Texas Tops List of 2018’s Best U.S. Real Estate Markets

Three North Texas cities topped the list of the nation’s best real estate markets to buy a home in 2018, according to a new report by WalletHub.

The personal finance website named Frisco (1), McKinney (2), and Allen (3), sprawling suburbs north of Dallas, as their top picks for 2018’s Best Real Estate Markets.

According to WalletHub, their team of experts examined 300 U.S. cities during the first quarter of 2018, culling data from a variety of sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Zillow, Council for Community and Economic Research, TransUnion, Chmura Economics & Analytics, and Renwood RealtyTrac.

“Our data set ranges from median home-price appreciation to home sales turnover rate to job growth,” stated the report.

Last year, the U.S. Census Bureau named Frisco the second fastest growing city in the nation, only eclipsed by the Houston suburb of Conroe. McKinney, adjacent to Frisco, was the third fastest growing city. Texas officials attributed the region’s explosive growth to a more diversified economy no longer solely dependent on oil and gas. Breitbart Texas reported that Frisco and McKinney benefited from the influx of out-of-state companies that relocated their headquarters or expanded regionally into the area, fueled by the state’s good quality of life and business-friendly policies.

In their report, WalletHub found that Allen, the smallest among the three overlapping suburban Dallas suburbs, had the nation’s lowest vacancy rate of 1.4 percent. This was 26.2 times lower than Miami Beach, Florida, the city with the highest vacancy rate of 36.66 percent.

Two other Dallas suburbs, Richardson (7) and Denton (10), made the top 10 list. So did cities from other states such as Santa Clara, California (4); Durham, North Carolina (5); and Murfreesboro, Tennessee (6). Washington State contributed Seattle (8) and Bellevue (9).

The 10 worst real estate markets were Waterbury, Connecticut (291); Miami Beach, Florida, (292); Flint, Michigan (293); and Peoria, Illinois (297). Ohio’s Cleveland (294) and Dayton (298) made this list as did three cities from New Jersey — Paterson (295), Elizabeth (296) and Newark (299). Detroit, Michigan, (300) was in last place.

More Dallas suburbs landed in WalletHub’s overall rankings — Carrollton (12), Irving (21), Grand Prairie (39), Garland (41), and Plano (44). Ironically, Dallas proper (84) only cracked the top 100.  However, residential real estate in Big D fared more respectably, ranking in 17th place, when compared against other large metros with populations of more than 300,000 people. Similarly, in the big city category, Fort Worth (15) came in third, Austin (36) ranked eighth, and Houston (215), moved up to 47th place.

Other large U.S. cities scored highly when ranked against comparably-sized metros. Seattle (8) took first place. Colorado’s Denver (13), came in second, Aurora (20), fourth; and Colorado Springs (23), fifth.

Also on WalletHub’s overall list were the Texas cities of Arlington (86), Laredo (98), Mesquite (112), San Antonio (173), El Paso (205), Amarillo (242), and Corpus Christi (277).

While this study shined a glowing light on a vibrant Texas real estate streak, it came at a time when many locals felt outpriced in a housing market driven upwards by insufficient new builds, tight inventories, and increased demand from new transplants, largely Californians, who cashed out by selling homes in overinflated markets, then paid outright for houses in places like Frisco, McKinney, and Allen.

Although Californians comprised the largest number of new Texans, many came from Florida, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Illinois. The Texas Association of Realtors’ 2018 Texas Relocation Report noted that 44 percent of the state’s new 531,996 residents in 2016 were international migrants. This included a strong Asian Indian population, according to the Office of the State Demographer.

Last year, WalletHub named McKinney (1), Frisco (2), and Allen (3) the best U.S. cities for first-time homebuyers. In 2018, these highly desirable upscale communities felt the pinch of “affordability” and dropped in the rankings — Frisco (7), McKinney (8), and Allen (16). Some experts believe parts of the red-hot North Texas real estate market are now beginning to cool down.

Follow Merrill Hope, a member of the original Breitbart Texas team, on Twitter.