Rent Relief

Rent prices are dropping in Dallas, according to this study

Finally, relief for Dallas renters.

Photo by Joe Daniel Price

Earlier this month, Abodo Apartments released its October rent report, sharing rental price trends from September to October. As the fourth quarter in business begins for real estate companies, Abodo examined trends in the Dallas rental market and the major changes seen throughout the quarter.

What happened in the Dallas rental market last quarter? A few key findings include:

Rent prices in Dallas decreased from July to the end of September by 5.12 percent.
The median price of a one-bedroom apartment in Dallas in July was $1,293.
The median rent price of a one-bedroom apartment in Dallas as of the end of September was $1,230.
The median rent price of a two-bedroom apartment in Dallas as of the end of September was $1,639.
Dallas ranks as the 22nd most expensive rental market in the country.

Now, what does this tell us about the rental market? Relief for renters in Dallas has finally come, and it might be here to stay. For the last few years, the Dallas area has led the nation in new apartments and construction projects. With so many new units finally coming to market in the area, the supply in Dallas is starting to catch up with the demand for rentals. When supply outweighs demand, rent prices will begin to come down from the all-time high levels that we saw in 2016 throughout the country.

With all that said, we anticipate that the rent growth seen in cities like Dallas may begin to slow, because of the huge boom in multifamily construction and luxury developments coming to market. Overall, the development and construction of new rentals will ultimately bring more units to market for local renters and limit the demand, minimizing leverage that landlords currently hold.

To gather this data, Abodo aggregates and analyzes data from the millions of verified listings on abodo.com. Each listing is paired with a five-digit ZIP code. Within each ZIP code, Abodo calculates the average price of one-bedroom apartments that are currently available for rent within a specified time period.

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This is the income you need to buy a starter home in Dallas right now

Photo by Zac Gudakov on Unsplash

Dallas and Austin lead the nation for improving starter-home affordability.

A new housing affordability report shows Dallas is among the nation's top metros for improving starter-home affordability. First-time buyers are finally catching a small break, with the income needed to purchase a median-priced starter home falling in 2026.

Dallas residents need to earn $83,096 to afford a median-priced home in the metro area, or 5.1 percent less than they did last year, the Redfin report found.

Dallas had the third-biggest decline in the income needed to afford a starter home out of the 50 U.S. metros analyzed in the report. Redfin also determined that all starter home listings in Dallas are "affordable" based on the city's median household income — which the report estimates at $103,144.

Dallas still has a far higher income required to afford a starter home compared to the national average, but affordability is improving slightly across the board. Americans need to make $70,693 to afford the typical starter home, according to the report's findings.

"The income needed to buy a starter home is declining while earnings are rising," the report said. "The typical American household earns an estimated $87,599, about $17,000 more than what’s needed to buy the median-priced U.S. starter home. That gap is widening: A year ago, the typical American earned roughly $12,500 more than they needed to buy a starter home."

Still, starter home affordability is "still often out of reach" for first-time homebuyers in expensive real estate markets due to "near high record" sale prices and soaring mortgage rates, the study said.

In neighboring Fort Worth, residents only need to make $77,886 to afford a starter home — an attainable milestone based on the city's estimated median household income of $93,102. Fort Worth ranks fourth nationwide for its year-over-year improvement in starter home affordability.

For additional comparison, this is the income needed to afford a starter home in other major Texas metros:

Austin – $92,607 (down 6.1 percent)
Houston – $70,384 (down 4 percent)
San Antonio – $62,859 (down 3.7 percent)

Unfortunately, affording a home in the overall housing market is further straining Americans' wallets. American households need to make just under $110,000 afford the typical U.S. home, but Redfin's evaluation found the typical household makes about $22,000 less than that.

"The discrepancy is partly because the overall market is driven by outsized price increases in the luxury segment, and outsized price increases in places like San Francisco and West Palm Beach, where affluent buyers are active," the report said. "At the same time, some would-be buyers of starter homes are pulling back because they typically earn less money and are more sensitive to affordability pressures."

The top 10 U.S. metros with the biggest declines in the income required to afford the typical starter home are:

No. 1 – Austin, Texas
No. 2 – Oakland, California
No. 3 – Dallas, Texas
No. 4 – Fort Worth, Texas
No. 5 – Denver, Colorado
No. 6 – San Francisco, California
No. 7 – Phoenix, Arizona
No. 8 – Las Vegas, Nevada
No. 9 – Houston, Texas
No. 10 – Los Angeles, California

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