In Dallas-Fort Worth, the Homes That Sell Fast and the Homes That Sit Share One Dividing Line

The Dallas-Fort Worth housing market is sorting transactions along a single axis: pricing accuracy. Properties listed at market value are moving in under two weeks across a wide range of price points, according to Katherine Hubbard, broker at DFW 1% Listings LLC. Properties listed above market value, often by sellers still anchored to the conditions of 2021 through 2024, are sitting, sometimes in subdivisions with 95 competing listings. The gap between the two outcomes is widening, and the pressure is coming from multiple directions at once.

“Three things sell a house – price, location, condition – and everything sells for the right price, period,” Hubbard says. “The minute I hit that button, it’s going to speak loud and clear.”

Sellers Are Still Anchored to a Market That No Longer Exists

The most persistent challenge across DFW right now is seller expectations. Hubbard says she turns down four or five potential clients a month: homeowners who purchased between 2021 and 2024, want to list now, and simply don’t have the equity to price competitively.

“Sellers are not really understanding that we’re not still in that market where homes were flying off the market,” she says. Even sellers who intellectually grasp that conditions have changed often resist pricing at current levels. The result is a listing environment where correctly priced homes create the illusion of a fast market while overpriced ones accumulate days on market in the same neighborhoods.

Areas that were among the hottest in the metro, Frisco, McKinney, Plano, and Celina, are seeing prices come down. Hubbard says the trend data she reviews shows prices declining across multiple submarkets, not just isolated pockets. “They’re just being driven down,” she says.

Buyers Have One Source of Flexibility

With mortgage rates elevated, insurance costs rising, Hubbard says her own insurance increased 20 to 30 percent in the most recent cycle, and property taxes adding further pressure, buyers have limited options for managing affordability. The one variable they can negotiate is the seller’s contribution.

Hubbard estimates that roughly 90 percent of her transactions now involve buyers requesting concessions, typically in the range of $5,000 to $10,000. Some use the money to buy down their interest rate; others apply it to closing costs. “They can’t do anything about the interest rates, they can’t do anything about insurance, and they can’t do anything about taxes,” she says. “So they’re looking to the seller.”

That dynamic puts additional strain on sellers who are already reluctant to reduce their asking price. A concession request on top of a market-adjusted list price can feel like a double cut, but in Hubbard’s view, it reflects where the transaction actually needs to land for buyers to close.

The Wealth Gap Is Showing Up in Transaction Speed

One pattern Hubbard describes in DFW is a divergence in how fast homes sell depending on the buyer’s financial position. Higher-end properties are moving quickly, often to cash buyers or purchasers with significant stock market gains. She points to a Trophy Club listing at $1.4 million that went under contract in 12 days, sold to a cash buyer who hadn’t even listed their existing home yet. Two condos in Dallas at $700,000 each sold quickly when a parent purchased one for an adult child.

Meanwhile, a home listed at $379,000, a mid-range price for the metro, carries a monthly payment around $3,100 before accounting for maintenance and utilities. For a household earning $50,000 or $60,000 a year, that math is punishing. “The middle class is struggling,” Hubbard says.

Where Investors Are Still Finding Entry Points

For investors considering DFW, Hubbard points to landlocked areas where no new construction is being built as the most reliable opportunity. Older homes in these neighborhoods, often already remodeled, can be acquired in the $200,000 to $300,000 range, prices that remain well below comparable entry points in coastal markets like California, where Hubbard previously lived.

She is listing a fully remodeled property at $259,000 in an area with a solid school district and expects most inquiries to come from investors. Proximity to DFW Airport also continues to drive demand, particularly in areas like Irving and Trophy Club that serve executive-level buyers and renters. “There’s always a good time to invest in Fort Worth, Dallas-Fort Worth, because our price point is lower than most,” she says.

What Comes Next Depends on Rates and Carrying Costs

The headwinds Hubbard is watching are the same ones compressing buyer purchasing power: mortgage rates, insurance, and property taxes. She attributes rate pressure in part to investor unease driven by global conflict, which she says is pushing rates higher as investors demand better returns. “Something has to be done about these interest rates along with high taxes, high insurance,” she says. “It’s just almost out of reach for the average person.”

Still, she emphasizes that homes are moving. “Houses are selling. They’re still selling,” she says. “There are still some people out there that are able to perform. I just would like it to get easier for the average person to purchase a home.”

For sellers in DFW, the current market offers a straightforward if uncomfortable lesson: the listings that sell are the ones priced to where buyers can actually close, not where sellers wish the market still was. For buyers with cash or strong financial positions, the metro continues to offer speed and selection. For everyone else, concessions and patience are the cost of entry.

About the Expert: Katherine Hubbard is a broker at DFW 1% Listings, covering the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.