Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth Market Update: September 2026

It is the last week of September, and the two biggest markets in Texas are telling the same story: more homes for sale, slower sales, and prices easing back from their peaks. For buyers, that is leverage they have not had in years. For sellers, it means the number on the sign matters more than ever. Here is what the latest public data shows for Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with every figure dated and its source named so you can check my work.

Houston: record supply, softer prices

The Houston Association of Realtors' August 2026 market update, released September 9, put the median single-family sale price at $330,000, down 2.9 percent from a year earlier. Active listings hit a record high of roughly 38,947 homes, holding months of inventory at 5.3. Single-family closings ran about 7,100 for the month, down 11.5 percent year over year, and the average sale price was $433,016, down 1.0 percent. The Greater Houston Partnership's 12-month average MLS median sat near $331,000. For pace, Redfin's tracker shows a median of about 45 days on market in the city over the trailing three months, while Homes.com's Houston report runs higher, near 59 days.

DFW: the buyer's edge keeps widening

In the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro, Homes.com put the median single-family sale price near $404,900 for July 2026, down about 1.7 percent from a year earlier, and The Real Deal charted a similar dip to $399,900. Homes spent a median 51 days on market in June, per Realtor.com data pulled through FRED, with Homes.com reporting 62 days for July. Active listings sat near 29,742 in July, and inventory is running roughly 4.2 to 5 months of supply depending on the source. Price cuts are widespread: Realtor.com-based analyses found the share of DFW listings with a reduction near 21 to 24 percent this year, and buyers are increasingly asking sellers for concessions like closing-cost help and rate buydowns.

Mortgage rates: back above 7 percent

Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey averaged 7.03 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate loan in the week ending September 24, 2026, up from 6.95 percent the week before and 6.71 percent on September 3. Rates spent June and July in the mid-6 percent range, then climbed steadily through August and September. A year ago the same survey averaged near 6.30 percent, so today's borrower is financing roughly 73 basis points higher than this time last year. That rate pressure is a big reason both markets are cooling.

New construction is leading the way down

New homes are reshaping both markets. Houston builders are pivoting toward more attainable price points, per the Texas Real Estate Research Center: by March 2026 the median new home ran $341,500 versus $326,200 for existing homes, with the price gap narrowing from about $19,900 to $15,500, and rate-buydown incentives are common. In DFW, builders issued more than 11,000 residential permits in the first two months of 2026, the most of any U.S. metro, and new-home sales picked up in May with 2,122 closings at an average price of $460,012, roughly $10,000 below a year earlier. That steady stream of new supply is what keeps a lid on resale prices.

What this means for buyers and sellers

For buyers: take your time, but stay ready. More inventory and slower days on market mean you can tour more homes, offer near or below list, and negotiate for help with closing costs or a rate buydown. For sellers: pricing is the whole game. Houston's median is down about 2.9 percent year over year, DFW's is down near 1.7 percent, and the homes selling first are priced against today's comparable sales, not last year's. Honest staging, a defensible list price, and a willingness to talk terms win in this market; the price-it-high-and-wait play is how homes become statistics.

The bottom line

Neither market is breaking; both are simply coming back to balance after an extraordinary run, and that is a healthier place for most buyers and sellers to operate. If you want to know what these numbers mean for your specific address, Sharcom Realty Group works Houston, Katy, and DFW every day. We will pull the current comparable sales for your neighborhood and give you a straight answer, no charge and no pressure.

Sources: Houston Association of Realtors, August 2026 Housing Market Update, released September 9, 2026; Greater Houston Partnership, August 2026 home sales update; Redfin, Houston housing market data, trailing three months; Homes.com, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth housing market reports, July 2026; Realtor.com market data via FRED, June and July 2026; Texas Real Estate Research Center, Texas Housing Insight, March through May 2026; Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, week ending September 24, 2026; The Real Deal, Dallas-area home price data, 2026.