Real Estate Rankings

Dallas deemed one of the 10 best markets for first-time homebuyers

Dallas first-time buyers are in luck.

Photos courtesy of Coldwell Banker Residential

Saving up for a down payment is tough — especially if you're single — but Texas seems to be a little more forgiving to first-time homebuyers.

Zillow ranked the 35 largest U.S. housing markets to determine the best for first-time buyers, and three Texas cities — including Dallas — make it to the top 10. The real estate website looked at things such as affordable homes with little buyer competition and strong forecasted home value appreciation.

The highest ranking is No. 3 Houston, thanks to a proliferation of price cuts (16.7 percent of all listings here had at least one) and a strong inventory of available homes (26,275 as of January 2018). A healthy population growth of 1.7 percent, coupled with Zillow's forecasted home value growth of 2.7 percent, certainly makes H-Town a desirable city for first-timers.

Coming in at No. 5 is San Antonio, where a growing population can expect a sizable amount (18.8 percent) of the 8,036 currently available homes to have had a price cut. The Zillow Breakeven Horizon, the time it takes for buying to be financially advantageous compared to renting, isn't spectacular at two years, but the real estate website's Home Value Index is an affordable $169,300.

Dallas squeaks in at No. 10 with a Zillow Home Value Index of $220,900. Prospective homebuyers can expect price cuts on 15.4 percent of local listings, and the Breakeven Horizon in Big D is better than Alamo City: only one year and eight months.

Of all homebuyers, Zillow has found that 42 percent are jumping into real estate for the first time. Where should those newbies be looking? Tampa (1), Indianapolis (2), and Orlando (4) join Houston and San Antonio in the top five. Philadelphia (6), Atlanta (7), Las Vegas (8), and St. Louis (9) come in ahead of Dallas.

Surprising no one, metro California cities are the most difficult in which to buy your first home.

zillow home-for-sale bests reports

No Cap

Dallas was a top-10 destination for Gen Zers on the move for 2023

Photo by Lance Asper on Unsplash

Who wouldn't want to live in a Gen Z paradise like Dallas?

As Gen Z enters adulthood, many are flocking to the nation's biggest cultural hubs like New York City, Los Angeles — and now Dallas, which had the ninth-highest inflow of Gen Zers in 2023.

Dallas' new reputation as a Gen Z hotspot was unveiled in a recent report by American home improvement brand This Old House, which analyzed migration trends across multiple generations using 2023 U.S. Census Bureau data.

Dallas saw an influx of 13,770 Gen Z residents last year to become the generation's No. 9 most popular city. That's 4,223 more Gen Zers than the net migration rate from 2022, the report found.

Real estate marketplace Zillow seems to agree on a statewide scale, declaring Texas as the No. 1 destination for Gen Zers on the move in 2024.

However, as Gen Z Dallasites may have learned, it's going to take a big bite out of their paychecks to live in such a highly sought after city. A March RentCafe housing cost analysis predicted Gen Z adults living in Dallas are likely to spend over $149,000 on rent by the time they are 30 years old.

While Dallas saw big gains in its Gen Z population last year, many other big cities saw a mass exodus. Plano, for example — which gained 1,295 Gen Z residents in 2022 — lost 4,028 Gen Zers in 2023, the report discovered.

The biggest Gen-Z exodus was in El Paso, with a drop of 5,607 — "a sharp turn from 2022 when the city saw an increase," the report said. "Other cities, including Plano, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; McKinney, Texas; and Wichita, Kansas, are seeing similar declines."

"Gen X, baby boomers, and the Silent Generation are also moving away from major cities, particularly New York City and Washington, D.C.," the report said. "They’re heading to some of the same cities as Gen Z, including Houston and Jacksonville, Florida."

The top 10 cities that gained the most Gen Z residents in 2023 are:

No. 1 – New York City, New York
No. 2 – Los Angeles, California
No. 3 – Houston, Texas
No. 4 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
No. 5 – Chicago, Illinois
No. 6 – San Diego, California
No. 7 – Seattle, Washington
No. 8 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 9 – Dallas, Texas
No. 10 – Minneapolis, Minnesota

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