Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas According to the 2000 census, the population in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area increased by 29 percent during the past decade to 5,221,801. Most of this growth occurred during the second half of the 1990s, averaging nearly 4 percent annually. More than 5,525,000 people are estimated to live in the area, which is an increase of over 300,000—slightly more than 2 percent annually—since the 2000 census. Nonagricultural wage and salary employment averaged 2,773,000 for the 12-month period ending November 2002, down nearly 1 percent compared with the 12 months ending November 2001. Gains in services and government continued to offset major losses in the transportation and telecommunication industries. The area’s largest employer, American Airlines, recently announced more than 7,000 additional job cuts nationwide, but no details were given on the local impact. SBC, the area’s second largest employer, and other area telecommunications employers (WorldCom, Marconi, Alcatel, Tyco, and Sprint) have had or have announced significant layoffs. Conversely, Lockheed Martin, the area’s fifth largest employer, has received several defense contracts, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and has already increased its workforce by approximately 2,000. The unemployment rate in the Dallas metropolitan area averaged 6.9 percent for the 12-month period ending in November 2002 compared with the same period a year ago. Although the Dallas-Fort Worth area has recorded job losses and slower population growth, the demand for new homes has been setting records. For the third year in a row, single-family building permits in the metropolitan area exceeded 36,000 units. Activity in Dallas alone comprises approximately 70 percent of the area’s total market. The Texas A&M Real Estate Center reports that for the first 11 months of 2002, median sales prices among the eight MLS-reporting areas of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area ranged from a low of $95,300 in Fort Worth to a high of $175,900 in Collin County. Median sales prices through the first 11 months of 2002 in the Arlington, Garland, and Irving areas were all below $116,000. With the large number of sales units constructed over the past 3 years, homeownership rates have increased to more than 62 percent, or more than 2 percentage points, since April 2000. Renters are taking advantage of low interest rates and the wide availability of new homes priced at $150,000 or less to become first-time homebuyers. Although this movement has helped the sales market, it has compounded problems in the area’s rental market. Multifamily building activity in Dallas-Fort Worth remained strong in 2002 despite softening rental market conditions. Permits were issued for approximately 12,700 multifamily units, up more than 5 percent compared with the previous year. Apartment occupancy rates in the Dallas-Fort Worth area dropped below 90 percent during the fourth quarter after hovering around 91 percent during the first three quarters of 2002. With more than 12,500 rental units currently under construction, occupancy rates are expected to decline further in 2003. The number of properties offering concessions and the value of the concessions offered has increased over the past year.

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