U.S. Homeownership Rate Tops 65%, Dallas at nearly 42%
U.S.: The homeownership rate across the country remains at around 65%, a recent study indicates. The homeownership rate hit a record 69% in 2004, reached a low of 62.9% in 2016 and has since bounced back to its current 65.2%, according to a report from Property Shark, a data firm serving the real estate industry. The rate indicates the percentage of occupancy in which the resident also is the owner. The company used data from the U.S. Census Bureau for its report that found Maine at the top of the homeownership list last year with a 74.4% rate. The District of Columbia had the lowest homeownership rate at 39.1%. New York at 54.1% and California at 55.9% rounded out the bottom three. Texas’ rate was 62.6%, with Austin coming in at 43.5%; Houston, 42.4%; and Dallas at 41.9%.
DFW: Since the pandemic, several downtown office towers in Dallas and other parts of the country have converted to spaces featuring residential units. Now, one of North Texas’ malls is doing the same. Centennial, the real estate company that owns The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, has been given the green light from city officials to redevelop the property. The owners have changed the name to The Bend and are planning to tear down about 30% of the 1.4 million-square-foot mall to make way for nearly 1,000 residential units, plus a seven-story office tower, a high-rise hotel, and other retail and restaurant spaces. The planned three-year redevelopment project could begin later this year.
U.S.: It may have gone unnoticed the past few weeks given all the news about tariffs, hostages and mineral rights. The average rate for a 30-year mortgage has dipped for the sixth consecutive week and is now around 6.76%, down from 6.94% a year ago. It’s not much but does offer some hope for the real estate industry going into the traditional Spring Market. The inventory of homes for sale across the country rose in January to its highest level since June 2020, but some would-be buyers still have to contend with higher home prices and those mortgage rates. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors says it believes the 30-year mortgage rates will end the year at just under 6%. It also said existing home sales rose 2% last month from January 2024 and that the median sales price rose 4.8% last month from the previous January to nearly $397,000.
DFW: It’s closing. It’s staying open. It’s closing. So has been the soap opera saga of the downtown Dallas flagship Neiman Marcus. After the legendary retailer could not come to terms with a landlord, it announced earlier this month that it would cease operations at the Main Street location it has occupied for more than a century. Enter Dallas city and business leaders, who say they’ve worked out a plan with the landlord that would allow the iconic luxury retailer to remain downtown as they consider it a boon for both tourism, retail business and tax revenue. Even so, Saks Global, the new owner of the luxe brand, says it still plans to close the store at the end of March and spend upwards of $100 million on renovations to the Neiman Marcus location at NorthPark Center.
CHI-TOWN: It seems the former mansion of basketball great Michael Jordan remains a complicated piece of property to market, even for the new owner who got it at a bargain. The sprawling 37,000-square-foot mansion that sits on nearly 8 acres in Highland Park, just outside of Chicago, first went on the market in 2012 for $29 million. Price drops didn’t bring in buyers until John Cooper, a Chicago real estate investor, got the “23” property for about $9.5 million last December. He has changed the property’s name to Champions Point and is making renovations. It will retain numerous amenities, inside and out, including a tennis court, a putting green, an infinity pool, and, of course, a full-size basketball court. Cooper is now thinking about marketing the property as a timeshare, starting at $1 million for a weeklong stay each year for each owner and 20 guests, or as a monthly rental starting at $230,000. New owner. Same story. No apparent takers, so far.
