Dallas's controversial plan will allow multi-family units in single-family neighborhoods

☕️ Good Morning! Taco 'bout a taco Tuesday — and hello, October!

Today's newsletter is 618 words — a 2.5-minute read.

1. Pending home sales rose 0.6% in August

After sliding in July, pending home sales returned to positive territory in August, ticking 0.6% higher month over month as mortgage rates declined, the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) said.

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) increased to 70.6 in August. Year over year, pending transactions were down 3.0%.

2. Dallas and Austin among the top 10 markets for real estate investment

According to the findings from Agent Advice, the ten best markets for investors are all in the South. Two of the top ten markets are in Texas: Austin and Dallas.

This ranking is based on annual home price growth, population growth, personal income, and income growth.

While the list from Agent Advice puts some of the hottest pandemic markets at the top of the heap, there are recent indicators of cooling. Austin and Dallas have seen some of the steepest drops in overall home prices.

A MESSAGE FROM DAVE YOUR MORTGAGE GUY

Many believe it's difficult for business owners to get approved for a mortgage, but that's not the case! In this video, I break down 1099, Profit & Loss (P&L), DSCR, Bank Statement loans, and more!

3. Catch up quick

🏙️ Dallas's controversial plan will allow multi-family units in single-family neighborhoods. (DallasObserver)

📚 The latest addition to NAR's post-settlement consumer guides tackles seller concessions. (NAR)

🌀 Zillow home listings to feature climate risk, insurance data. (Zillow)

🤖 Howard Hanna launches new AI home search tool. (HowardHanna)

🆕 ORIX USA appoints Dean Dulchinos as head of real estate credit. (BusinessWire)

☄️ Fun read: A Harlingen resident captured video of a brilliant meteor over South Texas on Tuesday night. (ValleyCentral)

4. Dallas and Forth Worth among metros where starter homes became affordable in 2024

According to a new report from Redfin, there were four metros where starter homes went from unaffordable in 2023 to affordable in 2024, meaning a household on the median income would now need to spend less than 30% of their earnings to buy a typical starter home.

Two of the four metros are in Texas, which has recently seen the housing markets soften amid surging housing supply and intensifying climate risk.

Dallas saw a decrease in housing costs for median-income households, now spending 29.1% of their earnings on a median-priced starter home, down from 32.1%, while Fort Worth dropped to 28.3%, down from 30.2%.

5. Johnson Development Services starts work to turn former Halliburton campus into a 70-acre town center

Johnson Development is turning the former Halliburton campus in Westchase into a walkable, 70-acre, two million-sf, mixed-use project. Site work has begun, and infrastructure work is expected to start by early 2025.

• The initial proposal for the $1 billion Park Eight Place calls for up to 93,000 sf of retail, 171,000 sf of restaurants, 842,690 sf of office, 150 hotel rooms, and 2,044 residential units.

Johnson Development is seeking Houston’s first Walkable Place designation since the city created the classification in 2020. To qualify, Park Eight Place would have to meet criteria around street width, pedestrian safety, and landscaping.

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