Houston has the most homes in TX valued >=$1M (Dallas: 2015, apartment)

[kwr]

Recently, there has been significant discussion on the forum about Dallas being so much more expensive than Houston. I (as well as other posters) have highlighted that in some instances looking at the median/average price is misleading.

Lending Tree has released a timely study of the top 50 metros with the highest percentage of >=$1m homes. "A new report begs the question: Is Houston still an affordable city for homeowners? The answer: It’s complicated. Austin was the only city in Texas to rank higher on the list than H-Town (ranked 16th), coming in at 11th..Dallas (ranked 20th), and San Antonio (ranked 34th).

So is Houston affordable? It depends on who you ask. But if you’re looking for luxury homes, there’s no debate about it. Houston has thousands—32,167 to be exact." An interesting point is Houston jumps to #1 in TX when looking at absolute numbers.

https://www.houstoniamag.com/home-an...97331707027508

By Absolute Numbers for TX
Metro Homes
1 Houston 32,167
2 Dallas 29,509
3 Austin 14,226
4 San Antonio 6,037

https://www.lendingtree.com/home/cit...-dollar-homes/

By Percent
Rank Metro
1 San Jose, CA
2 San Francisco, CA
3 Los Angeles, CA
4 San Diego, CA
5 New York, NY
6 Seattle, WA
7 Boston, MA
8 Washington, DC
9 Miami, FL
10 Denver, CO
11 Austin, TX
12 Sacramento, CA
13 Portland, OR
14 Chicago, IL
15 Nashville, TN
16 Houston, TX
17 Phoenix, AZ
18 Baltimore, MD
19 Riverside, CA
20 Dallas, TX
21 Charlotte, NC
22 Jacksonville, FL
23 Atlanta, GA
24 Las Vegas, NV
25 Orlando, FL
26 Salt Lake City, UT
27 Philadelphia, PA
28 Providence, RI
29 Tampa, FL
30 New Orleans, LA
31 Minneapolis, MN
32 Raleigh, NC
33 Richmond, VA
34 San Antonio, TX
35 Virginia Beach, VA
36 Birmingham, AL
37 Milwaukee, WI
38 St. Louis, MO
39 Oklahoma City, OK
40 Hartford, CT
41 Kansas City, MO
42 Louisville, KY
43 Memphis, TN
44 Detroit, MI
45 Indianapolis, IN
46 Cincinnati, OH
47 Columbus, OH
48 Pittsburgh, PA
49 Cleveland, OH
50 Buffalo, NY

[ParaguaneroSwag]

As Clutch stated, the general consensus is that Houston is better for the rich and poor and Dallas for the middle class. That’s not why I say DFW isn’t much cheaper than Houston. The main reason I say this is because it mostly only comes out true if you don’t include the Fort Worth side of the metro. Even if you do, the median price will be higher in DFW including Fort Worth etc but it becomes a much smaller difference.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

As Clutch stated, the general consensus is that Houston is better for the rich and poor and Dallas for the middle class. That’s not why I say DFW isn’t much cheaper than Houston. The main reason I say this is because it mostly only comes out true if you don’t include the Fort Worth side of the metro. Even if you do, the median price will be higher in DFW including Fort Worth etc but it becomes a much smaller difference.

The price difference for "entry level" (middle class 1st time buyers) homes between DFW and Houston is notable. DFW is $30K - $50K higher. I did some work there last summer and even on the southern side of the metro, new "entry level" homes started in the high $200s, while you could get them in the low to mid $200s in Houston.

[As Above So Below...]

Not a real good COL measurement by just isolating those homes by themselves.

Looking at average value of owner occupied homes, the difference is actually pretty significant.

Average cost of owner occupied home in Houston metro area: 219K

Average cost of owner occupied home in DFW metro area: 254K

Houston does have more homes than DFW that cost over 1 million. DFW has a much larger number of homes between 300K and one million. Houston has a lot more homes that cost less than 200K.

https://censusreporter.org/profiles/...tx-metro-area/

https://censusreporter.org/profiles/...tx-metro-area/

Average cost for a one bedroom apartment in DFW is $1055 vs. $945 in Houston.

https://www.businessinsider.com/one-...rea-is-1055-18

Ive said before I thought housing was more in DFW than here and I stick to that. Its true but all for all except a small minority. Its one of the reasons I prefer living in Houston. Its much more reasonable to buy a decent house close to the city center than Dallas.

[Mr. Clutch]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Not a real good COL measurement by just isolating those homes by themselves.

Looking at average value of owner occupied homes, the difference is actually pretty significant.

