high value suburbs
Austin ranks No. 3 on new list of best large U.S. real estate markets
This earthy home in Austin is on the market for $525,000.
For those looking to rent an apartment or buy their first home, Austin is a hard place to beat: According to a new report by WalletHub, Austin was ranked the No. 12 best real estate market in America, and the third best housing market out of all large U.S. cities.
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.
The Dallas suburbs of McKinney and Friscoscored the top two spots nationally, followed by Cary, North Carolina (No. 3); Nashville, Tennessee (No. 4); Durham, North Carolina (No. 5).
Like many Texas cities on the list, Austin earned its high ranking because of the metro area's population growth, especially in the suburbs where home sales are steadily increasing. The July 2024 Central Texas real estate report from the Austin Board of Realtors and Unlock MLS said median home prices in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos stood at $450,000 for the second month in a row, while median prices in Austin proper amounted to $585,000.
Apartment construction is also still on the rise in Austin, with developers expected to complete 21,506 new apartments in the metro area by the end of 2024.
In WalletHub's ranking of the best real estate markets by city size, Austin ranked No. 3 in the "Large Cities" category.
Elsewhere in 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 alongside McKinney and Frisco. Fort Worth's housing market ranked No. 28 nationwide, while Dallas fell behind as No. 59.
McKinney topped WalletHub's list 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.
"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."
Eight additional Texas cities earned spots among the top 100 housing markets, including:
- No. 17 – Richardson
- No. 20 – Carrollton
- No. 31 – Irving
- No. 34 – Plano
- No. 38 – Garland
- No. 43 – Grand Prairie
- No. 88 – Arlington
- No. 98 – Houston
WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe provided a few suggestions for 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 full report and its methodology can be found on wallethub.com.
