The roofs are on fire

Fast-growing Dallas neighbor takes title as No. 1 U.S. housing market, report says

Frisco is growing, and homes are flying off the market.

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At least by one measure, the Dallas-area housing market is 100-degrees-in-the-summer hot.

A study released August 24 by personal finance website WalletHub ranks four North Texas cities among the 10 most attractive real estate markets in the U.S. Frisco grabs the No. 1 spot, with McKinney at No. 4, Denton at No. 5, and Allen at No. 6.

The only other Texas market in the top 10 is second-ranked Austin.

Looking in particular at Frisco, its placement atop the WalletHub ranking stems in large part from its eye-popping population growth. At a rate of 71 percent, Frisco was the fastest-growing large U.S. city from 2010 to 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Today, Frisco’s population exceeds 208,000.

Frisco remains one of the most active cities in DFW in terms of home construction. Through May 31, there were 1,283 residential building permits (not quite as many as nearby Celina).

To determine the most attractive real estate markets, WalletHub compared 300 cities across 18 key metrics. The data ranges from appreciation of median home price to job growth.

The Dallas-Fort Worth real estate market “is doing great after recovering from the blows of the pandemic since July of last year. Demand for single-family homes has risen and supply has lagged since the second half of last year,” according to Norada Real Estate Investments.

Highlighting the hotness of the DFW market, Norada notes that the region’s supply of available homes stood at 1.1 months in the second quarter, and that the median home price climbed 22.4 percent to $349,381.

“2021 has represented a year of strengths in many financial areas. The stock market and bank account balances are up, while unemployment and interest rates are low. These factors represent ideal conditions for the housing market, and as long as we continue to see shortages in housing inventory, we should still see an ideal environment for housing growth,” Job Hammond, secretary-treasurer of the Austin Board of Realtors and an adjunct professor at Austin Community College, tells WalletHub.

Here are the 10 most attractive real estate markets in the country, as judged by WalletHub.

Frisco
Austin
Gilbert, Arizona
McKinney
Denton
Allen
Durham, North Carolina
Reno, Nevada
Roseville, California
Nashville, Tennessee

lists rankings

Dallas Got Robbed

The richest small town in Texas is surprisingly not in Dallas

Facebook / City of Bellaire, Texas

Houston neighbor Bellaire is the richest town in Texas.

A survey of affluent small towns has found one town in Texas to be at the top of the list, but shockingly, it is not in Dallas. The town of Bellaire, a small enclave within the Houston metro area, has earned the top spot as the richest small town in Texas for 2025. Boo.

The report, "The Richest Small Town in Every State," from GoBankingRates, selected one city from each state, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey to determine the 50 richest small towns based on their median household income.

Describing Bellaire as a "small town" might be a misnomer. It's located less than 10 miles from downtown Houston and is fully surrounded by the City of Houston. It's really more of a wealthy enclave within Houston, with a population of just over 17,000 residents.

Those affluent citizens earn a median $236,311 in income every year, which GoBankingRates says is the 11th highest household median income out of all 50 cities included in the report.

The average home in this city is worth over $1.12 million, but Bellaire's lavish residential reputation often attracts properties with multi-million-dollar price tags.

Bellaire also earned a shining 81 livability score for its top quality schools, health and safety, commute times, with an abundance of exceptional local amenities.

Those include conveniently located grocery stores, coffee shops, diverse dining options, and spacious parks.

It's not the first time that Bellaire has caught the eye of GoBankingRates, which previously ranked it as the No. 23 wealthiest suburb in America, and it's been named on similar lists comparing the richest American cities.

Dallas can take comfort in the fact that a different survey found Lewisville to be of the cities attracting the most high-income households, meaning those that make more than $200,000. However, census data places the most recent median income in Lewisville at $85,002 — so it's nowhere close to catching up to Bellaire.

suburbs houston bellaire affluent households

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Dallas Got Robbed

The richest small town in Texas is surprisingly not in Dallas