Each Friday, the executives of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty write about luxury, trends, business and more in the advertising pages of the Mansion section of The Wall Street Journal. Below is CEO Robbie Briggs' letter of March 31, 2023.
FROM MY PERSPECTIVE
Things are hopping in North Texas.
I hope you’ll forgive me for that pun. We’re sponsoring the Photos With Bunnies experience at Highland Park Village on April 1 and I couldn’t help myself. (I also hope you’ll come have a photo shoot with the cutest rabbits you have ever seen. They’ll be at the shopping center’s annual Spring Shopping Stroll that Saturday — a day full of activities and store specials.)
Things are very busy here. For one, we’re hosting open houses all over North Texas, tomorrow and Sunday. Come see homes of all kinds on April 1 and 2, from Dallas to Southlake to Fort Worth and more. Our amazing agents will be standing by to show you these special listings. In fact, we’ve always got great open houses at briggsfreeman.com/open.
As for houses, I have some news: We are finally seeing more of them coming onto the market. You’ve probably heard the word inventory as it relates to real estate. It has been in the news a lot — as in, “low inventory” or “a shortage of inventory.” What exactly does that mean? Inventory is the months’ worth of houses on the market at any moment. To put it into a question: If homes stopped coming on the market today, how many months would it take to sell through all the ones currently for sale? In a normal, balanced market, there are about six months’ worth — a virtuous circle of enough homes to satisfy the demand for both buying and selling. According to the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University, the months of inventory in our state have climbed back up to about three, where it had dropped to just one during the height of the buying frenzy of the past couple of years.
The news is good — more options for buyers — but we’re not back to balanced. That is why you need a professional agent. The big question we’re getting is: If I sell now, where will I go? Our agents can answer that, thanks to their connections and knowledge, especially of opportunities that they could create for you. That is what real pros can do.
This is still an unusual and competitive market, and there are compelling reasons to take advantage of it. If you have been waiting to list your home, you may want to hop to it.
Again, forgive me. The bunnies made me do it.
Robbie Briggs
CEO
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