Dallas Millennial Homeownership Nearly Doubled, But Most Still Rent

Dallas millennials have been buying homes at an impressive clip. However, most are still renters, so landlords don’t need to start panicking just yet.

The number of millennial homeowner households in the Dallas metro nearly doubled in just five years, according to a recent analysis by RentCafe. Between 2018 and 2023, the figure jumped 96.9% from roughly 229,500 to 451,800 households.

While in line with the national trend as millennials “age” into homeownership, the Dallas metro easily outpaced the 74% increase clocked nationwide, making it the 15th-fastest-growing metro for millennial homeownership among the 107 markets studied.

The Austin (7th) and San Antonio (10th) metros, though, managed to log significantly higher homeownership growth in the demographic during those years at 110.9% and 105.8%, respectively. But metro areas in Florida and California locked up the top six spots.

“Many younger millennials had previously delayed buying a home due to student debt and high costs, but now they’re finding options that fit their budgets in a handful of affordable oases, like Stockton and Fresno, where housing costs are below the state average [in California],” said RentCafe research analyst Veronica Grecu.

Unfortunately for them, millennials have had the distinction of hitting major life milestones during one of the strangest housing cycles in recent memory. Pandemic-era demand, rapid population growth, escalating prices, and eventually sharply higher mortgage rates transformed the economics of buying a home. There are more recent signals that the market is finally becoming friendlier to buyers, though. Prices have been ticking down some, but mortgage rates remain a major drag on purchasing power.

58% of Gen Z Is Rooting for a Housing Crash to Make Homes Affordable

RentCafe counted 12.4 million millennial homeowner households in 2023, up from 7.1 million in 2018. The number of renter households grew much more slowly, increasing about 5% to 12.6 million. In fact, homeowners already outnumber renters in 83 of the 107 metros studied. Dallas isn’t one of them, though.

It isn’t for lack of economic growth. Millennial incomes in the Dallas area increased 36.7% over the five-year period, while employment grew 8.6%. Unfortunately, housing costs were moving quickly, too. RentCafe clocked local price growth at 20.7%, the highest among the Texas markets included in the comparison.

Houston offers an interesting counterpoint. Millennial income growth there was weaker at 28.7%, while employment grew a comparable 8.7%. But local prices increased a more modest 16.3%. Houston consequently crossed into homeowner-majority territory while Dallas millennials remained a majority-renter demographic.

The affordability issue obviously extends beyond millennials. Almost nine out of 10 D-FW zoomer households rented in 2023. Their homeowner population grew elevenfold between 2018 and 2023, but high prices, mortgage rates, and difficulty saving for a down payment proved formidable barriers.