Dallas-Fort Worth is Urban Land Institute’s No. 1 real estate market watch heading into next year.
The metroplex’s star rose from its third-place ranking last year in the real estate and land use nonprofit’s annual forecast. DFW has ranked in the top 10 for the last six years, the report said. The rankings are based on industry experts’ ratings of cities’ real estate measures, like investment opportunity.
This year, Houston ranked third. San Antonio came in 13th.
Austin’s reign appears to be at an end. Once ranked the third-best real estate market, it fell to No. 5 last year and was ranked 15th going into next year.
Sun Belt markets are heavily represented on ULI’s list.
Of the top 20 markets, 13 are in the Sun Belt. Eight of those are in Texas or Florida.
The report highlights DFW’s “enviable post-pandemic recovery.” Employment in the metroplex has grown more than 11 percent since February 2020, fourth behind Austin, and North Carolina’s Charleston and Raleigh.
Dallas’ economic success has been getting a boost from the world’s largest banks, which are increasingly planting their flags — and expensive new headquarters — in North Texas.
“Y’all Street,” Texas’ answer to Wall Street, is coming to life in Dallas’ popular Uptown neighborhood, with Hunt Realty’s NorthEnd, a mixed-use project that will include a $500 million campus for Goldman Sachs, and Parkside Uptown, a Pacific Elm office development that will house Bank of America.
Despite North Texas’ economic success, home-buying in the region remains relatively affordable. Median home prices in Dallas have increased 38 percent since early 2020 to $382,000, but that’s still less than Redfin’s national median home sale price, which is about $400,000, according to the report.
ULI’s 2025 forecast also ranked cities’ homebuilding prospects and local market perspective. On both of those lists, DFW came in fourth.