom could be cooling off.

01/13/2006

Builders focus on boomers
Of course you've heard that everyone from apparel designers to newspaper editors is racking his brain about how to attract younger customers. So what's up with the homebuilders? They are increasingly focusing their marketing efforts on the older crowd. The answer is simple – the population of older Americans is exploding, and they are loaded with cash.

01/17/2006

Top builders buying up rivals
ORLANDO, Fla. – While America's automakers struggle against a sliding market share, major U.S. homebuilders are getting bigger.

01/12/2006

Housing troubles expected
ORLANDO, Fla. – An investor pullout from the housing sector this year could spell trouble for many U.S. markets. High-priced home markets and condominiums will be the hardest-hit by an anticipated slowdown in investment activity, the country's top housing analysts said Wednesday. "We expect housing activity to drop about 8 percent this year – it's primarily because of the investors' slowing purchases," said David Berson, chief economist with mortgage company Fannie Mae.

01/11/2006

Las Colinas to get a taste of Uptown
Gables Residential, the busiest apartment builder in central Dallas, is going to take a little bit of Uptown to Irving. Gables has purchased about 13 acres in the center of Las Colinas, where it plans to build a high-density mixed-use project. The lakeside development will include hundreds of apartments, a shopping center and a future condo tower and hotel.

New-home sales continue surge
Higher mortgage rates in late 2005 didn't put the brakes on the North Texas new-home market.

01/10/2006

2005 was big for housing
North Texas home sales fell by 10 percent in December – the largest dip in more than two years. But the year-end slide wasn't enough to keep 2005 from setting a record for pre-owned home sales. More than 87,000 homes traded in the area last year, up 8 percent from 2004, North Texas Real Estate Information Systems reported. Based on recent trends and forecasts, it will be tough for area real estate agents to set another record in 2006.
• Tell us: Will the area housing market cool this year?

01/06/2006

Million-dollar movers
Two of the most expensive houses for sale in North Texas have something in common – they aren't built yet. At $9 million, the home under construction on Bordeaux Avenue in Highland Park is the priciest offered in the Dallas area. And the $7.449 million the house planned on Crescent Avenue in Highland Park isn't far behind, according to the Realtors' Internet sales site. Both mansions are spec houses, being constructed by builders in the hopes that the right buyer will come along.

Hillwood to develop prize tract
The Perot family's Hillwood Residential is making a pricey land development play in the heart of North Dallas.

Housing experts forecast falling sales, prices
Usually chipper housing economists are taking a more somber tone about the 2006 home market. After several years of record home sales and construction, the country's top housing prognosticators see a down year ahead. Some of the newest forecasts call for home sales to slide by as much as 8 percent and prices to decline in some markets.

01/04/2006

D-FW apartment demand soars
Demand for apartments in 2005 was more than twice the new supply.

12/31/2005

Developer buys site near Galleria
Developers are planning a residential and commercial complex on the Dallas North Tollway across from the Galleria.

12/30/2005

Area real estate had big year
Buying, building and leasing – 2005 has been a big year for the local real estate market. Low interest rates and rabid investor appetites fueled a boom the likes of which Big D hasn't seen since the 1980s, writes Steve Brown. At the same time, the local housing market shows no sign of a slowdown. In fact, prices are inching up.

12/29/2005

Development is in the works near Terrell
A development group has bought more than 600 acres near Terrell where it plans to build a residential project.

12/23/2005

From ledgers to leases
Downtown Dallas' Republic National Bank tower has been a business landmark for a half-century.

12/17/2005

Home foreclosures stepping up in '06
North Texas will start out the New Year with a 4 percent increase in home foreclosure postings.

12/16/2005

It's a mod, mod world
For years, modern and contemporary-style houses were a tough sell in North Texas, where buyers usually demand big traditional and faux European-style homes. But that's changing somewhat, real estate agents and builders say. "It has been a very narrow market, and there are still some people who say 'ugh' when they hear 'modern' or 'contemporary.' "

Rentals going out of reach
WASHINGTON – The cost of rental housing has risen faster than wages, making it increasingly difficult for low-income families to afford even modest apartments, according to a coalition that advocates more affordable housing.

12/13/2005

4040 North Central Expressway tower is sold
Chicago-based real estate investor RREEF has purchased the 4040 North Central Expressway office building in Dallas, the company said Monday.

07/03/2006

University Park considers limits on house size
After years of allowing builders to squeeze 8,000- to 10,000-square-foot homes onto lots, University Park may be getting out of the big-house business. The city's zoning advisory committee is exploring options to reduce and further regulate the size of construction and additions to single-family homes.