The number of available houses in Fort Worth is double what it was last year, and prices are down from pandemic highs.

But, because of higher interest rates, sales have failed to pick up.

“The key difference affecting our market from spring of 2022 to spring of 2023 is mortgage rates,” said Bart Calahan, 2023 President of the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors.

In an effort to curb inflation, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates 10 straight times — a total of 5 percentage points — since March 2022.

On May 18, the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 6.39%, according to the St. Louis Fed.

In Fort Worth. the median home price in April was $336,250, a 5.3% drop from this time last year and a 1.9% jump from March 2023, according to a housing report from the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors.

The Fort Worth housing market had 2 months of inventory in April, which is more than double the 0.9 months of inventory a year ago. But it’s still a far cry from a balanced market, which is 6.5 months, according to the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University.

Despite the lower prices and increased number of options, closed sales were down 9% from this time last year.

Furthermore, houses were on the market for an average of 52 days in April 2023, 33 more days than in April 2022.