By now it is no secret that Dallas & Fort Worth real estate dominated national news in 2016, but according to REALTOR.com, Texas holds an overwhelming majority in the top searched zip codes on their national website.

TX real estate's "hot market" factor has earned TX cities 18 of the top 20 spots, with the entire top 10 list being from TX!

North Texas eats up the entire top 10 with Dallas suburbs taking 6 spots!

So why all the love?  For starters, keep in mind we are talking a geographic area the size of Connecticut & Rhode Island combined!  Likewise, this list only factors REALTOR.com's searches.  Other websites, like Zillow.com, are much less accurate (in many cases by more than 20%) in our non-disclosure state. 

And those Waco spots?  Well, according to one REALTOR.com article, a great deal of that search may simply be attributed to the wildly popular Chip & Joanne Gaines' TV show "Fixer Upper"!

It will be interesting to see how this list compares to other national websites stats!

Christie Cannon  REALTOR

The Christie Cannon Team

Keller Williams Frisco TX

469.951.9588: Mobile

972.215.7747: Office

Voted as one of the BEST Realtors in D Magazine for 2010-2016

Voted as a Five Star Professional 2012-2016 Texas Monthly Magazine

Named among America's Best Real Estate Agents by Real Trends Magazine

Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist

Global Property Specialist

#1 Keller Williams Agent 2011-2016

Top 50 Agents in the Nation / KW

Inadequate Inventory Driving Prices Up

The latest Existing Home Sales Report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revealed a direct correlation between a lack of inventory and rising prices. We are all familiar with the concept of supply and demand. As the demand for an item increases the supply of that same item goes down, driving prices up. Year-over-year inventory levels have dropped each of the last 18 months, as inventory now stands at a 4.0-month supply, well below the 6.0-month supply needed for a ‘normal’ market. The median price of homes sold in November (the latest data available) was $234,900, up 6.8% from last year and marking the 57 consecutive month with year-over-year gains.

NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun had this to say:

"Existing housing supply at the beginning of the year was inadequate and is now even worse heading into 2017. Rental units are also seeing this shortage. As a result, both home prices and rents continue to far outstrip incomes in much of the country."

But there is good news about rising prices. More and more homeowners are recovering from a negative equity situation and learning that they are able to sell their homes and either move up to their dream home or downsize to a property that will better suit their needs. Look for these homes to come to market soon.

Buyer demand continues to outpace the supply of homes for sale. Listing your home in the winter attracts serious buyers who are looking to close the transaction quickly.

Tis the season for Chistmas lights & busted pipes!

While we may not experience the long cold winters of some of our more northern cousins, we have experienced long enough cold snaps to freeze pipes and damage homes.

Here are some helpful tips to help you prepare a home you may be selling (or any home) for the cold.

Every indication is yes! 

It appears that the owner posted his willingness to sell this home on Facebook.com – however, there was a catch, you need to move it - as the dirt it sits on isn’t included.

Located in a community where real estate investment & development is booming, Mr. Barrow put the Fort Worth home up for sale with the noble goal of preserving the historic 1904 home from the fate of many other “tear down” in the area.

As long-time residents of Frisco, we have seen several historic homes be moved in order to protect them from the record growth the city has experienced.  It is truly a labor of love & dedication.

Kudos to Mr Barrow for taking such an effort to help preserve an amazing piece of history.

You can read more about Mr. Wade Barrow’s amazing story & the sale of this historic home here or see Mr. Barrow’s interview at WFAA.com.

Christie Cannon  REALTOR

The Christie Cannon Team

Keller Williams Frisco TX

469.951.9588: Mobile

972.215.7747: Office

Voted as one of the BEST Realtors in D Magazine for 2010-2016

Voted as a Five Star Professional 2012-2016 Texas Monthly Magazine

Named among America's Best Real Estate Agents by Real Trends Magazine

Named among The Top 250 Real Estate Teams in nation, as seen in The Wall Street Journal

Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist

Global Property Specialist

#1 Keller Williams Agent 2011-2015

Top 50 KW agents world-wide

Tis the season when the agents of The Christie Cannon Team offers up our best nod to Clark W. Griswold with the best of Christmas & Holiday Lights in North TX.