Average cost of owner occupied home in Houston metro area: 219K

Average cost of owner occupied home in DFW metro area: 254K

Houston does have more homes than DFW that cost over 1 million. DFW has a much larger number of homes between 300K and one million. Houston has a lot more homes that cost less than 200K.

https://censusreporter.org/profiles/...tx-metro-area/

https://censusreporter.org/profiles/...tx-metro-area/

Average cost for a one bedroom apartment in DFW is $1055 vs. $945 in Houston.

https://www.businessinsider.com/one-...rea-is-1055-18

Ive said before I thought housing was more in DFW than here and I stick to that. Its true but all for all except a small minority. Its one of the reasons I prefer living in Houston. Its much more reasonable to buy a decent house close to the city center than Dallas.

Great post, reflects reality very well. DFW has tons of middle class housing - tons. And it's reflected in the greater uniformity you see in the neighborhoods in general. On the upper end and the lower end, Houston definitely has more.

[kwr]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Not a real good COL measurement by just isolating those homes by themselves.

Looking at average value of owner occupied homes, the difference is actually pretty significant.

Average cost of owner occupied home in Houston metro area: 219K

Average cost of owner occupied home in DFW metro area: 254K

Houston does have more homes than DFW that cost over 1 million. DFW has a much larger number of homes between 300K and one million. Houston has a lot more homes that cost less than 200K.

https://censusreporter.org/profiles/...tx-metro-area/

https://censusreporter.org/profiles/...tx-metro-area/

Average cost for a one bedroom apartment in DFW is $1055 vs. $945 in Houston.

https://www.businessinsider.com/one-...rea-is-1055-18

Ive said before I thought housing was more in DFW than here and I stick to that. Its true but all for all except a small minority. Its one of the reasons I prefer living in Houston. Its much more reasonable to buy a decent house close to the city center than Dallas.

The list is a data point. It’s nothing more than that. Median (or average) home prices tell part of the story. The Lending Tree study tells another part of the story. Combining both data points (with any other significant details) completes the story.

Clearly if DFW has a higher median home price than Houston, there are a larger number of more expensive homes in DFW. By virtue of the definition of median this is true. :-) Not sure why you took the liberty to explain and cite sources for something so obvious. The key here is on City Data, some posters give the impression that Houston is some poor metro. City Data is full of posts that tell part of the story without any critical thinking applied. I posted the articles to simply “fill in the blanks.”

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by kwr

The list is a data point. It’s nothing more than that. Median (or average) home prices tell part of the story. The Lending Tree study tells another part of the story. Combining both data points (with any other significant details) completes the story.

Clearly if DFW has a higher median home price than Houston, there are a larger number of more expensive homes in DFW. By virtue of the definition of median this is true. :-) Not sure why you took the liberty to explain and cite sources for something so obvious. The key here is on City Data, some posters give the impression that Houston is some poor metro. City Data is full of posts that tell part of the story without any critical thinking applied. I posted the articles to simply “fill in the blanks.”

I went to that trouble for the same reason you outlined: it was a piece of the story but by itself doesnt say much. What I posted completes that story.

Ive said I think DFW is more expensive and I do stick to that because the numbers do bear that out. But that doesnt mean its more expensive for every demographic. Housing in Houston is more expensive if youre in the $1,000,000 plus price point and DFW is more expensive if youre below that. Since there are more people below that, DFW will be more expensive to almost everyone. That doesnt make Houston a poor city.

[Texas Ag 93]

One of the big differences here, however, is how much home you can get for that money. We moved here in 2015 from Denver and ended up in a home that cost even slightly more than our Denver property (which was primarily my husband's choice; I would have opted for a much less expensive home). But, our house here at the price point referenced in the OP is a larger custom build on the water, and our home in Denver was essentially just a larger version of an upgraded tract home on a 7K sq ft lot (which was one of the larger ones in the development).

[usc619]

Originally Posted by kwr

The list is a data point. It’s nothing more than that. Median (or average) home prices tell part of the story. The Lending Tree study tells another part of the story. Combining both data points (with any other significant details) completes the story.

Clearly if DFW has a higher median home price than Houston, there are a larger number of more expensive homes in DFW. By virtue of the definition of median this is true. :-) Not sure why you took the liberty to explain and cite sources for something so obvious. The key here is on City Data, some posters give the impression that Houston is some poor metro. City Data is full of posts that tell part of the story without any critical thinking applied. I posted the articles to simply “fill in the blanks.”

Houston isn’t a poor metro…feel better now?

[S.Allen]

With the energy sector, I would think Houston is a better fit for the middle class than Dallas.


Yes, inner-loop Houston is mostly for the wealthy and a few hipster college aged people.