A new real estate report confirms what Dallas residents have long suspected: The city has seen the fastest home price growth of any U.S. city over the past decade, with the median home price soaring 142 percent.
The report from online real estate database PropertyShark analyzed the median home sale price in 41 of the most populous cities and regions in the United States for 2014 and 2023. The study found that the median home sale price in Dallas was $127,000 in 2014. Ten years later, the city’s median home price will more than double, reaching $307,000 by 2023.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused “millions of office workers across the country to suddenly switch to working from home,” and many of the city’s attractions, restaurants and events suddenly disappeared, dramatically increasing demand for housing, according to the report.
Dallas’ price growth has been driven by a growing population, a strong economy (due to increased corporate headquarters relocation), and a low unemployment rate.
Another big trend uncovered in the study is the sharp decline in downtown residential property prices, which began during the pandemic in 2020 and have grown ever since: 31 of the 41 downtowns analyzed saw price growth slower than the city as a whole.
“As the pandemic continued, purchasing preferences shifted from urban centres to suburbs and smaller towns, along with remote working models (which later morphed into hybrid setups),” the report said.
According to the study’s analysis of downtown-only home transactions, buying a home in Downtown Dallas is now 4% cheaper than elsewhere in the city. This drop offsets a decade of rising prices. The average sales price of a home in Downtown Dallas is set to soar 64%, jumping from $180,000 in 2014 to $295,000 in 2023.
Dallas is one of nine U.S. cities where home prices have risen more in the city than in its downtown areas, along with cities like Los Angeles, California, Seattle, Washington, and Kansas City, Missouri.
One of the major factors behind Dallas’ rising home prices is the fact that the city is suffering from a severe housing shortage.
“The nonprofit Community Building Workshop estimated that there is a shortage of 60,000 low- and moderate-income housing units. [in Dallas] “Prices are projected to rise further in 2023,” the report said. “Furthermore, low- and moderate-income areas outside of city centers have experienced much steeper price increases than luxury neighborhoods.”
The full report can be found at propertyshark.com.
