High Demand

Here's how much Dallas-Fort Worth land was snapped up by developers in 2018

The demand for Texas land isn't slowing down.

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Seems like investors just can't get enough of that Lone Star State soil. For the second year in a row, the total dollar volume of Texas small land sales has topped $1 billion, while median prices also kept rising for the sixth straight year.

That's according to the 2019 edition of the Texas Small Land Sales Report, released by Texas Realtors. The study analyzes sales data and trends across seven regions of Texas, using information aggregated by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

Sales volume from 2017 to 2018 increased 5.9 percent annually, resulting in 8,036 tracts sold. The average price per acre grew 5.13 percent year over year, to $5,804 an acre. The definition of a "small" land sale varies by region but generally means 200 acres or less. The exception is far West Texas, where 500 to 8,000 acres qualifies as a small land sale.

"The demand for Texas land continues to increase due to strong population and economic growth," says Tray Bates, chairman of Texas Realtors. "More and more investors are choosing Texas to make small land purchases due to our friendly business environment, booming economy, and wealth of land opportunities. We expect investments in small land for subdivisions or mixed developments will continue, spurring more economic growth across the state as well as attracting more investors."

But in region four — which encompasses Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington — there was actually a decrease of 5.5 percent in volume, yet a 10.8 increase in price, jumping from $8,731 in 2017 to $9,674 in 2018.

Region five, or the Gulf Coast, saw big gains for Houston, The Woodlands, Sugar Land, and College Station. There was a 18.2 percent increase in sales volume, and prices went up 3.8 percent to $10,937.

Austin-Waco-Hill Country's region seven also saw a big increase, 10.1 percent (a total of 2,656 tracts sold), while price per acre increased 8.2 percent to $9,219.

But there are some places where the numbers went down instead of up. Sales volume in South Texas' region six (San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Corpus Christi) went down 0.87 percent, and prices were down 3.6 percent to $8,087.

"Overall small land sales in 2018 experienced strong growth, particularly in West Texas, due to a surge in oil and gas production, and in the Gulf Coast area, due to recovery activity from Hurricane Harvey," says Bates.

Charles Gilliland, an economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, agrees. "Statewide, smaller properties are growing in popularity. ... With housing prices increasing statewide, there is demand for more subdivision developments, and, thus, more tracts are being purchased for pre-development."

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rent report

2 Dallas suburbs have the highest rents in DFW right now, report finds

Photo courtesy of Simpson Property Group

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After American shoppers spent $11.5 billion on Black Friday this year, it's safe to say many people are watching their wallets this holiday season, including renters. And a new report is shedding light on the North Texas cities that are shelling out the most for their rent.

Zumper's newest monthly rent report, released December 2, analyzed active listings from the previous month across all cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It tracked the most and least expensive rent prices for one- and two-bedroom apartments, and determines the cities with the fastest growing rents. Listings were aggregated by city to calculate median asking rents.

Frisco and The Colony tied for having the highest rent prices in Dallas-Fort Worth in November. According to the study's findings, the median rent price for a single-bedroom apartment came out to $1,620 last month in both cities. In Frisco, that's $10 lower than what it cost for the same apartment in June.

Frisco residents are expected to budget $3,491 for their holiday presents this year, WalletHub says, which means they might be watching their spending a lot more than other North Texas residents.

For two-bedroom units, median rent prices in Frisco rose 3.3 percent from October to $2,200. A two-bedroom apartment in The Colony rose 0.9 percent month-over-month to $2,130.

Grapevine's median rent prices were the third-priciest out of all cities in Dallas-Fort Worth. Zumper found that the median price for a one-bedroom apartment came out to $1,470, and two-bedroom units cost $1,840 in November.

Dallas tied with Plano for the fourth-highest rents in the metro area, the report said. Single-bedroom units cost the same amount between both cities ($1,470) while two-bedroom units were more expensive in Dallas ($2,060) than in Plano ($2,030).

For comparison, the price of one bedroom unit in Dallas was $30 cheaper in October, while two bedroom units cost $20 less than November's asking price. In September, asking rent for single-bedroom apartments added up to $1,480, while two bedroom units cost $2,100 per month.

These are the median rent prices for one- and two-bedroom apartments across Dallas-Fort Worth:

Richardson – $1,420 for one-bedroom units; $1,750 for two-bedroom units
McKinney – $1,400 for one-bedroom units; $1,850 for two-bedroom units
Carrollton – $1,360 for one-bedroom units; $1,730 for two-bedroom units
Lewisville – $1,300 for one-bedroom units; $1,700 for two-bedroom units
Burleson – $1,250 for one-bedroom units; $1,620 for two-bedroom units
Weatherford – $1,240 for one-bedroom units; $1,370 for two-bedroom units
Irving – $1,220 for one-bedroom units; $1,650 for two-bedroom units
Fort Worth – $1,190 for one-bedroom units; $1,450 for two-bedroom units
Grand Prairie – $1,170 for one-bedroom units; $1,560 for two-bedroom units
North Richland Hills – $1,160 for one-bedroom units; $1,460 for two-bedroom units
Haltom City – $1,150 for one-bedroom units; $1,430 for two-bedroom units

DFW cities with affordable rent compared to the statewide median
Zumper found the statewide median rent for a one bedroom apartment came out to $1,126 last month.

Cleburne had the most affordable rent for a one-bedroom unit in all of Dallas-Fort Worth, with median prices adding up to an even $1,000. The report also found that Cleburne's single-bedroom rent costs are 10.7 percent lower than they were a year ago. The median cost for a two-bedroom unit in Cleburne ($1,190) is 8.5 percent lower than it was in November 2024.

Six more Dallas-Fort Worth cities had more affordable single-bedroom rent prices than the statewide median: Bedford ($1,110), Mesquite ($1,110), Hurst ($1,100), Denton ($1,090), Arlington ($1,080), and Benbrook ($1,020).

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