North Texas’ hot housing market won’t cool in 2018, according to a new forecast.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is expected to be one of the top home markets in the country next year, according Realtor.com’s just-released projections. Only Las Vegas will have a stronger home market in 2018, the report predicts.

The D-FW area is forecast to see about a 6 percent increase in home sales and a 5.57 percent hike in median home prices in the year ahead. That’s twice the national growth rate for sales and prices, according to Realtor.com

In Realtor.com’s 2017 forecast, the D-FW market was ranked 48th with home sales estimated to see a 5.09 percent increase and median home prices predicted to grow at 4.13 percent.

Rising home inventories in many U.S. markets will enable home sales to grow.

“Inventory increases will be felt in higher priced segments after spring home buying season, which we expect to take hold and begin to provide relief for buyers and drive sales growth in 2019 and beyond,” Javier Vivas, director of economic research for Realtor.com, said in the report.

Next year is likely to see a rise in millennial homebuyers who will account for more than 40 percent of new mortgages.

“Millennials are a driving force in today’s housing market,” Vivas said. “They already dominate lower price home mortgage and are getting close to overtaking older generations for mid- and upper-tier mortgages.”

Realtor.com says the biggest uncertainty for next year’s housing picture is the current federal tax code overhaul, which could reduce incentives for homeownership and raise taxes for some homebuyers.

Source: D-FW will be one of the country’s hottest home markets in 2018 (Steve Brown, 11/30/2017) – https://www.dallasnews.com/business/real-estate/2017/11/29/d-fw-will-one-countrys-hottest-home-markets-2018