While our father's may have "taught us everything we know about exterior illumination," we are not above some advice, so please help us make a great list with your comments & suggestions!

• Frisco Square - Drawing over 675,000 visitors seasonally, Frisco Square offers North TX largest choreographed light display!  Boasting snow machines, sled riding events, horse drawn carriage rides, light & music shows, outdoor ice skating & even a parachuting Santa - this place has it all!  Starts Nov 25th
• Highland Park & Highland Park Village - What can I say?  Gorgeous architecture complemented by professional Christmas lighting.  Spanning about 20 blocks, this is the perfect time to splurge on a horse drawn carriage ride.
• SMU's Annual Celebration of Lights -  Another long-time tradition & boasting over 100,000 lights. Starts Nov 28th
• Deerfield, Plano - Starting (officially) on December 1st, this quintessential Plano neighborhood is jammed packed with gorgeous home competing for the best, funniest, & most traditional displays.  Check out their website for best routes, carriage ride info, & even segway tours!
• Prairie Lights - Growing larger each year, this Grand Prairie display is located in Lynn Creek Park and has become a destination in its own right.  Offering a 2-mile path of lights, a laser light display, holiday village, & more.  Be sure to check out their website as there are costs for this one!
• Interlochen in Arlington - A North TX original, this community has been wowing light viewers for over 40-years!
• Tour of Lights in Farmers Branch - over 500,00 twinkle lights will delight.  This is any easy one for those who like to stay in the car.
• Vitruvian Lights in Addison - Located in Vitruvian park, this one excites with food trucks, FREE photos with Santa & Reindeer, Holiday Village, & Free Concerts in the park!
• Texas Motor Speedway - Supporting Toys for Tots, this huge display boasts a drive-thru display & Santa's Village.  Be sure to check out the website for pricing!
• ICE & the Gaylord Texan Resort - Ice skating, gingerbread house building, sled riding, Santa photos, Holiday village, light displays, 2+ million pounds of ice, what do they not have?
• The Pharrs in Farmers Branch - Located at 14535 Southern Pines Cove, this family has been celebrating Christmas in a big way & share their joy from their own front lawn!
• The Trains at North Park - OK - two warning are required, they are not technically lights... but I still feel nostalgia for making the trip to the city to watch the trains at Christmas.  The second warning, watch out for the shopping at this one!
• Dallas Children's Holiday Parade - Again, not technically lights, but come-on, its a parade - what Grinch doesn't like a parade?  This one has been going on since 1987 & frankly doesn't get its due!
• The Krampus Walk - Hey, it can't all be about the kiddo's.  This what happens when you have a much "hipper" brother & sister-in-law who are not in "the 'burbs" - you learn about the Krampus pub crawl... I mean "walk" through Deep Ellum.
• Christmas in the Stockyards in Fort Worth - Hey, its TX - we need a Christmas Cattle Drive to go along with our caroling & the Stockyards is the place to see it.  On December 12 the Snowball Express will be welcomed at the Stockyards with the Walk of Gratitude.  For those not in the know - the Snowball Express is a charity that supports & honors the children of men & women who have fallen in service to our great nation.

Have some ideas & comments that will help our list?  We would love to hear from you! 

Thank you & we wish you a very Merry Christmas & Happy Holiday Season!

Christie Cannon  REALTOR

The Christie Cannon Team

Keller Williams Frisco TX

469.951.9588: Mobile

972.215.7747: Office

Voted as one of the BEST Realtors in D Magazine for 2010-2016

Voted as a Five Star Professional 2012-2016 Texas Monthly Magazine

Named among America's Best Real Estate Agents by Real Trends Magazine

Named among the Top 250 Real Estate Teams in the Nation, as seen The Wall Street Journal

Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist

Global Property Specialist - Marketing with a Gloabal Reach

#1 Keller Williams Agent 2011-2015

Top 50 Agents with KW Realty International

CoreLogic released their most current Home Price Index last week. In the report, they revealed home appreciation in three categories: percentage appreciation over the last year, over the last month and projected over the next twelve months.

