Renting vs buying in Dallas
Dallas's MLS median single-family price is down 6.0% on the year and Zillow's index of every home in the city down 1.7%, and average asking rents are down 0.92% on RentCafe's count. Here is the arithmetic, including the property tax that takes five taxing units and their six homestead exemptions to work out and the mortgage insurance that stops in the middle of the model, and then the part the arithmetic misses.
Calculator
The short answer
Half the single-family houses sold in the city of Dallas in August 2026 went for more than $469,900 and half for less, down 6.0% on a year earlier, and a three-bedroom apartment rents for an average of $2,221. Run those against each other at a 2% appreciation assumption and the answer turns on how long you stay and on the mortgage rate, which was 7.03% on the 24 September survey.
The two price measures are far apart. The MLS median, which counts the houses that sold, is down 6.0%; Zillow's index, which models every home in the city rather than the ones that sold, is down 1.7% and sits far lower, at $305,765. Average asking rents are down 0.92% on RentCafe's count. Texas law guarantees nothing either way: a city may adopt rent control only after a disaster and with the governor's approval.
The tax is the cost that decides it. Texas has no income tax and no transfer tax, and it collects instead through the property tax. On the median house a homesteaded owner pays about $7,446 a year, 1.58% of the value, after the school district's $140,000 exemption and the others'. Unlike the interest, it does not shrink as the loan is paid down, and it does not end when the loan does.
Getting in is cheap and getting out is not. A buyer pays no transfer tax and the seller customarily buys the owner's title policy, so closing runs to about $1,630 plus lender fees. Selling costs about 6.1% once the commission and that title policy are counted, or roughly $28,664 on this house, which is the shape that punishes a short stay.
The calculator below opens with real Dallas figures and every one of them is editable. Two warnings: the property tax rate is set to 1.58% of market value, the homesteaded rate, not the 2.22671 per $100 the five units levy before exemptions, so if you will not live in the house, set it to 2.23%; and below 20% down the owner is charged private mortgage insurance every month until the balance reaches 78% of the price, at which point it stops. Both are explained in the questions below.
Your situation
Compare like for like: the rent on somewhere you would actually be willing to live, not the cheapest listing in the city. Drop the price to around $300,000 and the rent to a one-bedroom figure to compare apartments instead, and put the condo fee in under Assumptions.
20.0% down. The renter starts with this plus closing costs: $95,610: invested instead.
The single biggest lever. Buying costs a lot to enter and a lot to exit, and only time amortizes that away.
Assumptions: every one of them editable
Dallas's median single-family sale price is down 6.0% year over year. The MLS townhouse median, on 30 sales, is up 14.3% at $543,000, and the condominium median, on 121 sales, up 30.8% at $310,000, while Zillow's condominium index is down 6.3%: on counts that small, one month's medians say more about which buildings sold than about prices. Try a negative number for a condo.
What the renter earns on the down payment they never spent. This is the comparison's hidden lever. A renter who spends it instead of investing it does far worse than this model shows.
Texas cities may not adopt rent control unless the city council finds a housing emergency caused by a disaster and the governor approves the ordinance, under section 214.902 of the Local Government Code. Nothing caps an increase at renewal, and no statute sets a notice period for one: a month-to-month tenancy can be ended, and so repriced, on a month's notice under Property Code section 91.001 unless the lease says otherwise. The one statutory limit is on retaliation: a landlord may not raise the rent within six months of a tenant's good-faith repair request or complaint. Any rent-growth figure here is a forecast with no legal ceiling behind it.
Roofs, furnaces, fences, hail. Averaged out it is a real cost even in the years nothing breaks.
Zero for a house with no association, which in Dallas is most owner-occupied homes: the Census Bureau counts 22.2% of the city's owners paying an association fee, at a median of $280 a month. A condominium fee carries the building's insurance, roof and reserves and runs above that, and a tower in Uptown or downtown above that again.
Commission and legal fees, charged against the price you eventually sell at. The owner's net worth below is after this comes off.
