We’ve talked a lot over the past few weeks about some of the sunny, longer-term prospects for the Dallas housing market.

To recap: A recent study showed Dallas-area towns (Frisco and McKinney) as the top two fastest growing towns in America. Apparently, everyone just wants to be a Texan. This (most obvious) fact was then solidified by another distillation of census data, which showed that four of the top ten fastest-growing counties in the U.S. over the past decade are located in Texas (with two—Collin and Tarrant counties—located in Dallas-Ft. Worth). And we discussed a renewed push to give Downtown Dallas a big fresh coat of paint, which should create a host of new urban living opportunities for folks eager to make a lifestyle change.

Each of these paint a bright picture for the future of the housing market around here. But how are we (statistically speaking, at least) doing presently?

As usual, there’s good news and bad news (that can be spun back into good news—is our analysis getting too predictable?). Let’s start with the good.

According to the Texas A&M Real Estate Center:

Dallas remained a bright spot on the real estate map in 2010 with prices on nondistressed properties rising 1.2% from a year earlier. [...] The median price on nondistressed Dallas properties rose to $81.52 a square foot in 2010, up from $80.55 for 2009. Even distressed properties in the Dallas area experienced price gains of 2.5% in 2010 when compared to the prior year, the center reported. The median price for distressed properties hit $57.20 a square foot last year, up from $55.80 in 2009.

It’s not a huge uptick in prices, but it’s definitely pointed in the right direction and indicates that we’re well on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, according to the Dallas Morning News, it doesn’t really look at this point that we’ll get there in 2011.

In February, pre-owned home sales dropped 17 percent in North Texas compared with the same month of 2010 — the ninth consecutive month of such declines. [...] Last month’s drop in the number of homes sold through the Realtors’ multiple listing service follows an 11 percent year-over-year dip in January and a 6 percent fall in December.

Dr. James Gaines, Real Estate Center economist, expects home sales will bounce back in the second half of the year — but not by huge amounts. “Rebound may mean that sales look more like 2008 or even 2003 — just before the run-up — than like they did during the glory days,” he said.

The average time it took to sell North Texas homes that changed hands in February was up 22 percent from 2010 to 96 days. Sales of higher-priced homes have shown the biggest gains this year, which caused the median home sale price to rise 4 percent in February.

Of course, as we mention often here at Texas Lending Today, a slumping seller’s market is still a fantastic buyer’s market. And with the summer home-selling season approaching, it’s a great time to start thinking about a Texas home loan if you’re in a good position to buy a Dallas-area home.

Prices are low. Interest rates are low. Thousands and thousands of excellent Dallas properties are ready and waiting. Give one of our Dallas mortgage specialists a call if you’re ready to make one of them your home.

Here at Texas Lending, we all agree — Dallas is simply a fantastic place to live. The people. The food. The spirit. And (especially) the cheap land and houses.

Apparently, people across the nation agree. According to MSNBC, North Texas is the fastest growing region in the nation, headlined in the top two spots by Frisco and McKinney:

No wonder city officials recently gave this city 25 miles north of Dallas the slogan “Progress in Motion” — it was the fastest-growing city with more than 100,000 people in the entire country in the 2000s.

But why are so many Dallas-area newcomers settling here? Frisco has some of the best schools in the state. Collin College, Dallas Baptist University, the University of Dallas and Amberton University all have campuses in Frisco. The city is also home to minor-league basketball, hockey and baseball teams and has quality arenas and ballparks. [...]

North Texas has a lot of fast-growing communities, and there’s a lot of competition for where people can live and businesses can relocate. But people have been voting with their feet and trooping to McKinney.

They like that they’re within striking distance of downtown Dallas, 30 miles to the south, yet at the same time can live in a place that has elements of small-town charm. McKinney’s downtown of 19th-century brick buildings has more than 100 shops and restaurants, most of them locally owned.

Round Rock and Denton also both grabbed spots in the top 15.

It’s good news for the long-term outlook for the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, and a sign that continued population growth will help offset the deep losses inflicted by the Great Recession.

The study also pointed out an illuminating trend—nearly all the fastest growing areas were suburbs of larger, nearby cities. Dallas-area ‘burbs like Frisco fit this bill.

Unfortunately, while high-growth suburban areas are most primed for extraordinary booms, they’re also the most vulnerable to busts. So the study gives us two important takeaways:

1) The Dallas area will rebound.

It’s a great place to live, and people around the country are noticing—especially in places in much worse financial shape, like the Midwest and parts of California. Growing too fast, which creates a popping-prone bubble, is a better problem to have than not growing at all (or than bleeding population like dying cities in the Midwest). And most of the fundamentals that made Dallas such a desirable place to live in the first place are still here.

2) But, for now, great deals are everywhere.

A bubble pop is a still a bubble pop, and a lot of folks in Dallas suburbs and smaller North Texas towns are feeling the worst of it. While this makes it tough for people who need to sell their houses sell their houses—and while it depresses the economy in general, making it tough for many folks to make ends meet and avoid foreclosure—it creates enormous opportunities for buyers.

Interest rates are still relatively low. Prices are still relatively low. And this historic buyer’s market will last just a little bit longer.

For the sake of all our friends and neighbors, we’re eagerly awaiting a return to a normal, healthy economy in Dallas. But, in the meantime, we’re also eager to help folks who can make the best of it. Contact our Dallas home loan specialists if you’re ready to buy.