Editor's note: As the year comes to a close, we look back at the 10 most-read real estate stories in Dallas for 2024 — including new honors for several local suburbs, market trends, and a sports star who razed his mansion. These are the 10 hottest real estate headlines of 2024 in Dallas:

1. 3 Dallas suburbs shine on new list of best small cities in America. Living in the big city isn't for everyone, which is why many are flocking to the suburbs and less-populated cities around Dallas. To demonstrate the popularity of suburban and rural communities, a new study by WalletHub has singled out three of Dallas' top suburbs on their 2024 list of the "Best Small Cities in America," released October 1. Leading the pack as the best small city in Texas was Rockwall, followed by Allen and Flower Mound.

2. Texas tree group issues dire warning to Dallas owners of oak trees. In January, a nonprofit dedicated to trees issued a warning to Dallas citizens who own oak trees: Put down the pruning shears. Homeowners and landscaping types may have been tempted to do some spring pruning, but when it came to oak trees, then was not the time. The reason: oak wilt, a devastating, incurable fungus that had been slowly spreading over a large part of the U.S.

3. Laid-back Dallas suburb named 5th best in U.S. by Travel + Leisure. The Dallas-Fort Worth city of Coppell had new bragging rights in July: It was declared the No. 5 best American suburb to live in by a recent Travel + Leisure report. The report analyzed feedback from Realtors and data from "recent livability rankings" to determine the 10 best U.S. suburbs with the most "affordable housing, top-rated schools, and excellent job opportunities."

Coppell is the No. 2 best suburb to live in Texas, and No. 5 nationwide. City of Coppell, TX Municipal Government / Facebook

4. Dallas landlord must pay $48 million for charging bogus fees to tenants. A Dallas-based company that rents out single-family homes was ordered to pay $48 million to settle claims by the Federal Trade Commission that it reaped millions of dollars via deceptive business practices — including forcing tenants to pay undisclosed fees on top of their monthly rent. Invitation Homes, based in Dallas, is the nation's largest owner of single-family homes for rent.

5. 2 Dallas-area ZIP codes make list of hottest U.S. housing markets in 2023. Despite higher mortgage rates, Dallas' housing market continued to attract more people in 2023, according to a report by Opendoor released in January 2024. Two Dallas-area ZIP codes in particular – in Forney and Aubrey – earned top 10 status on the list of "hottest ZIP codes in the U.S."

6. Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott razes his mansion in Prosper. In 2019, Dak Prescott acquired a 9,000 square-foot mansion built on seven acres of land for the sum of $3.3 million. In October 2024, he razed it to the ground. According to TMZ Sports, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback mowed down his Prosper mansion "to nothing more than a pile of rubble" while watching its destruction from feet away.

Dak Prescott's home was razed in Prosper. Redfin

7. 2 Dallas-area ZIP codes rank as hottest U.S. housing markets in 2024. The Dallas-Fort Worth housing market is growing hotter by the day, and two ZIP codes in particular were listed in Realtor.com's new survey of the hottest housing markets in America, released in August: 76021 in Bedford, and 75028 in Flower Mound.

8. Custom '50s house with rare metal kitchen cabinets is for sale in Dallas. In February, a '50s home in original condition was for sale in Dallas with a rare feature: a set of original metal kitchen cabinets rendered in a breathtaking pastel pink. The home was in Lakewood, just a few blocks west of White Rock Lake at 6946 Delrose Dr, where it was listed for $1,100,000 by Simone Jeanes with Allie Beth Allman.

6946 Delrose Dr. facade. Courtesy

9. Dallas makes new list of easiest U.S. cities to pay off a mortgage. Whether a homeowner's mortgage is for 15 or 30 years, paying off such a large debt can be an arduous process. But luckily for homeowners living in Dallas-Fort Worth, paying off a mortgage is much easier than in most other metropolitan areas in the country, according to a new report by SmartAsset. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington earned a ranking of No. 13 in SmartAsset's September study analyzing the top 40 large U.S. metros where it's easiest to pay off a mortgage.

10. 2 Dallas neighbors top the list of best real estate markets in America. For those looking to rent an apartment or buy their first home, Dallas-Fort Worth is the place to be: According to an August 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.