North Texas Is No. 1

New rankings declare Dallas-area first-time homebuyers have it made

Looking to buy? Look in McKinney.

Photo courtesy of Ebby Halliday Realtors

Rents are soaring, so logic says that maybe it's time to buy. But how easy will that be in Dallas-Fort Worth? WalletHub says very, according to its latest rankings of the best and worst cities for first-time homebuyers.

Not only are four of Dallas' suburbs in the top 10, but the top three are all North Texas: McKinney is No. 1, Frisco second, and Allen third. Richardson sneaks in at No. 7, but Denton (No. 11), Carrollton (No. 18), and Grand Prairie (No. 21) also rank highly.

The personal finance site compared 300 cities of varying sizes across across 23 key indicators of market attractiveness, affordability, and quality of life. Broken down into weighted metrics, that means things such as cost of homeowners insurance, median home-price appreciation, recession recovery, job market, and even weather were taken into consideration.

While McKinney's affordability isn't stellar (No. 191), its real estate market (No. 1) and quality of life (No. 7) rankings more than make up for it. With a total score of 68.32 out of 100, McKinney just barely holds onto the lead from Frisco's 68.2 and Allen's 68.15.

Allen ranks second overall for lowest property crime rate, while Laredo has the cheapest cost of living. If you separate the cities by population into large (more than 300,000 people), midsize (150,000-300,000), and small (fewer than 150,000 residents), McKinney still comes out on top for midsize, while Frisco and Allen clean up with first and second for the small category. Fort Worth shows up at No. 5 on the large cities list.

Elsewhere on the list, Plano ranks No. 29, Fort Worth is No. 33, and Garland takes No. 45. Closing out the top 100 are Amarillo (No. 51), Mesquite (No. 72), Austin (No. 86), Arlington (No. 96), Irving (No. 99). Where's Dallas? All the way down at No. 120, which is only slightly better than No. 136 San Antonio and Houston at No. 186.

Not surprisingly, four of the bottom five cities are in California: Santa Monica, Oakland, and Berkeley join Miami Beach, with Santa Barbara coming in dead last.

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Homebuying strategy

Now's the best time for Dallas homebuyers to score a deal, report says

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Back-to-school season turns out to be prime homebuying season in Dallas-Fort Worth and the state’s three other major metros.

A new report from real estate brokerage Redfin finds mid-September reigns as the best time for homebuyers to score a deal in Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio.

The report pegs late August as Austin’s best period for nailing down a home deal, while late September is Houston’s sweet spot.

“Each homebuyer has their own timeline based on personal circumstances. But seasonality trends suggest buyers in these places looking to score a bargain may want to hit the pavement as summer comes to a close and the leaves start falling,” Asad Khan, a senior economist at Redfin, says in a release.

“Sellers who put their home in the market in the spring or early summer and haven’t offloaded it yet may be open to dropping their price or offering concessions,” Khan adds.

Redfin cautions that the best time to buy is more complicated than when a homebuyer is most likely to land a deal. Redfin economists recommend balancing choice and competition when shopping for a home.

“More inventory to choose from improves the chance of finding the home that’s right for them, and more competition creates more urgency and requires stronger offers to win a home, decreasing the likelihood that buyers will get a deal,” says Redfin.

Redfin emphasizes that most places in Texas are now buyer’s markets, equipping buyers with negotiating power. In fact, the majority of Texas markets have roughly twice as many buyers as sellers, according to Redfin.

The Redfin analysis, based on data from Home Economics, looked at three metrics for determining the best times for homebuyers to make a deal:

The week when the number of new listings is the greatest compared with the annual average.
The week when the number of active listings on the market for 60 days or less is the greatest compared with the annual average.
The time when the average home price drops the most heading into late fall or winter.