The Fort Worth real estate market is very closely linked to that of the larger city of Dallas, meaning that in general it is facing mixed messages. According to a November 12, 2009 article in the Dallas Business Journal by Bill Hethcock, “Annual home foreclosure postings have reached new annual highs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, topping 60,000 for the first time. From January through the upcoming foreclosure auctions in December, 61,676 homes have been posted for foreclosure – a 23-percent increase over last year’s 50,324 residential postings, which was the previous annual record, according to information compiled by Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service Inc. Fourth-quarter residential foreclosure notices in the D-FW area jumped 31 percent to 16,747, compared to 12,752 for the same quarter last year. For the upcoming D-FW foreclosure auctions on Dec. 1, some 5,253 homes have been posted for foreclosure.”

Fort Worth home sales increased substantially in the month of October, according to a November 10, 2009 article in the Dallas Morning News. The article, written by Steve Brown, found that “Pre-owned home sales in North Texas were up 11 percent in October from a year ago – the first year-over-year gain since September 2008 and the best sign yet the local housing market has turned the corner. Real estate agents sold more than 6,300 single-family homes through the Multiple Listing Service last month, according to numbers released Monday by the Real Estate Center at the Texas A&M University and the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems. October’s increase was only the second year-over-year rise in home sales in three years.”

Another perspective on real estate in Fort Worth was reported by another article in the Dallas Morning News. According to this piece, written on October 28, 2009, “Dallas-Forth Worth pre-owned house prices were down just 1.2 percent in August from a year ago, according to a closely-watched national index released Tuesday. It was the smallest annual decline in almost two years for the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller’s Home Price Index. And on a month-to-month basis, the index showed an increase for the sixth consecutive month. D-FW home prices in the report reached the highest point since September 2008.”