Real estate
BY CONNOR PITTMAN & CODY THORN
Denton Central Appraisal District addresses backlog, notices
Keller Williams Realtor Newman Dalton speaks on DFW housing market Throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, changes in the housing market have contrib- uted to trends that may favor buyers, industry professionals say. In an interview with Community Impact , Realtor Newman Dalton of Keller Williams Realty in South- lake discussed some of the changes the market is seeing this summer for both buyers and sellers. Dalton posts content on his YouTube page, The Roof List, looking at the DFW housing market. What have you seen so far in the past ve to six months in the di erence in the housing market? We’re not necessarily going through a recovery in terms of ... going to go back to where things were in 2020, 2021, 2022; I think we’re actually going through more of a correction. It doesn’t look as
though we’re going back to 2.5% or 3% mortgage rates. We’re probably going to be settling back into normal. If you look at the last 40 years, ... between 1981 and 1983, mortgage rates got up to 18% and that was one anomaly on one end. Then the completely other end was what we saw in [20]21 and [20]22 with the lower mortgage rates, whereas the average is 7.42%. It’s actually looking like a market correction, maybe leaning toward more of a buyer’s market. What leads to the market becoming a buyer’s market? Some homes are experiencing price drops on listings in the area. The other thing is days on market. If you have price drops, [if] you have long days on market, then you’ve got a little bit more bargaining power on the side of buyers. If somebody wants to sell a home, what are things you kind of recommend they do, or what should they do before they list it? You want to make sure that your home is in a good state of repair. Pay attention to the details. I was at a home, showing some folks the house. The seller had done, I want to say, approximately
When information from documents, such as a driver’s license, is tied to a di erent address, individuals may need to provide veri cation their residence is eligible for a homestead exemption. “If nothing has changed on your property, and you didn’t get a letter from us asking for a new application, then you’re good,” he added. Additionally, municipalities within Denton County exempt percentages of property values from local taxes, which can result in a decreased homestead exemption if appraised values decrease, Spencer said. Flower Mound Chief Financial O cer John Zagurski added that a decrease in appraised values, which triggered a noti cation, created confusion for some residents. Diving deeper Despite the increased mandates, the appraisal district did not receive more resources and is dealing with a backlog, Spencer added. “We don’t like being behind on this stu ,” he
Because of recent changes to state law, local homeowners may have received additional notices regarding homestead exemptions. Denton County Chief Appraiser Don Spencer said the appraisal district is required to send out notices in the following situations: • If a homeowner does not have a homestead exemption but appears to qualify for one • If a property’s homestead exemption needs to be veri ed as part of the reappraisal process • If the value of a homestead exemption changes because of uctuations in appraisal value What you need to know The Denton Central Appraisal District is required to reappraise values every ve years to comply with Senate Bill 1801, and has split the county into ve areas, Spencer said. The reappraisal allows o cials to con rm that properties still qualify for homestead exemptions.
By the numbers
20K homestead applications received in 2025
8.5K homestead exemption applications in April and May 2025
COURTESY NEWMAN DALTON
8K-9K homestead exemption application backlog 4 dedicated appraisal sta at Denton Central Appraisal District
$20,000 worth of structural repairs, but then there was a ... vent in the ceiling that was missing, so it’s a hole in the ceiling. While the seller had spent all that time and money correcting their foundation and other things, all the person in the home could see was that missing air vent. That kind of mentally negated everything else. Just making sure your home is in a good state of repair is going to make you a lot more competitive.
SOURCE: DENTON CENTRAL APPRAISAL DISTRICT COMMUNITY IMPACT
said. “With the coupling of the mass amounts of homestead exemption applications we get, and being inadequately sta ed, we’re at capacity.” The appraisal district rolled out new software called TrueRoll last November, which is creating opportunities to make processes more e cient, including exemption veri cation, Spencer said.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For a longer version, visit communityimpact.com .
LEWISVILLE 2416 S Stemmons Fwy (214) 488-0888
WESTLAKE 2341 Highway 377 (817) 490-9072
DENTON 2315 Colorado Blvd (940) 243-2929
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