Net worth, side by side
The buyer's line is home value minus what is still owed minus the cost of selling, plus anything they invested in months when owning was cheaper. The renter's line is one portfolio: the down payment and closing costs they never spent, plus the monthly difference whenever renting is cheaper.
Show the year-by-year figures
| Year | Owner | Renter | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $77,937 | $122,861 | −$44,923 |
| 2 | $91,011 | $151,341 | −$60,330 |
| 3 | $104,560 | $181,111 | −$76,551 |
| 4 | $118,610 | $212,232 | −$93,622 |
| 5 | $133,187 | $244,770 | −$111,583 |
| 6 | $148,321 | $278,796 | −$130,475 |
| 7 | $164,040 | $314,380 | −$150,339 |
| 8 | $180,378 | $351,598 | −$171,220 |
| 9 | $197,370 | $390,532 | −$193,163 |
| 10 | $215,050 | $431,264 | −$216,214 |
| 11 | $233,460 | $473,883 | −$240,423 |
| 12 | $252,641 | $518,481 | −$265,840 |
| 13 | $272,637 | $565,154 | −$292,517 |
| 14 | $293,496 | $614,005 | −$320,509 |
| 15 | $315,270 | $665,141 | −$349,871 |
| 16 | $338,011 | $718,673 | −$380,662 |
| 17 | $361,779 | $774,720 | −$412,941 |
| 18 | $386,636 | $833,406 | −$446,770 |
| 19 | $412,647 | $894,859 | −$482,212 |
| 20 | $439,884 | $959,217 | −$519,333 |
| 21 | $468,422 | $1,026,622 | −$558,200 |
| 22 | $498,343 | $1,097,226 | −$598,883 |
| 23 | $529,732 | $1,171,185 | −$641,453 |
| 24 | $562,682 | $1,248,666 | −$685,983 |
| 25 | $597,294 | $1,329,842 | −$732,548 |
| 26 | $633,671 | $1,414,896 | −$781,225 |
| 27 | $671,928 | $1,504,020 | −$832,092 |
| 28 | $712,186 | $1,597,415 | −$885,229 |
| 29 | $754,575 | $1,695,293 | −$940,718 |
| 30 | $799,238 | $1,797,880 | −$998,642 |
- The rate is fixed for the life of the loan, so there is no renewal to model, but nothing here credits you for refinancing into a lower one either.
- Neither household is credited with tax on their investments, and the buyer's gain on a principal residence is tax-free while the renter's portfolio may not be.
An estimate from published figures, not a lender quote.
Questions people actually ask
Is it worth buying in Dallas right now?
It depends more on the house than on the market, because the two ways of measuring the market here are far apart. The MLS median single-family sale price in the city was $469,900 in August 2026, down 6.0% on the year, while Zillow's model of a typical home value, which counts every home in the city rather than the ones that sold, is $305,765, down 1.7%. On rents, RentCafe has average asking rents down 0.92% on the year and Zillow's observed rent index up 0.63%. At 7.03% on a 30-year loan, the mortgage on the median house with 20% down is $2,509 a month before tax and insurance, against a three-bedroom apartment at about $2,221. The property tax and the insurance are what make the owner's month so much heavier here: about $621 a month in tax even after the homestead exemptions, and a premium priced on hail.
How long do you have to stay for buying to beat renting in Dallas?
Longer than the low closing costs suggest, because the cost of selling is where a Texas sale takes its money. Getting in is cheap: no transfer tax, no tax on the loan, and a buyer's share of the title company's charges that comes to roughly $1,630 with the inspection and the county clerk's recording. Getting out costs about 6.1%: around 5.5% of commission, and the owner's title policy the seller customarily buys for the buyer, $2,607 at this price on the state's promulgated rates. On a $469,900 house that is about $28,664. On the defaults below owning never catches renting at all: the renter is ahead in every one of the 30 years the model runs. The friction alone is a shorter and different answer: at a 2% appreciation assumption those two ends take about 3.4 years to earn back, almost all of it the cost of selling. Change the price, the rent or the appreciation rate and the calculator moves the crossover with them.
