Will Austin surpass Dallas to be top in real estate?

by | Nov 4, 2017 | Real Estate

Dallas-Fort Worth used to reign supreme as the number one spot in Texas for property investment and real estate development. But this year, things took a surprising turn: For the second time, Austin has surpassed Dallas-Fort Worth to become the top-ranking real estate market in Texas.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute recently released this year’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate, an annual ranking of the American cities that offer the best markets to buy and sell property. The report, which polls real estate professionals nationwide, is considered an authority on the best potential real estate markets in the country. And this year’s report shows some important changes for Austin and Dallas.

For two consecutive years, Dallas was named the best market in Texas for property investment and development: In 2015, it ranked first place; in 2016, second place. It ranked second in 2017 as well–just behind Austin, which came in at number one. In 2018, Dallas slid three spots in the poll to settle at number five. Its kid brother, however, took home a silver medal — Emerging Trends ranked it second in the real estate market, just behind Seattle, Washington.

Seattle’s ascension means that Texas has ended its three-year run as the location for the hottest real estate market in the U.S. It is also an example of a major trend predicted in the report. Emerging Trends shows a trend of smaller real estate markets such as Austin surpassing larger markets ones like Dallas for real estate development.

The top ten cities for real estate development according to the Emerging Trends report are:

  1. Seattle
  2. Austin
  3. Salt Lake City
  4. Raleigh/Durham
  5. Dallas/Fort Worth
  6. Fort Lauderdale
  7. Los Angeles
  8. San Jose
  9. Nashville
  10. Boston

Real estate professionals, investors, business owners and their attorneys should pay attention: With Austin rumored to be frontrunner for the location of Amazon’s $5 billion new headquarters, the city’s momentum doesn’t seem like it will slow down any time soon.