high value suburbs

2 Dallas neighbors top the list of best real estate markets in America

Oktoberfest Downtown McKinney cropped 4x3

McKinney has it all: A lively downtown environment, a great housing market, and a solid job market.

Photo courtesy of Visit McKinney

For those looking to rent an apartment or buy their first home, Dallas-Fort Worth is the place to be: According to a new report by WalletHub, DFW towns McKinney and Frisco were crowned the No. 1 and No. 2 best real estate markets in America, and two more in the area — Denton and Allen — also ranked among the top 10.

The study took an in-depth look at real estate markets in 300 U.S. cities based on 17 metrics, including median home price appreciation, the ratio of rent price to sale price, vacancy rates, housing and maintenance affordability, population and job growth, and more.

McKinney scored the top spot nationally because of its rapid growth and a solid job market, with the 13th highest job growth rate in the nation to match. In terms of real estate, McKinney has a high volume of recently built houses over the last decade, and there's a wide variety of new housing options in progress throughout the city. Add that to the growing list of reasons why McKinney is one of the best cities for renters.

"McKinney has the second-highest share of houses that were built between 2010 and 2021, at 35 percent, which means that new buyers have a lot of options for houses that may not need major maintenance for a while," the report said.

Zillow's Home Values Index says the average McKinney home is worth $520,139 as of July 2024, and homes are on the market for about 18 days before being marked as "pending sale."

McKinney is also expected to complete construction on 1,675 new apartments by the end of 2024.

WalletHub does point out that the north Dallas suburb isn't the cheapest city to move to on the list, but it's still far more affordable than many other American cities by comparison.

"The median home price in McKinney is around 353 percent of the median income, which is the 76th-cheapest out of the 300 cities in our study," the report said. "In addition, it ranks in the 50 least expensive cities for maintenance and telephone costs, and the 40 least expensive for energy costs."

In WalletHub's ranking of the best real estate markets by city size, McKinney ranked No. 1 in the "Midsize Cities" category.

Frisco earned the coveted No. 2 rank by having 42 percent of all housing in the city built between 2010 and 2021, the highest share nationally. Just like McKinney, that means many homeowners won't have to put in a lot of work or stress to maintain their home for several years.

The average home in Frisco is worth $687,690 as of July 2024, Zillow says, and homes stay on the market around 17 days before being marked as "pending."

Frisco also scored highly in the report's affordability scale, boosted by its No. 15-ranking best job growth rate in the U.S. The city also has the 10th best job market nationally with the second largest remote workforce, according to separate studies by SmartAsset.

Frisco, Texas cropped 4x3 Frisco has the 2nd best housing market in the country.City of Frisco TX - City Hall / Facebook

"When you look at home prices as a percentage of income, [Frisco] is the 84th-cheapest among the 300 cities in our study," the report said. "But it’s the 10th-cheapest city for phone service and the 11th-cheapest for maintenance and energy."

Frisco also ranked No. 2 in the "Midsize Cities" category in WalletHub's analysis of best housing markets based on city size.

Elsewhere across North Texas
Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs dominated the top 10 best U.S. real estate markets, with Denton (No. 8) and Allen (No. 9) earning top-10 spots in the report. Fort Worth's housing market ranked No. 28 nationwide, while Dallas fell behind as No. 59.

Seven additional North Texas cities that earned spots among the top 100 housing markets include:

No. 17 – Richardson
No. 20 – Carrollton
No. 31 – Irving
No. 34 – Plano
No. 38 – Garland
No. 43 – Grand Prairie
No. 88 – Arlington

WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe provided a few suggestions for North Texas potential homebuyers who are on the lookout for their forever home, as there are so many elements that must be considered in addition to a city's current home prices.

"Factors like the cost of living, the potential for the value of homes to increase, the availability of recently-built homes and the quality of the city’s job market are all important to consider in conjunction with asking prices and interest rates," Happe said. "The best cities may not always be the cheapest, but they offer excellent housing options and long-term stability.”

The six remaining top housing markets are located in Cary, North Carolina (No. 3); Nashville, Tennessee (No. 4); Durham, North Carolina (No. 5); Gilbert, Arizona (No. 6); Charlotte, North Carolina (No. 7); and Port St. Lucie, Florida (No. 10).

