'Speed date' your way to your new Dallas-Fort Worth dream home

When it comes to real estate, it doesn't get hotter than Frisco and McKinney. The two popular Dallas neighbors have topped a list of the best real estate markets in the U.S. for 2026. Nearby Denton and Allen also made the top 10.

The four Dallas-Fort Worth cities dominated WalletHub's annual study that compares the real estate markets in 300 U.S. cities based on 17 relevant metrics, such as "housing market attractiveness," home value forecasts, housing affordability, population growth, and many others. Cities were also ranked by size: large cities with over 300,000 residents; midsize cities with 150,000-300,000 residents; and small cities with fewer than 150,000 residents.

McKinney had been the leading real estate market in America for the last three years in a row, while Frisco ranked No. 6 last year. But Frisco eclipsed McKinney in this year's report, taking the No. 1 spot and proving to be more desirable for residents and homeowners.

Frisco tops the nationwide "affordability and economic environment" category, and ranks No. 2 nationally for its real estate market.

"When you look at home prices as a percentage of income, [Frisco] is the 95th-cheapest among the 300 cities in our study," the report said. "But it’s the 11th-cheapest city for phone service and the 11th-cheapest for maintenance and energy."

Frisco boasts the highest share of houses that were built between 2010 and 2024, at nearly 47 percent, which WalletHub says is "good news for people who want all the benefits of a recently-constructed home," without having to "put in a lot of work" to renovate an older or run down home.

"Finally, Frisco has the seventh-best job growth rate in the country, which helps attract new residents to its growing housing market," the report added.

McKinney is No. 2 market nationally, and it maintains better livability than almost all other cities in Texas. WalletHub says this popular suburb's only detractor is the fact that it isn't the cheapest city to live in, but the report is quick to specify that the city is "far from the most expensive."

"The median home price in McKinney is around 380 percent of the median income, which is the 73rd-cheapest out of the 300 cities in our study," WalletHub said. "In addition, it ranks among the 35 least expensive cities for maintenance and telephone, and energy costs."

McKinney also ranked as the No. 1 best housing market for first-time buyers in a separate 2026 WalletHub study.

Frisco and McKinney also lead in the national comparison of midsize cities with the best real estate markets.

Other high-performing housing markets in Dallas-Fort Worth
Denton and Allen, respectively, ranked as the 5th and 8th best real estate markets in the U.S. for 2026, and Denton similarly ranked 5th in the midsize city rankings, and Allen topped the list of small cities.

The housing market in Dallas ranked No. 71 nationally, only one spot lower than in 2025, but it was declared the 14th best real estate market among the biggest U.S. cities.

This is how the housing markets in other North Texas cities were ranked:

• No. 16 – Richardson
• No. 21 – Carrollton
• No. 22 – Fort Worth
• No. 40 – Irving
• No. 61 – Plano
• No. 103 – Garland
• No. 111 – Arlington
• No. 126 – Grand Prairie
• No. 195 – Mesquite

In the rankings by city size, Fort Worth has the No. 5 best real estate market among large U.S. cities, and Arlington ranked 22nd. Four more Dallas neighbors — Irving (No. 21), Plano (No. 32), Garland (No. 49), and Grand Prairie (No. 57) — appeared among the best midsize housing markets in the U.S. Among the best small cities, Carrollton (No. 4) and Mesquite (No. 82) ranked among the top 100.

"If you aim to make a profit in the long run with your housing purchase, you’ll need to look beyond tangible factors like square footage and style," the report's author wrote. "Those factors certainly drive up property values. From an investor’s standpoint, though, they hold less significance than historical market trends and the economic health of residents."

The top 10 best real estate markets in America in 2026 are:

• No. 1 – Frisco, Texas
• No. 2 – McKinney, Texas
• No. 3 – Murfreesboro, Tennessee
• No. 4 – Durham, North Carolina
• No. 5 – Denton, Texas
• No. 6 – Cary, North Carolina
• No. 7 – Madison, Wisconsin
• No. 8 – Allen, Texas
• No. 9 – Charlotte, North Carolina
• No. 10 – Irvine, California