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  Are you looking at buying a house in 2015? Are you concerned about things you read in the news, like phrases such as housing shortage and interest hikes? Looking at real estate trends is a good way to predict what will happen in the coming months and put your worries to rest. Rising home prices toward the end of last year combined with weak activity on the part of sellers rang in a dismal 2015 for the real estate industry. Fortunately the turning of the calendar page seems to have reset the home buying market as well as the first few months of this year saw a flurry of real estate activity. Northern Texas has not seen this type of white hot real estate activity since the late-1980s, when Ronald Reagan served as the 40th President of the United States of America. That situation was fueled by lenders and taxes. The current market is created as a result of demographics, like job growth and a wildly surging population of Dallas and Fort Worth residents. Home buyers were surprised to find that in 2015 mortgage rates have not spiked as predicted. Companies like Freddie Mac are actually lowering their 30-year fixed loan averages, and do not expect to see much of an increase at all, if any. Lower mortgage rates are a good thing because housing prices are higher than ever. When big name companies like Toyota come to the Northern Texas area, they bring with them a plethora of relocated employees who needed homes for their families. While this is great for local economy, it does make for a stiff housing market. The result is a higher number of home buyers than sellers. This imbalance is what is referred to as a seller’s market. A homeowner who puts their home on the market can demand a higher price because they know they could have several buyers competing to put down a contract to make an offer on their property. They can pick the highest offer, or they can choose the family that they feels is best to take over living in their home. Another thing that affected the housing market in the 1980s was the collapse of oil prices. Although Houston took the biggest hit, Dallas, Austin, and Fort Worth felt their fair share of the blow as well. A lot of the experts predict that because the top job creators no longer involve the oil industry, even a decline in energy profits will not have much of an impact on current housing trends. People value a roof over their families’ heads more than anything. Even though housing prices have jumped about 15% now from what they were prior to the most recent recession, Dallas is well-loved and a highly desirable place to live which means people will continue to flock here for a good while longer.