Ranking It

Where is it great to be a first-time homebuyer? All over North Texas.

As anyone looking for a house in Dallas-Fort Worth right now can tell you, the real estate market here is red hot. And according to a new study by WalletHub, the suburbs surrounding Dallas are some of the best cities in the country for first-time buyers.

In fact, North Texas nabbed five of the top 10 slots and nine of the top 20: Allen ranks No. 2, followed by Frisco (5), Plano (6), Carrollton (7), McKinney (8), Grand Prairie (11), Richardson (12), Garland (17) and Arlington (20).

Denton and Irving landed at Nos. 23 and 24, respectively, while Fort Worth came in at No. 42. Dallas brought up the rear at No. 93. The No. 1 city for first-time homebuyers is Overland Park, Kansas.

The WalletHub study looked at 300 American cities and determined the rankings using three general categories: housing affordability, real estate market and living environment. If the rankings had been based solely on the market, Dallas would have come in at No. 2. But an abysmal ranking of 282 in housing affordability and a 76 in living environment sent the city plummeting.

Three Dallas suburbs rank in the top five for highest median annual income (adjusted for cost of inflation): Frisco (No. 1), Allen (No. 3) and McKinney (No. 5). Frisco also scored well (No. 2) for highest median home-price appreciation. Dallas was not too far behind, at No. 5.

With multiple big companies moving into the northern 'burbs and property values heading northward, first-time home buyers might need to act fast to take advantage of the current market friendliness.

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REAL ESTATE NEWS

Dallas ranks No. 9 among U.S. cities for canceled home sales in 2025

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Homebuyers across the United States are ghosting sellers at record rates, and Dallas has some of the worst offenders. Real estate marketplace Redfin tracked which metros saw the most buyers getting cold feet before closing real estate deals: Dallas came in at No. 9.

Redfin says 17.7 percent of Dallas home purchases were called off in September 2025, an increase from 16.4 percent in September 2024.

Fort Worth was even worse, landing at No. 4. In September, 18.7 percent of Fort Worth home purchases were called off, up from from 16.6 percent the previous year.

By comparison, San Antonio ranked No. 2 overall, with the highest pull-out rate in Texas, at 19 percent.

Tampa, Florida, topped the list with a cancellation rate of 20.1 percent. The national average is 15 percent.

Redfin says Goldilocks thinking is largely to blame for the rise in buyers "ghosting" sellers. A lack of compromise on concessions and repairs is driving the trend, with buyers refusing to accept imperfect homes.

Meanwhile, sellers want to avoid losing money on the deal. This is especially true of homeowners who bought during the COVID-19 boom, who are holding their asking price firm to avoid taking a loss. With plenty of homes on the market in "Sun Belt" cities — in some place, more than twice as many sellers than buyers — buyers are weighing all options.

“I’m seeing a lot of buyer’s remorse,” explained Redfin agent Jo Chavez, in a release. “Buyers make an offer, then they start worrying they could have found a better deal or a better home because there are more home sellers than buyers in the market. Some other buyers are backing out because they’re concerned about job security.”

The top 10 markets with the most sideways deals include:

No. 1 — Tampa, Florida
No. 2 – San Antonio, Texas
No. 3 — Atlanta, Georgia
No. 4 — Orlando, Florida
No. 5 — Fort Worth, Texas
No. 6 — Riverside, California
No. 7 — Fort Lauderdale, Florida
No. 8 —Jacksonville, Florida
No. 9 — Dallas, Texas
No. 10 — Las Vegas, Nevada

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