Dallas Cost of Living

Find out about the average costs in Dallas here:

• Dallas Cost of Living - Gives basic cost of living for Dallas. Tells items like insurance cost, gallon of milk, gas price, average home price, etc...
  
• Dallas Average House Prices - Extensive data about average home prices in Dallas by House Almanac.
  
• Dallas Average Salaries - PayScale offers detailed report about average salaries in Dallas, Texas, including breakdown by career and years in field.
  
• Cost of Living Comparison Calculator - PayScale offers cost of living comparison calculator.

Post sponsored by Dallas Real Estate.

Dallas School Districts

Cedar Hill ISD
Carrollton ISD
Coppell ISD
Dallas County ISD
DeSoto ISD
Duncanville ISD
Farmers Branch ISD
Forney ISD
Garland ISD
Grand Prairie ISD
Irving ISD
Highland Park ISD
Red Oak ISD
Midlothian ISD

Trends in Home Home Decor

Buying a brand new homes? If you're both lucky and rich your walls will be bathed in rich hues that make family and friends sit and stay a spell. If you're really blessed you have the gobs of faux finish spattered about with a burnt umber gloss for the aged plaster patina. If you're like the rest of us, sometimes lucky and rich in spirit, you're starring at those white walls wondering how to make winter white look wow. Brrrrr

Brand new homes sometimes come with pretty colors, but for the most part it's more economical to paint after your house is built. If you're not an interior designer, what can you do to assure your walls welcome you and yours? Here's a few tips from someone just like you--me. Only I have taken the time to write down my wall ponders for your benefit. This is not the decorator's gospel... it's just a normal gal's guide to making her four walls pop.

1. Choose warm colors. If I've learned anything in my life, it's that you want a warm and inviting feeling in a house, unless you are an ultra modern condo dweller. Warm colors with hints of red, orange and yellow remind us of warm sunlight as opposed to cold colors that make you think of being freezing...(who wants that at home?) Neutral colors are just that--neutral, boring, plain and are good for walls as a type of visual relief.

Paint colors for 2007

Lower preowned home sales

DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – December was the seventh consecutive month of lower preowned home sales and the fourth consecutive month that home prices were down from the previous year. Sales were down 5 percent from a year earlier, and prices were 2 percent lower, according to statistics released by the North Texas Real Estate Information System.

At year’s end, nearly 41,600 preowned single-family homes were listed in North Texas, 9 percent more than a year earlier, yet less than a six-month supply, which is considered healthy. The average of 76 days on market was up slightly from 2005.

Some of the largest sales declines in 2006 were in homes priced under $150,000, where buyers were affected more by higher mortgage rates. However, median sales prices, hovering around $150,000, were up about 2 percent during the year.

The number of homes sold for $1 million or more increased 18 percent.

Industry analysts say it is too early to tell whether 2007 will be a better year for the housing market.

"January and February will probably still have some decline — normal cyclicality," said Jim Gaines, research economist with the Real Estate Center. "By March and April, expect an uptick. If not, Dallas may have a rough 2007, but I don't think it will."

D/FW third busiest airport

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is still the nation's third busiest airport. It retained its rating as the nation's third busiest airport with 702,713 flights, according to statistics from the Federal Aviation Administration. That's a 2.2 percent decrease from 2005. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport remained the nation's busiest airport with a total of 976,307 flights in 2006, down 0.4 percent from 2005. Chicago O'Hare, ranked the second-busiest airport, had 958,643 flights in 2006, which was down 1.4 percent from 2005. One reason for the overall decline in the number of flights is that the nation's legacy carriers have been reducing their number and capacity of their flights to trim expenses and to fly routes with fuller planes.

[Dallas Business Journal]

D-FW builders scale back home starts

Single-family home starts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area dropped more than 17 percent during the fourth quarter, according to statistics released by Residential Strategies Inc. With 9,629 units, it was the weakest quarter for housing starts in two years, the Dallas-based research firm reported. Sales of new homes in the fourth quarter also dropped about 4 percent compared to a year earlier. Builders sold 10,956 homes. But with almost 12,000 unsold new houses on the market in North Texas, there may be further declines in construction, said Residential Strategies' Ted Wilson. Early spring is normally a boom time for residential builders. "Things are not gloomy in the Dallas-Fort Worth area," Wilson said. But there are "adjustments that need to take place over the next six months." Even with the recent cutbacks, builders managed to start a record 48,035 homes in the D-FW area last year. Sales totaled just over 46,000 units, an increase of about 5 percent. At the end of 2006, about a three-month supply of unsold new homes was on the market in North Texas. The fourth-quarter decline in new home sales mirrors the fall-off in sales of preowned homes in North Texas. Earlier this week, the North Texas Real Estate Information System reported that preowned home sales in December were down 5 percent from a year earlier.

[Dallas Morning News]

TI to cut 500 jobs in Dallas area

Texas Instruments Inc. said that it will cut about 500 jobs in the Dallas area by the end of 2007. Weaker demand for high-end cellphones is pinching the world's largest maker of chips for mobile phones. The cuts will mostly come from the company's research staff, and some of that research will now be done by the semiconductor foundries that build chips for TI. A TI spokesman said the Dallas-based firm currently has about 10,500 employees in the area, and will probably have about 10,000 by the end of the year. Worldwide, Texas Instruments has about 31,000 workers.

