housing affordability news

Dallas named No. 2 Southern city where homes are becoming more affordable

No wonder everyone still wants to move to Dallas.

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A new real estate analysis has revealed housing prices across the Southern United States have seen a major large-scale decline from 2024-2025, with North Texas homebuyers experiencing the second-steepest "price correction" in the region.

Dallas-Fort Worth buyers have a better chance of purchasing an affordable home this year after prices cooled 5.71 percent from 2024-2025, the study found.

Online real estate marketplace Zoocasa compared year-over-year median price changes for single-family homes across 20 cities in the South based on local real estate data. The study also looked at housing affordability in the American West, Midwest, and Northeast.

In Zoocasa's ranking of the Southern cities where affordability is improving the most, Dallas ranked No. 2.

In 2024, the median price for a single-family home in Dallas was nearly $398,000, which has since dropped to $375,000 in 2025. North Texas sellers may not be happy about cooling prices, but it does make housing more attainable for first-time homebuyers.

Better housing prices will surely attract even more new residents to the DFW area, especially when one considers Dallas was the No. 1 destination for movers in 2025, and its suburbs are still booming in popularity.

"Affordability is on the rise across Texas, with major cities seeing significant price corrections," the report said. "Most importantly for buyers, the median home price in each of these cities remains more affordable than the national median."

The national median price of a home in the third quarter of 2025 was $426,800, according to the latest information from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Housing affordability elsewhere in Texas
In Beaumont-Port Arthur (a metro area east of Houston), housing prices have fallen 4.62 percent year-over-year, making it the metro with the No. 5 steepest price correction in the South. Median home prices dropped to $217,000 in 2025, or $10,500 lower than the year before, the report found.

Austin's housing prices fell 2.04 percent during the same time span, landing the Capital City in the No. 9 spot. The median price of a single-family home in Austin fell from $437,925 in 2024 to $429,000 last year.

Houston appeared just outside the top 10, ranking 11th out of 20 Southern cities, with housing prices falling by 1.5 percent during the one-year period. Houston housing prices in 2025 fell to $335,000, or $5,000 lower than the year before.

Surprisingly, San Antonio ranked near the bottom of the list with housing prices increasing by five percent year-over-year. Single-family homes in the Alamo City had a median price just under $300,000 in 2024, which spiked to $315,000 in 2025.

Housing market predictions in 2026
Zoocasa predicts the 2026 U.S. housing market is "poised for a steady revival" since mortgage rates have dipped nearly a full percentage point since this time last year. Current interest rates for a a 30-year mortgage are sitting at 6.16 percent, the study said.

The NAR report additionally found that pending home sales have grown by 2.6 percent year-over-year from 2024.

"Homebuyer momentum is building," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "The data shows the strongest performance of the year after accounting for seasonal factors, and the best performance in nearly three years, dating back to February 2023."

The top 10 Southern cities where housing affordability is improving the most in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Florida
No. 2 – Dallas, Texas
No. 3 – Durham, North Carolina
No. 4 – Ocala, Florida
No. 5 – Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas
No. 6 – Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida
No. 7 – Jacksonville, Florida
No. 8 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 9 – Austin, Texas
No. 10 – Raleigh, North Carolina

dallas real estate housing affordability real estate report housing prices

Celebrity listing

Miranda Lambert’s East Texas childhood home hits market for $1.6 million

18621 Country Rd 477-1, Lindale Miranda Lambert childhood home

Photo courtesy of Compass

Miranda Lambert's childhood home, at 18621 Country Rd. 477, in Lindale, Texas is for sale.

The 25-acre childhood homestead of country music star Miranda Lambert — whose popular ballad “The House That Built Me” very well could apply to the Grammy winner’s upbringing — is on the market in East Texas for nearly $1.6 million.

According to Mansion Global, Lambert and her parents, Beverly and Rick, have listed the estate nearly 30 years after the family bought the main residence there.

She and her family moved into the house when she was 14 years old. Lambert lived there till age 21, when she relocated to the adjacent “pink house,” which she purchased with money from her first big record deal.

Lambert still owns the “pink house,” and her parents have vacated the primary home but still own everything except their daughter’s house, Mansion Global reported. The property is in Lindale, about 90 miles east of Dallas.

Miranda Lambert received the 2023 TMAA for achievement in music and songwriting. Photo by Taylor Prinsen Photography

The main attractions at the four-bedroom, five-bathroom, 103-year-old property are its two cottage-style homes, stocked three-acre pond, and shooting range.

“The main residence showcases hardwood flooring, built-in cabinetry, textured walls, and vintage details that add character throughout,” says the listing from Lee Trowbridge of Compass. “Light-filled living spaces connect naturally to porches, decks, and courtyard areas, offering comfortable transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces.”

The second home offers views of the pond and its own outdoor areas.

The property, an old dairy farm at 18621 County Road 477, also includes:

A soaking tub in the primary bathroom.
An outdoor kitchen.
A brick courtyard.
A warehouse.
A shop with a bathroom and living quarters.
Three RV hookups.

“Experience this rare opportunity to enjoy land, water, multiple residences, and a piece of music history in a setting that feels both quiet and connected,” the listing says.

Part of Lambert’s music history is the 2009 song about “The House That Built Me,” which Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin originally wrote for her first husband, country music star Blake Shelton.

When you read some of the lyrics of that tune, you can picture a young Lambert at the Lindale home:

I know they say you can’t go home again

I just had to come back one last time

Ma’am, I know you don’t know me from Adam

But these handprints on the front steps are mine

Up those stairs in that little back bedroom

Is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar

And I bet you didn’t know under that live oak

My favorite dog is buried in the yard

Lambert maintains strong ties to her hometown. There, she owns the Pink Pistol boutique, located on Miranda Lambert Way, according to Mansion Global. The tasting room for Red 55 Winery, which Lambert and her family started in 2005, is attached to the boutique.

Photo courtesy of Compass

Miranda Lambert's childhood homestead, at 18621 Country Rd. 477, in Lindale, Texas is for sale.

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