In recent years the housing market comeback of the Dallas suburbs has been undeniable and profound. With increasing rents, people like Mark are being forced to reconsider their housing choices. Imagine Mark, who has rented the same apartment for the past three years. Now, he’s in a bind because his limited budget means home ownership is impossible. He calls his current living arrangement “pretty much not sustainable” if he plans to stay in the community. Every city and suburb surrounding Dallas County—now a majority minority urban core—is paying the price. Purchasing homes has gotten much, much harder there compared to the city proper.
Tara Raghuveer, a long-time tenant advocate and the Director of Advocacy organization, the Tenant Union Federation. Her art addresses the growing concerns of tenants who are often pushed out due to rising costs. From D.C. to L.A. and every city in between, millions of tenants are angry and scared as they face skyrocketing rents. Compounding this problem, the gap between rental prices and home prices is increasing rapidly. Mark figures it would increase his monthly housing payment by 30% for similar properties in his market. This further complicates his short-term decision about whether to stay or leave.
Andrew Decker, another renter, although much closer to home — Lake Villa, Illinois — echoes the same justifiable despair. He said he would like to buy his existing home, listed for $340,000. But as to actually buying it, he said yes, but only if the price came down to $200,000. Decker’s story illustrates the larger AAFA trend of affordability issues frustrating would-be homebuyers across suburban areas.
In the past—in 2018—purchasing a home in Dallas County was seen as more challenging compared to the suburban counties. According to new Neighborhood Change reports, the political and organizational dynamics have changed. Purchasing a home in the suburbs surrounding Dallas has gotten significantly more difficult. In comparison, it’s much simpler to buy a home in the county’s own jurisdiction. Between 2018 and 2023, rentership increased rapidly in 11 of 20 suburbs around major U.S. metro areas. It even went up by a minimum of 5 percentage points in those suburbs. In the inner suburbs surrounding Dallas, the share of residents that rent has exploded. It has gone up by a jaw-dropping 17.6% over this span.
The effects from this change are huge, as suburbs went from mostly homeowner towns to majority renter places. Much of this transformation can be explained by the growth of these “suburban downtowns,” a trend first noted by Freddie Mac’s Jay Parsons. He notes that the pandemic has provided a major cultural shift. The remote work revolution has allowed people more freedom to decide where they want to base themselves out of.
Interest rates for the most common home loan, which is the 30-year fixed mortgage, are now 6.94%. This is a record high since before the 2008 financial crisis, extending the burden on potential homebuyers. George Ratiu, the National Apartment Association’s vice president of research, for example, deemed Decker’s plan for a $340,000 average home price as “crazy.” His statement strikes at the heart of growing concern for affordability and accessibility in today’s housing market.
Meanwhile, Mark is thinking of moving out of his local region entirely to find a place where he can afford to own a home. His situation is representative of the struggles that many suburban Americans are going through right now. They want to have families, but they fight the double-edged sword of increasing rents and decreasing incomes.
The continuing obstacles point to a larger issue. Soaring construction prices are pushing rent prices higher, affecting not only Dallas but most of America’s suburban collar counties as well. As tenant advocacy groups like the Tenant Union Federation work to address these issues, it remains crucial for local governments and policymakers to consider strategies that could help alleviate housing pressures for renters and aspiring homeowners alike.