In a survey published in 2014, the online real estate database PropertyShark examined the median prices at which homes were sold in 41 of the most populated U.S. towns and locations in 2023. The survey states that in 2014, the median price at which a property sold in Dallas was $127,000. Ten years later, the city’s median house price doubled to $307,000 in 2023.
The COVID-19 epidemic, which caused “millions of office employees suddenly shifted to working from home across the country” and the abrupt disappearance of many of the city’s attractions, eateries, and events, increased demand for homes considerably, according to the report.
Dallas’s population growth, strong economy (supported by a rise in corporate headquarters relocations), and low unemployment rate all contributed to the city’s price increases.
The survey also revealed a significant downward trend in downtown residential property prices, which began during the pandemic in 2020 and has continued to spread. Of the 41 locales examined, prices increased more slowly in 31 downtowns than they did across the city.
“As the pandemic persisted — along with remote work models, which later morphed into hybrid setups — buying preferences shifted from downtowns to more suburban areas and smaller towns,” according to the research.
The analysis of residential transactions limited to downtown Dallas by the study indicates that the cost of purchasing a home in downtown Dallas is currently four percent less than that of other parts of the city. This decrease counteracts the ten-year upward trend: The median sale price of a property in downtown Dallas increased by 64 percent between 2014 and 2023, from $180,000 to $295,000.
Dallas was one of nine American cities—including Los Angeles, California, Seattle, Washington, and Kansas City, Missouri—where city-level housing costs increased relative to higher downtown prices.
The fact that Dallas is experiencing a severe housing scarcity is one of the main factors influencing the cost of housing there.
“Non-profit buildingcommunityWORKSHOP estimated a 60,000-home deficit for low- and moderate-income buyers [in Dallas] in 2023 with projections seeing those figures rise even further,” the research stated. “On top of that, low- and moderate-income neighborhoods — neighborhoods not in the city’s urban core — experienced much sharper price increases than high-end areas.”