[Dallas Morning News]

In slowdown, a boom for high-priced homes

While overall residential sales in North Texas were down slightly in 2006, sales of high-priced homes continued to soar. Sales of houses priced $1 million and more jumped 18 percent last year. And the number of pre-owned houses priced from $800,000 to $900,000 that changed hands was up 23 percent from 2005, according to statistics from the North Texas Real Estate Information System. Indeed, houses sold in the Park Cities, North Texas' most expensive residential enclave, sold at an average of 97 percent of list price in 2006. Not a lot of price cutting going on there. And it's eye-opening to see that a record 786 homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area priced $1 million or moretraded in 2006, a year when most of the headlines were about the U.S. housing slump. Million-dollar home sales have more than doubled in the area since 2000. In December alone, traditionally one of the slowest months for home sales, 55 houses priced in the millions were sold the D-FW area. That's about 1 percent of the total market.

[Dallas Morning News]

Dallas Realtors

Are you looking for a groovy realtor? Check out my recommendations below.

Brenda Mancil, Realtor® North Dallas Realtor specializing in Plano Real Estate, Frisco Homes, Carrollton properties, commercial properties and Dallas Condos. REMAX Premier Properties Plano, TexasPh: 972-403-2070

Bernice Edelman, Realtor® Dallas Realtors - Specializing in Highland Park Real Estate, Park Cities Homes and Preston Hollow Real EstateKeller Williams Elite Dallas, Texas Ph: 214-420-3771

Bryan Frazier, Realtor® Dallas Real Estate Guru - specializing in Dallas, North Dallas Real Estate, Plano Homes, Frisco New Homes, McKinney Custom Homes, Flower Mound, Denton Homes. Prudential Texas PropertiesPh: 817.442.5345Cell: 214.405.4628

White Rock Lake, Dallas Texas

White Rock Lake - We don't have much nature in the City of Dallas, so White Rock is pretty glam nature if you ask me. Yes, it's too green to swim in, but at least you can see where the city gets it's water supply! There are lots of fun things to do at White Rock including the most awesome dog park ever, and a fab running trail that's about 7 miles around. You'll find lots of runners, joggers, walkers and bikers "looping the lake" with neither huff nor puff. Enjoy the sunset as sailors waft in the dingy green skyscape. Ahhhh....

The Dallas Shopping Mall Experience

Are you interested in Shopping Big D? You're in luck! I've collected all the shopping malls in the city, just for you, my wonderful Blog Reader. Enjoy!

North Park Mall - Dallas TX This is by far the best indoor shopping mall in Dallas with the best stores and location. New stores to this mall include Barneys, Oscar de la Renta, Michael Kors and Bottego Veneta.

Galleria Dallas - Dallas North Tollway, Dallas TXRunning a very close second for the best indoor shopping mall in Dallas is the Galleria. My favorite stores in the Galleria are Nordstrom, MaxMara and Louis Vuitton .

Highland Park Village - Highland Park TX A favorite haunt of wealthy Highland Park residents, this outdoor mall is too pricey for the everyday shopper. If you're making bank, check out Calvin Klein, Hermes, Chanel and Jimmy Choo.

West Village - Dallas TX More than a place to shop, the new west Village is a trendy place to have fun. Outdoor shops line the streets with hip finds remniscent of SOHO in Manhattan and New York City. Visit the restaurants, spas and stores for home interior, pets and clothing.

Mockingbird Station - Dallas TX Wow! What a fun place to visit. When I'm in a funky mood, I head over to Urban Outfitters or some of the shops in Mockingbird Station such as Ann Taylor Loft, Victoria's Secret or West Elm. This place has a chic feel and good restaurants.

Valley View Centre - Dallas TX Convenient, yet ordinary, Valley View is a great place to go if you need staples, or just to get in touch with your inner-shopper. Not a bad mall at all, just most of the shops are every day like Foleys, Dillards and Sears.

Irving Mall - Irving TX See discription for Valley View.

The Parks at Arlington - Cooper Street, Arlington TX This mall is over-crowded. It's the only mall for miles that serves Arlington and South Dallas so there are gazillions of people flocking to this benign mall at any given time. Good luck finding a parking spot!

Shops at Willow Bend - Plano TXYawn. This is close to my home but I never can find much cute when I go there, despite scouring the racks at Macy's and Bebe. The only place I truly love at Willow Bend is Aldo Accessories and Shoes.

Stone Briar Centre - Frisco TX This is a great mall, a little crowded, but definitely a place to see cool suburbinites scarfing up Bannana Republic and Abercrombie & Finch.

Collin Creek Mall - Plano TX

Golden Triangle Mall - Denton TX

Grapevine Mills Mall - Grapevine TX

Towneast Mall - Garland TX This is the mall I grew up going to, in fact, my grandfather retired
from Sears. Today, all Towneast has going for it is The Gap.

Vista Ridge Mall - Lewisville TX

Relocating to North Dallas?

If you're relocating to North Dallas and you want to buy a home in the area, you're in luck! There are myriad options for you from single family homes, to highrises, to posh senior living facillities, to luxury estates and hip new condos. All around the city you'll see progress, and it's all about making life more comfortable than ever to live here.

Your options will depend on your place of employment, lifestyle and budget.

Location, location, location. In DFW, you don't have to commute far. It's relatively easy to find a house within 15 to 20 minutes from where you live. If you work near downtown Dallas and are single and fancy free, you're definitely prefer Uptown with all it's funky haunts and social action. If you have a family and work near downtown Dallas and you're a yuppy type but not totally rich, you'll probably find living in North Dallas your best bet. If you're into bargain shopping and downhome country people, head East to Rowlett or Rockwall. Venture South of Dallas for great bargains on estate homes and land. Most family types, however, head North to North Dallas, Plano, Farmers Branch, Richardson, Addison... and if they're really in for adventure and lots of square footage, some roughians take it so far as Frisco, McKinney or Little Elm where you'll get more bang for your new home buck.