In North Texas, 1980s Homes Stall While New Construction Can't Keep Up

Written by:

Alejandra Rodriguez

Date:

10 Jul 2026

Share

Share via Facebook

Share via Linkedin

Share via X

Copy to clipboard

A market with rising inventory, softening prices, and motivated sellers would typically favor buyers. In southern Denton County, Texas, buyers who like what they see are choosing to wait anyway, hoping something better comes along, and in the process, creating a stalemate that drags out days on market for listings that should be moving.

After years of a hyper-competitive seller’s market where homes moved in hours, both buyers and their agents are struggling to calibrate behavior to what is, by historical standards, a normal market. According to Kris Wise, CEO and broker-associate at Wise Advantage Group in the DFW metroplex, this recalibration is the central challenge facing her Denton County listings right now.

The Hesitancy Problem

Buyers are touring homes, expressing interest, and then pulling back. “Buyers are more hesitant to make offers. Even though they like a house, they may sit back and say, well, let’s see if something better comes up,” Wise said. The result is listings sitting for 60 to 90 days – timeframes that would have been unremarkable before COVID but feel alarming after a period when weekend listings drew multiple offers within hours.

Part of the issue is agent skill. Newer agents who entered the business during the frenzy years never had to guide a hesitant buyer through a decision. Wise distinguishes between pushing a client and guiding one, helping them talk through concerns when they’ve found a home they like rather than letting indecision stall indefinitely. “A lot of newer agents aren’t skilled in that, and so that’s keeping people from making offers on houses they really should have sold by now,” she said.

For buyers, this means opportunities are passing while they wait. A home priced competitively today may not sit long enough for a second look once another motivated buyer acts.

Pricing in an Unpredictable Rhythm

The market’s behavior has been difficult to read even for data-driven practitioners. Wise describes it bluntly: “I would refer to our market as schizophrenic, because there are times where it’s super fast, and then there are times where it’s very slow.” A listing can sit for 65 days and then suddenly draw multiple offers.

For sellers, this unpredictability makes pricing decisions painful. Prices softened between spring and summer, meaning sellers who didn’t list in March or April face lower expectations now. “Even as recent as March and April, prices were higher, so if somebody would have sold during that time, they would have sold for higher than they would now, which is hard for sellers to accept,” Wise said.

Her response is aggressive early pricing, listing slightly under market to be the next one to sell rather than the listing that lingers. When sellers resist, the fallback is a two-week test: if showings aren’t strong by then, the price moves down. “Unlike a fine wine, it does not get any better with age,” she noted. “You’re then chasing the market down, and it’s like trying to catch a ball rolling down the hill.”

Wise adds a seasonal urgency: as late summer approaches, the buyer pool shrinks because families with school-age children stop looking. Sellers who haven’t priced aggressively by then face fewer potential buyers and deepening competition from other listings.

What’s Selling and What’s Sitting

The divide in southern Denton County runs along age and price lines. First-time buyers want newer construction but can’t find it in the immediate Flower Mound area at $350,000 to $500,000, pushing them further out geographically. Meanwhile, older homes, particularly those built in the 1980s with low ceilings and dated finishes, are sitting, because the buyers who need affordability don’t want outdated housing, and the buyers who want location aren’t numerous enough to absorb supply quickly.

Competitively priced homes still move fast, sometimes within the first or second weekend. The gap between what sells immediately and what lingers comes down almost entirely to pricing discipline, according to Wise. Sellers who insist on pricing above market to “leave room to negotiate” are the ones watching their listings age past the point where buyer interest naturally concentrates.

A Seasonal Window

For investors watching North Texas, Wise points to a specific calendar window: late August into September. By then, the family-driven buying rush tied to school enrollment has passed, and sellers who listed in spring are approaching 90-plus days on market.

“Sellers are, for the most part, anxious to sell, and so there are some deals to be gotten,” she said. Listings that have aged past the peak season carry motivated sellers who may accept lower offers, though an aged listing isn’t automatically a deal if its original price was unrealistic. Investors still need to evaluate whether a price reduction reflects genuine motivation or simply a correction from overpricing.

Macroeconomic Headwinds

Interest rates remain the dominant affordability constraint. Wise noted that some lenders have introduced buydown products to lower rates and prompt buyers to act. However, she’s uncertain whether these programs have materially increased buyer activity on her listings. Affordability pressure and geopolitical instability feed the same hesitancy she observes at the local level.

The broader question for southern Denton County is whether buyer behavior will normalize as the market’s post-COVID memory fades, or whether the combination of rate sensitivity and abundant inventory keeps buyers waiting indefinitely. For sellers entering the market now, the practical implication is clear: pricing to current conditions rather than spring benchmarks is the difference between selling in weeks and watching a listing age through fall, when fewer buyers are active, and competition among sellers intensifies.

About the Expert: Kris Wise is CEO and broker-associate at Wise Advantage Group, serving the DFW metroplex with a focus on southern Denton County communities including Flower Mound.

This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.