North Texas housing slowdown continues in October

​​​DALLAS-FORT WORTH-ARLINGTON – North Texas home sales dropped in October, the third month in a row that preowned house purchases in the area were below 2017 levels.

Real estate agents sold 8,202 preowned houses last month, 4 percent below sales in October 2017.

Through the first ten​ months of the year, 89,292 houses we​​re sold in the area, about the same as in the same period in 2017, according to data from the Real Estate Center and North Texas Real Estate Inf​​​ormation Systems.

The slowdown in North Texas home purchases this year comes as mortgage costs have risen to the highest level in seven years.

Years of rising home prices in the area have also cut many potential buyers out of the housing market. 

Median home sales prices in the area were up 4 percent year over year in October to $250,000.

The rate of home price increases in North Texas in recent months has been about half what it was a year ago. Preowned home prices in the region have jumped more than 40 percent in the last five years.