Here's some welcome news for Dallasites in search of a beach house that won't break the bank: A new report from Realtor.com says a popular Texas coastal town is among the most affordable in the country.
Rockport, Texas, a coastal community about a six-hour drive from Dallas, lands at No. 7 on Realtor.com’s new list of most affordable beach towns in the country. The charming Gulf Coast town’s average home list price is $435,112.
Rockport is popular for its “clean beaches, fantastic fishing, and world-class birdwatching,” the report says.
Rockport offers 10 different sites on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, which boasts the planet’s sole migrating flock of over 265 whooping cranes, which passes through the Aransas Wildlife Refuge every winter.
In Rockport, waterfront homes start in the mid $400,000s, the report notes, with standouts including a $449,000 two-bedroom townhouse with lovely views of the Aransas Bay and a three-story, two-bedroom house on Mustang Island on the market for $599,900.
To generate the list, Realtor.com’s team surveyed the median home list prices of more than 1,300 towns located across America’s coastlines from May 2021 through April 2022. These areas had at least 30 homes for sale in April (not including pending transactions), the report adds.
Properties must actually be on the water and not just nearby to qualify for the list, and be “more than just a strip of sand and surf” and have diverse entertainment. Rockport is 18 miles from Port Aransas and 30 miles from Corpus Christi.
“The U.S. has over 95,000 miles of shorelines,” George Ratiu, manager of economic research at Realtor.com, noted in the list. “But most people, when they think of beach towns, they focus on a few dozen destinations. However, there are a lot of hidden gems, which offer all the benefits of seaside living at a much lower price.”
America’s cheapest beach town, according to Realtor.com, is Atlantic City, New Jersey, with a median list price of $161,754. Tiverton, Rhode Island is the priciest of the cheap deals, with a median home price of $480,262.
Here’s the full list, per Realtor.com.
1. Atlantic City, New Jersey
Median list price: $161,754
2. Deerfield Beach, Florida
Median list price: $230,071
3. New London, Connecticut
Median list price: $242,392
4. Mastic Beach, New York
Median list price: $334,907
5. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Median list price: $347,875
6. Seal Beach, California
Median list price: $400,338
7. Rockport, Texas
Median list price: $435,112
8. Lynn, Massachusetts
Median list price: $449,626
9. Morehead City, North Carolina
Median list price: $464,842
10. Tiverton, Rhode Island
Median list price: $480,262
