Size Does Matter

Dallas-Fort Worth boasts some of the largest homes in the nation

In Texas, we like big things — and that includes houses. According to financial website 24/7, the Lone Star State boasts three of the top 10 cities with the largest homes.

With a median square footage of 1,828, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington homes are the 10 largest in the nation. Austin-Round Rock’s homes are slightly bigger — 1,837 square feet — which is good enough for a No. 9 ranking. The 1,900-square-foot median home size in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land puts the area at No. 2.

Only homes in Provo-Orem, Utah, are bigger than Houston’s, with a median square footage of 1,980.

For its findings, the site reviewed median square footage in the 200 largest core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) from Realtor.com. It also looked at median household income and educational attainment rates from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, figures on population density from the 2010 Census, and unemployment rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (for October 2014).

As for Dallas, the median estimated price of a home is $150,000 (88th lowest in the nation), the median household income is $57,398 (versus $52,250 nationally) and the unemployment rate is 4.8 percent. 24/7 notes that high incomes and lower population densities likely explain our grand homes.

Compare that to Austin — home to some of the state’s wealthiest and most-educated residents, according to the site — where the median home price is $207,000, and a typical household brings in $61,750. In Houston, houses are more affordable than both Dallas and Austin, with a median price of $144,000, and median household income is almost identical to Dallas, at $57,366. Unemployment rates are 4.0 percent and 4.7 percent in Austin and Houston, respectively.

A look at the top 10 reveals that only Colorado beats Texas for big homes:

Provo-Orem, Utah, median square feet, 1,980
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, 1,900
Colorado, Springs, Colorado, 1,899
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia, 1,872
Raleigh, North Carolina, 1,871
Boulder, Colorado, 1,865
Greely, Colorado, 1,854
Fort Collins, Colorado, 1,851
Austin-Round Rock, 1,837
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, 1,828

unspecified

Real Estate News

Dallas real estate developer pleads guilty to bribing 2 city officials

YouTube

Dallas developer Sherman Roberts

Dallas real estate developer Sherman Roberts pleaded guilty on November 12 to conspiracy to commit bribery, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Roberts, 70, who previously helmed City Wide Community Development Corporation, was indicted in December 2020. According to court documents, Sherman bribed two city council members — Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway and City Council member Carolyn Davis — to support loans and low-income housing tax credits for his apartment projects.

In return for several thousand dollars in cash – plus the promise of future payments after her city council tenure ended – Davis lobbied for Roberts' real estate projects, including Serenity Place, Runyon Springs, and Patriot’s Crossing.

She promoted Serenity Place to the City Housing Committee, demanded other developers also seeking real estate funding withdraw their applications in order to increase Roberts' chances of success, recommended Serenity Place receive a 9 percent low income housing tax credit, and voted to approve a $1.9 million loan from the city of Dallas.

“Right now you and me are making money,” Roberts texted Davis shortly after the vote.

Later, she repeatedly reached out to ask for more money — "just a few dollars" — and he agreed.

Davis and Roberts then met with Caraway to address a problem with the Patriot's Crossing project. In return for several hundred dollars cash and a $2,000 monthly stipend, Caraway agreed to stop the city from issuing a request for proposal (RFP) for the Patriots Crossing project and to deliver the project for Roberts.

“How much is the project worth?” Mayor Pro Tem Caraway asked. “Once you’re successful with this project, don’t forget about me.”

“I won’t forget about you,” Mr. Roberts responded. “That’s where the money is… the money has never been an issue.”

Roberts now faces up to five years in federal prison. He is slated to be sentenced on March 12, 2025.

Caraway pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and tax evasion and was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison.

Davis pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to commit bribery concerning an agent of a local government receiving federal benefits, but passed away in a car crash before she could be sentenced.

Roberts was one of three real estate developers charged in connection with the bribery scandal. Devin Hall, the developer behind the Grand Park Place apartment project, pleaded guilty in August 2020. Ruel Hamilton, the AmeriSouth Realty Group executive who backed the Royal Crest housing project, is awaiting retrial on conspiracy and bribery charges.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation with the assistance of IRS – Criminal Investigation’s Dallas Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcus Busch is prosecuting the case with the help of Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Max.