Lively market

Dallas-Fort Worth home prices could climb this high in 2021, says new forecast

The Dallas-Fort Worth market continues to be hot.

Photo by Sean Pavone/iStock

If a new prediction is accurate, the median home price in Dallas-Fort Worth would reach at least $316,000 in 2021, and home sales growth would surpass that of Texas’ three other major metro areas.

Realtor.com predicts DFW will see combined sales and price growth of 15.7 percent next year in the housing market compared with 2020. That figure puts it at No. 22 in Realtor.com’s ranking of the top 100 major metro areas; it’s the highest ranking among the state’s four major metros. DFW’s 15.7 percent number breaks down to 11.3 percent for sales growth and 4.4 percent for price growth.

If Realtor.com is correct, the 4.4 percent growth rate for home prices could push the median home price in DFW to more than $316,800 in 2021 from $303,500 in October. That growth rate would be welcome news, though. From October 2019 to October 2020, the median price of a home in DFW jumped 12.4 percent, according to the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

Meanwhile, projected sales growth of 11.3 percent would make for a busy 2021 for DFW homebuyers and home sellers. Spurred by historically low mortgage interest rates, a record-setting 12,829 homes were sold in DFW in July, the Texas A&M center says.

“We expect a healthy level of growth across Texas metros in 2021, with prices expected to rise 4 to 5 percent in each of the major metros and sales expected to grow between 5 and 11 percent over 2020,” says Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “An improving economy that drives strong job growth is a big contributing factor in these metros, in addition to above-average household growth.”

“Younger buyers are already doing well in most of these markets,” Hale adds, “and because they make up an above-average portion of the population in these metros, we expect them to contribute to healthy sales growth.”

Elsewhere in Texas:

Austin could be the state’s most challenging market in 2021 for younger homebuyers, Hale says. That’s because Austin is a competitive market where the median home price surged 19.7 percent from November 2019 to November 2020, she says, and because hefty down payments “are a big hurdle for first-time buyers.”

Among the state’s four major metros, Austin ranks second in the Realtor.com forecast. Its national ranking sits at No. 37, with year-over-year sales growth pegged at 8.6 percent and year-over-year price growth projected to be 4.6 percent for a combined total of 13 percent.

At No. 47 nationally is San Antonio. There, the sales growth rate in 2021 is expected to be 7.2 percent and the price growth rate is predicted to be 4.3 percent for a combined total of 11.5 percent.

Houston lands at No. 61 on the Realtor.com list. The website envisions 5.3 percent growth for sales and 4.6 percent growth for prices for a combined total of 9.9 percent.

At No. 16, El Paso is the top-ranked Texas market in the Realtor.com forecast. The combined 17 percent growth rate envisioned for 2021 comprises 10.6 percent growth in sales and 6.4 percent growth in prices.

Here are the top five metro markets in Realtor.com’s outlook:

Sacramento, California, 24.6 percent overall growth rate
San Jose, California, 21.6 percent overall growth rate
Charlotte, North Carolina, 19 percent overall growth rate
Boise, Idaho, 18.9 percent overall growth rate
Seattle, 18.4 percent overall growth rate

reports rankings lists

rent report

Here's how much rent prices have dropped in Dallas-Fort Worth since 2025

Photo by TOM on Unsplash

Rent prices are on the decline in most DFW cities.

Rent prices are falling statewide, and prices in certain Dallas-Fort Worth cities have declined by nearly 8 percent since last year, according to a new national rent report from Zumper.

The Zumper National Rent Report tracked year-over-year and month-over-month rent price changes in 100 U.S. cities for both one- and two-bedroom units using the most recent data available from May 2026.

Plano had the fourth-steepest rent decrease in Texas, with prices for one-bedroom units dipping 7.5 percent year-over-year to $1,360. Two-bedroom rent has dropped 5.5. percent from last year to $1,900.

In Dallas, one-bedroom rent prices fell 5.6 percent to $1,350, and two-bedroom rent is down 6.4 percent since last year to $1,900.

Arlington was the only major Texas city where rent prices increased from May 2025 to May 2026. One-bedroom rent increased nearly 3 percent to $1,090, and two-bedroom rent increased 2.1 percent to $1,480.

The cost for a single-bedroom apartment in Irving is $1,280, or the same price as it was a year ago, the report found. Two-bedroom units are 3 percent cheaper than they were last year, at $1,610.

In Fort Worth, respective rent costs for one- and two-bedroom units come out to $1,240 and $1,560.

Rent prices elsewhere in Texas
San Antonio saw the steepest drop in rent prices statewide, with one-bedroom rents falling by 10.4 percent to $950. Two-bedroom units have declined 6 percent year-over-year to $1,250.

These are the rent prices for other Texas cities in May 2026:

Austin: $1,420 for one-bedroom units; $1,860 for two-bedroom units
El Paso: $810 for one bedroom; $1,130 for two bedrooms
Houston: $1,130 for one bedroom; $1,430 for two bedroom

The report also revealed that four of the 10 U.S. metros offering the most concessions are located in Texas. Austin leads nationally with more than a third of rental units "dangling incentives to fill space," followed by San Antonio, Houston, then Dallas. A separate rent report from real estate data firm CoStar found Dallas-Fort Worth had the fifth highest apartment vacancy rate in the U.S. in March, meaning residents may be able to save on their rent depending on the financial incentives offered by landlords.

Additionally, these same markets offering generous rent concessions are also among the 10 U.S. metros with the largest population growth, which Zumper says signals ongoing tension between tenants and their landlords regarding prices.

"So while Texas absorbed a significant share of the 2023-2025 supply wave, inventory still has to lease up before landlords regain pricing power, and the steady inflow of new residents says the demand is there," the report said. "It’s just a question of when supply stops outrunning it."

From 2023 to 2024, Texas gained nearly 73,000 net new renters, making it the No. 1 magnet for renters nationwide.

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