Show Me the Money

Here's the annual salary required to buy a median-priced home in Dallas

In Dallas, you need a bigger salary now to afford that house.

Photo courtesy of Dave Perry-Miller & Associates

Owning a house is expensive, even if you just strip it down to the principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. So what kind of salary do you need to afford a median-priced home in Dallas?

More than last year, it turns out. Mortgage tracking site HSH.com once again analyzed 27 major U.S. metros and found that Big D is experiencing a decrease in mortgage rates and a major uptick in home prices. Put those two together and you also get a nearly $3,000 increase in the salary necessary to make it all happen.

In Dallas, the annual income needed now to comfortably sign on the dotted line is $54,764.49, compared to last year's $48,786.53. With this salary and a mortgage rate of 3.76, homebuyers can afford a $232,200 home with an average monthly payment of $1,277.84.

The data puts Dallas at No. 14, sandwiched between Philadelphia and Baltimore. It has flip-flopped with No. 16 Houston, which last year was the most expensive Texas metro. Now $52,274.68 will buy a $217,400 house there with a monthly payment of $1,219.74.

No. 19 San Antonio saw a significant increase in its second quarter, with salaries alone jumping up $1,780. That brings the total to $48,752.98 in order to afford a $210,500 home.

The website also calculates what salary would be required if a 10 percent down payment were used instead of the more traditional 20 percent and the sum is, predictably, much larger. In Dallas, the amount is nearly 10 grand more: $62,663. In Houston, it's $59,664, and in San Antonio it's $55,888.

San Francisco is still the most expensive city overall, with the median home price having gone up from $742,900 to $885,600. If you want to buy there, you'd better be earning at least $161,947.60 — way, way higher than the national average of $52,699.17.

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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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