The full report and its methodology can be found on wallethub.com.

not too shabby

Dallas ranks No. 15 nationwide on new affordability and housing report

Reunion Tower

Downtown Dallas skyline, all lit up.

A new national real estate report card has given Dallas-Fort Worth a passing grade for housing demand and affordability.

Realtor.com's first-ever Metro Affordability & Homebuilding Report Card compared the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. based on two scores that measured the most important factors for potential home buyers: an "Affordability Components" score that examined the current affordability of housing for residents, and a "Homebuilding Components" score that analyzed the rate of new home construction to meet future demand. Both scores were then used to calculate the final score and assigned a letter grade.

Only 10 total U.S. metros, including Houston (No. 4) and Austin (No. 6), received grades in the "A" range (A+, A, A- ) representing the most balanced locales for "favorable current affordability conditions and healthy future inventory growth to sustain them."

"Homebuilding and affordability are inseparable, and if we want to improve affordability in a lasting way, we need to build more homes," said Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale. "The metros at the top of these rankings show that buyers benefit most when communities pair homes that are attainable for today's local earners with enough new construction to support tomorrow's demand."

Only two metros earned "A+" grades with a total score of 77.5 or higher: De Moines-West DeMoines, Idaho (83.4 points) and Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina (82.8 points).

Dallas-Fort Worth earned a "B+" overall with a total score of 67.9 points, an "Affordability Components" score of 54.5 points, and a "Homebuying Components" score of 81.3 points. The DFW Metroplex also ranks 15th in the national ranking of the best metros for affordability and housing.

Five more U.S. metros earned the same rating: Augusta-Richmond County, Georgia-South Carolina; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Madison, Wisconsin; Wichita, Kansas; and Louisville, Kentucky-Indiana.

Realtor.com's report said the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro has a median household income of $88,783, and home listings have a median price of $426,446. The report's findings also show that newly built homes in the region cost 8.9 percent more than existing homes on the market.

DFW has a 1.76 housing permit-to population ratio, meaning the metro permits 76 percent more new homes than what would be considered typical based on its population and national average construction levels.

DFW's "Realtors Affordability Score," or the share of for-sale inventory affordable to households at different income levels, is 0.639, or slightly lower than the national average of 0.675.

Housing market grades across other Texas metros
Houston and Austin were the only two Texas metros to earn a grade in the "A" range.

Houston outperformed every Texas metro for housing and affordability with its solid "A" rating. Newly built homes in the Houston area cost about 7 percent more than existing homes on the market, and the metro has a 1.88 housing permit-to population ratio.

Austin earned an "A-" with a combined score of 72.5 points. Unlike many other U.S. metros, newly built homes in the Austin area are actually more affordable than existing homes on the market. Austin has a negative new construction premium, where new build homes are 6 percent cheaper than existing ones.

The Austin metro also has a permit-to-population ratio of 2.37. Combined with the negative new construction premium, these factors signal that "builders are delivering homes at a rate well above the metro's population share — and at prices slightly below existing homes."

This is a snapshot of the factors that impacted Austin's grade:

Realtors Affordability Score: 0.639
Median listing price: $501,200
Median household income: $102,412

Elsewhere in Texas, San Antonio-New Braunfels and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission both earned "C+" ratings, while El Paso's housing market performance was only worthy of a "D" grade.

The top 10 U.S. metros with the highest-performing housing markets are:

No. 1 – De Moines-West Demoines, Idaho (A+)
No. 2 – Ralgieh-Cary, North Carolina (A+)
No. 3 – Columbia, South Carolina (A)
No. 4 – Houston, Texas (A)
No. 5 – Indianapolis, Indiana (A)
No. 6 – Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas (A-)
No. 7 – Jacksonville, Florida (A-)
No. 8 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (A-)
No. 9 – Palm Bay-Melbourne, Florida (A-)
No. 10 – Columbus, Ohio (A-)

high value suburbs

2 Dallas neighbors top the list of best real estate markets in America

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not too shabby

Dallas ranks No. 15 nationwide on new affordability and housing report