Real Estate Report

Here's how much the first-time Texas homebuyer spends and makes

Texans have a smaller down payment than most, but we also have less in savings.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Grace Real Estate

The path to homeownership has been a bumpy one for millennials, but some have managed to move out of their parents' basements and secure their own home sweet home.

Who generally are they? Mortgage education website MortgageHippo dug into the data to paint a financial portrait of these first-time homebuyers, from their median income to their down payment amounts and beyond.

After looking at more than 5,000 first-timers, the majority of them millennials, the site determined that the first-time homebuyer in the U.S., on average, makes around $65,000 a year and has a credit score of 730.

Texas first-time buyers come in close to these numbers, with an average income of $60,000 and credit score of 710. While we have less available assets ($16,000 compared to the nation's $20,000), we shell out a down payment of $12,000 ($3,000 lower than the national average).

The one stat where we match up with the rest of the country is how long buyers plan to stay in their new home: nine years.

MortgageHippo points out that there’s very little difference between the amount of money millennials plan to use as a down payment and their available assets, showing that "either millennials have not saved enough money to purchase the home they want, or they are not finding homes within their financial means."

It's true that available inventory is affecting first-time buyers the most, but millennials are still gaining traction as the largest group of homebuyers in the U.S. Now if only we could get student loans under control to help boost savings a bit more.

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GP News

Grand Prairie expands to the south with new master-planned community

Rendering courtesy of Provident

Goodland Grand Prairie

The City of Grand Prairie is growing fast and expanding to make way for a new master-planned development south of US Highway 287 and along Tollway 360, in Ellis and Johnson counties.

The community development, called Goodland, is the result of Grand Prairie’s recent 1,500-acre annexation extending its southern border toward Mansfield. Overall, with the added land, Goodland will be a 5,000-acre site featuring 15,000 residences including townhomes, custom homes, and gated communities for 50,000 residents.

According to a release, it will be a “city within a city” and a 45-minute drive from Dallas-Fort Worth. Beyond housing, there will be shops, restaurants, schools, public and private event venues, regional sports fields and complexes, dance halls, churches, trail systems, city parks, ponds, and preserved green spaces.

“This is a significant step in our city’s development,” says Grand Prairie Mayor Ron Jensen in a statement. “Unlike many of our neighboring cities, we have the unique advantage of new development opportunities to our south that will drive the growth and prosperity of our city. We recognized the opportunity and took decisive action.”

Leading the development is Provident, a Dallas-based real estate firm that has created other master-planned communities across Dallas-Fort Worth, such as Preston Hollow Village and Hillstead in Collin County. Provident has plans to work nature into the space design with more than 1,600 acres of creek corridors and floodplain land.

Plans are ongoing for a centralized mixed-use walkable Town Center, complete with civic buildings and other commercial development. Further south on the property near Highway 67, light industrial uses and other private employment campuses are already underway, projects that will contribute vital tax dollars for city growth and future expansions.

“This level of placemaking is quite rare, and certainly not easy to execute, especially in a brand-new community," says Provident Managing Director Rylan Yowell in a statement. "We are committed to a long-term vision with a desire to be good stewards of the land."

A new four-lane road called Goodland Parkway will link Goodland to Grand Prairie at Tollway 360 and US Highway 287. It's set to open by December 2025.

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