Here are state maps for each category: 

The Past – home appreciation over the last 12 months

The Present – home appreciation over the last month

The Future – home appreciation projected over the next 12 months

Homes across the country are appreciating at different rates. If you plan on relocating to another state and are waiting for your home to appreciate more, you need to know that the home you will buy in another state may be appreciating even faster.

Appraisers & Homeowners Do Not Always See Eye-To-Eye!

Come & join us this Friday for Blaze of Glory at this week's Concerts in the Courtyard at The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano!

The Christie Cannon Team will have a face painter for the kids (or those of us a kid at heart).

Should be another great concert with an awesome band!

Blaze of Glory, Bon Jovi Tribute Band, is an incredible almost uncanny reproduction of a live Bon Jovi concert!

In fact they are so true to the actual artist, they were selected to appear on AXS TV’s nationwide live broadcast World’s Greatest Tribute Bands over every other Bon Jovi tribute band in North America, followed by headlining the California State Fair and even going international by playing the Miller Light Experience in San Pedro Sula Honduras!

We hope to see you there this Friday October 14th starting at 6:30pm!

So by now we have all seen the myriad of TV Real Estate Shows - you know the shows where lovely couples are generally seeking out starter homes at prices that would make our average North Texas' buyers pass-out.  As a long-time agent and someone who has been asked by producers to participate in such shows, I am often asked what is the Reality v/s the Realty? I came across the below blog post from a Real Estate Magazine that discusses that very question.  By now most of this may be fairly common knowledge, but I thought it may also be a little fun.

Reality TV Show Myths vs. Real Life:

Myth #1: Buyers look at 3 homes and make a decision to purchase one of them.

Truth: There may be buyers who fall in love and buy the first home they see, but more often than not the process of buying a home means touring more than three homes. (We often see buyers who understandably want to tour & examine dozens of homes before they are comfortable making such an expensive decision.)

Myth #2: The houses the buyers are touring are still for sale.

Truth: The reality is being staged for TV. Many of the homes being shown are already sold and are off the market.

Myth #3: The buyers haven’t made a purchase decision yet.

Truth: Since there is no way to show the entire buying process in a 30-minute show, TV producers often choose buyers who are further along in the process and have already chosen a home to buy.

Myth #4: If you list your home for sale, it will ALWAYS sell at the Open House.

Truth: Of course this would be great! Open Houses are important to guarantee the most exposure to buyers in your area, but are only a PIECE of the overall marketing of your home. Just realize that many homes are sold during regular showing appointments as well. (Open Houses are a great tool, but really are only 1 of many options.  Likewise, despite marketing, an Open House’s success is often very dependent on a home’s location, the communities’ traffic, & the proximity to New Home communities.)

Myth #5: Homeowners make a decision about selling their home after a 5-minute conversation.

Truth: Similar to the buyers portrayed on the shows, many of the sellers have already spent hours deliberating the decision to list their home and move on with their life/goals.

My take away - Like most things on TV, these shows are all about having some fun; so relax & enjoy.  As a watcher of renovation shows, I fully understand that kitchen remodels take longer than 3-days; adding granite + new tile doesn’t really raise the value $25k; & no matter how easy it looks on TV, I will never be able to make a cute coffee table out of a reclaimed shipping pallet  -– but I still enjoy watching them!

The fast pace of North Dallas' Real Estate market often has people asking about where prices are headed v/s where prices have been.  

As we have previously reported, each quarter Freddie Mac releases their Home Price Index, tracking national & local statistics.  One of the most compelling illustrations of how high values have risen can be found in the above map, reflecting overall state values as a percentage of their increase over Pre-2008 Peak Values.  Texas' value, as a whole, ranks 3^rd behind North Dakota & Colorado for their percent over Peak Values.

Christie Cannon  REALTOR

The Christie Cannon Team

Keller Williams Realty Frisco 

469.951.9588: Mobile

972.215.7747: Office

www.christiecannon.com

Voted as one of the BEST Realtors in D Magazine for 2010-2016

Voted as a Five Star Professional 2012-2016 Texas Monthly Magazine

Name among America's Best Real Estate Agents by Real Trends Magazine

Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist

#1 Keller Williams Agent 2011-2015

Top 100 Agents in the Nation / KW