Harbaugh Real Estate

Arlington and Mansfield Continue to Experience Declining Home Sales

Arlington and Mansfield both saw a continued decline in home sales in February 2024.

A neighborhood in Arlington

In February, Arlington had 218 closed sales per records from the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems (i.e. the MLS), while Mansfield had 70 closed sales. In both cases, these numbers were lower than February 2023 when Arlington saw 234 and Mansfield saw 88 closed sales.

a graph of Arlington and Mansfield home sales

Home Sales Analysis

While these home sales numbers are not surprising, they are interesting nonetheless. As prices continue to move higher, we would almost expect to see home sales increasing in a sign that more demand is driving prices higher. However, in our case, the situation is the opposite. Demand really hasn't increased much, but it also has not weakened. Supply has been what has weakened, and this is the driver for the higher prices we continue to experience in DFW.

In looking at the graph above, it is also interesting to note that the decline in sales in Mansfield has been quite muted compared to that of Arlington. While both have seen sales decline, Mansfield has experienced much less decline than Arlington. And, just for context, the entire MLS is showing a housing sales decline similar to that of Mansfield.

New Listings Increase

While home supply has been lower over the last couple of years, it does appear that supply is starting to come back up. Have a look at the chart below. You can see that the New Listings number is showing signs of increasing. In fact, for February 2024, new listings improved by over 20% for both Arlington and Mansfield. This could be a sign that some folks are starting to sell in spite of the fact that they would have to accept a higher interest rate on their next purchase.

a graph of Arlington and Mansfield new listings

Conclusion

While home sales in Arlington and Mansfield have continued to decline, there are signs that we could see an increase in year over year sales soon. With more homes hitting the market and with demand remaining relatively constant, it would be surprising if sales don't improve over the next few months. Of course, if new listings were to suddenly drop off again, all bets are off. Either way, if you are a home owner who has owned your home for more than 3 years, you are more than likely to sell for a profit if you choose to sell any time soon.