tiny but mighty trends

Texas is a top state for luxury tiny homes, says Architectural Digest

Texas luxury tiny homes, tiny homes for sale

This little lake house near Lake Buchanan is on the market for $435,000.

Demand for housing in booming Texas is at an all-time high, and a new Architectural Digest report has revealed a small but mighty trend rising among the state's real estate offerings: luxury tiny homes.

The report, titled "Which States Have the Most Luxury Tiny Homes?" ranks Texas in the top three states that currently have the most luxury tiny homes for sale. California comes in at No. 1, while Texas has the second-highest number of luxury tiny homes on the market. Oregon is No. 3.

For the purpose of the study, a luxury tiny home is defined as a "freestanding home with a for-sale price of $75,000 or more" that was listed on Tiny Home Builders and Tiny House Listings.

The report found 81 houses specifically labeled as "luxury" tiny homes for sale in Texas in late January 2024, along with 252 non-luxury tiny home listings.

California had the highest number of luxury and non-luxury tiny homes, at 135 and 318, respectively.

Big return on investment
To get a better look at what the typical Texas tiny home looks like, AD concluded the average tiny home for sale in Texas spans 358.7 square feet with fewer than two (1.3) bedrooms, and one bathroom.

With or without the appealing luxury tagline, tiny homes can be financially advantageous real estate option for many Texans, AD says. Texas' return on investment for a tiny home ranked No. 15 out of all 50 states, putting it on a much better track than North Dakota, which had the worst return on investment for tiny homes.

"When buying one of these small homes, consider whether it’s a worthwhile investment," the report said. "If the typical rental income is far higher than the average cost of the state’s tiny homes, they’re considered good investments."

New York has the highest return on investment in the U.S., with a rent/price ratio of 0.0046, compared to 0.003 in Texas. Meanwhile, North Dakota has the worst return on investment for tiny homes, at 0.0015, closely followed by Montana and South Dakota.

"This suggests that while tiny homes can be an affordable entry point into homeownership, their investment potential varies significantly by location," the report said. "The ROI disparity between states also highlights the importance of considering geographical and market factors when evaluating tiny home investment opportunities."

The most expensive Texas luxury tiny home
Just because tiny houses are small doesn't mean they can't get expensive.

AD found the most expensive tiny home listing in Texas as of January 2024 is a 399-square-foot, one-bedroom, two-bathroom home for $435,000. The home is located just minutes from Lake Buchanan in the Hill Country. It currently serves as an Airbnb, but it can be turned into a single-family home with ease.

The home also has a fenced and covered back patio with outdoor furniture and an inflatable above-ground pool.

Luxury tiny home in Texas, tiny homes for sale This tiny home has less than 400 square feet.tinyhomebuilders.com/

The Texas house is the third most expensive tiny home in the U.S., behind tiny homes in South Carolina and Oregon listed for $827,000 and $695,000, respectively.

"Despite their compact sizes, each of these homes offers a unique blend of luxury, efficiency, and innovation," the report said.

The full report can be found on architecturaldigest.com.

real estate texas tiny homes housing

Hottest Headlines of 2025

Popular suburbs move into Dallas' hottest real estate headlines of 2025

Photo courtesy of City of McKinney

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Editor's note: As the year comes to a close, we look back at the 10 most-read real estate stories in Dallas for 2025 — including new honors for several local suburbs, market trends, and all-important Walmart news. These are the 10 hottest real estate headlines of 2025 in Dallas:

1. Dallas-Fort Worth suburb blooms as No. 1 best place to live in U.S. One Dallas-area city took the top slot on a list of "the 100 Best Places to Live in 2025." The list — from relocation marketing platform Livability.com — put Flower Mound at No. 1 for its appealing size and affordability. The suburb also claimed the No. 7 spot in a ranking of America's most livable small cities.

2. North Dallas neighbor ranks as No. 1 most affordable city in U.S. A Dallas suburb landed on top of a list of the most affordable places to live: McKinney ranked No. 1 based on its relative cost of living and high median household income.

3. Massive mixed-use development coming to key intersection in McKinney. McKinney is getting a new $1.3 billion mixed-use development. Called Long Branch, it will be a 155-acre project at the northwest corner of US-75 and the future 380 bypass, consisting of housing, retail, office, grocery, and hospitality. The development has 80 acres slated for active development, and will unfold over the next decade in four tracts.

4. Dallas-area suburb ranks as 3rd best place to live in Texas in 2025. The Dallas-Fort Worth mid-city of Coppell has been ranked the third best place to live in Texas in 2025 by rankings and review website Niche.com. The survey determined the best places to live in based on crime rates, public school rankings, the local cost of living, job opportunities, and more using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, and others.

Coppell, Dallas suburb Coppell was ranked the third-best place to live in Texas for 2025. City of Coppell, TX Municipal Government/Facebook

5. 11 Dallas suburbs soar as fastest-growing U.S. cities in last decade. It's no secret that Dallas-Fort Worth's population is growing faster than most other metros in the U.S., but now several surprising Dallas neighbors have been named among the top 10 fastest-growing suburb nationwide over the last decade. Celina nearly led the nation with an astonishing 314 percent increase in population from 2014 to 2023, according to a growth study by marketplace platform StorageCafe.

6. Dallas neighbor is the No. 1 fastest-growing affordable city in U.S. A national study has declared Texas is home to the most affordable, fast-growing cities in the country, with Dallas suburb Frisco taking the lead at No. 1. Frisco and five more Dallas neighbors ranked high on GoBankingRates.com's list of "50 Most Affordable, Fastest-Growing Cities in 2025."

$Millennials moved to Texas more than any other state in 2019, with Frisco being\na top choice.$ Frisco is the most-affordable, fastest-growing city in the country. Photo by Roger Robinson/Visit Frisco

7. Dallas neighbor beckons movers as top U.S. suburb with small-town feel. Wylie, a city less than 30 miles from downtown Dallas, ranked as the No. 7 most highly sought-after U.S. suburb of 2025 in MoveBuddha's national survey. In addition to being recognized as the 7th most desirable American suburb, Wylie also ranked as the second-most desirable suburb to move to in Texas.

8. 2 Dallas neighbors rank among fastest-growing wealthy suburbs in U.S. Celina and Prosper, two boomtowns north of Dallas, are among the top three fastest growing affluent suburbs in the country. The cities' affluent status was unveiled in a GoBankingRates' study ranking the "30 Fastest-Growing Wealthy Suburbs in America" for 2025.

The Old Celina Park in Celina, Texas Celina is the No. 2 fastest-growing wealthy 'burb in America. Photo courtesy of celina-tx.gov

9. 6 Dallas suburbs make top 10 list of best Texas cities to move to. Advisors at ConsumerAffairs, a customer review and news platform, ranked the 50 most populated Texas cities across five main categories — affordability, safety, economy, health care and education, and quality of life — to determine which were the best places to move to. Each city was given a score out of 100 possible points. Four of the top five best places to move to in Texas are located in Dallas-Fort Worth: Allen (No .1), Frisco (No. 2), Plano (No. 3), and McKinney (No. 4). Two more DFW suburbs, Mansfield (No. 6) and Richardson (No. 10), rounded out the top 10.

10. Booming Celina hits the big time with its first Walmart Supercenter. The city of Celina is getting its first mega Walmart: According to a release, it will be a Walmart Supercenter located at the northwest corner of Preston Road (Highway 289) and the West Outer Loop. The store has been in the works for a few years, but the Celina Economic Development Corporation celebrated the opening in a groundbreaking on April 16.