Does Texas have rent control?
No, and Dallas cannot adopt it in any ordinary year. Section 214.902 of the Local Government Code lets a Texas city establish rent control only if its council finds a housing emergency caused by a disaster and the governor approves the ordinance. Nothing caps an increase at renewal, and no statute sets a notice period for one: a month-to-month tenancy can be ended, and so repriced, on a month's notice unless the lease says otherwise. The one limit is on retaliation, which forbids a rent increase within six months of a tenant's good-faith repair request. Asking rents here are down 0.92% on one of the two indexes this page cites and up 0.63% on the other, which is a market condition rather than a protection. If you are renting long-term, set the rent-growth input above the 2% default and see what it does to the answer.
What are the closing costs on a Dallas home?
For a buyer, low, and for the same reason as anywhere in Texas: there is no transfer tax to pay, and since 2016 the state constitution forbids one. A title company, not an attorney, closes the sale, and the title premiums are promulgated by the Texas Department of Insurance, so every insurer charges the same. The owner's policy on a $469,900 house is $2,607 and the seller customarily pays it, though the state's contract leaves it to a checkbox. The buyer pays the lender's policy, $100 when it is issued with the owner's, plus its endorsements; half the title company's escrow fee; the county clerk's recording; an inspection; and either a new survey or the seller's affidavit that the old one still holds. Then the lender's own charges and the escrow account for taxes and insurance, which in Texas is large because the tax is. The $1,630 default above covers the title, recording and inspection costs and leaves the lender's out, because those vary by lender rather than by state.
How much do you need for a down payment in Dallas?
Legally, nothing sets a floor: this is a lender's decision rather than a rule. Conventional loans start at 3% down and FHA at 3.5%. On a $469,900 house, 3% is $14,097 and 20% is $93,980. What the low end costs you is private mortgage insurance: at 3% down, about $330 a month until the balance reaches 78% of the price, which takes 12.6 years and about $49,900. At 5% down it is $249 a month and $35,400. There is also help. The Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs both pair a 30-year loan with up to 5% of the loan toward the down payment, and the City of Dallas's own program lends households at or below 80% of area median income up to $60,000 in the areas it designates High Opportunity Areas and $50,000 elsewhere in the city, as a forgivable second lien, but only on a home priced at $342,000 or less, which is below the city's median single-family sale price.
Why does this page use 1.58% property tax when the Dallas tax rate is 2.22671 per $100?
Because the rate per $100 is charged on a value the exemptions have already cut, and each taxing unit cuts it differently. A house in the City of Dallas and Dallas ISD is taxed by five units: Dallas County 0.2155, City of Dallas 0.6988, Dallas ISD 0.993835, Dallas College 0.106575, Parkland Hospital District 0.212, per $100 of taxable value for 2025. Dallas ISD first takes off the state's general homestead exemption of $140,000, a flat amount, so it takes a larger share off a cheaper house, and then a further 10% of the value of its own. The county, the City, Dallas College and the Parkland Hospital District each take off 20%. On a homesteaded house at $469,900 the five lines add up to about $7,446 a year, which is 1.58% of the value. Without the exemptions, which is what a landlord pays and what a buyer who never files pays, the same house would owe about $10,463. The seller's tax bill is not a guide to yours. A homestead's taxable value may rise no more than 10% a year while the same owner holds it, and the cap lapses on a sale, so a long-tenured owner can be taxed on far less than the appraisal district's market value while you are taxed on all of it from your first year. The exemptions are not automatic either: you apply to the appraisal district, and you can claim a prorated exemption for the year you buy only if the seller did not have one.
Does this calculator favor renting or buying?
Neither, by construction. Both households start with exactly the same cash. Whichever of them has the cheaper month invests the difference. Most calculators credit only the renter with that, which quietly tilts every result toward renting. The buyer's net worth is also shown after the cost of selling, so it is money they could actually walk away with rather than a paper figure. Private mortgage insurance is charged to the owner month by month and then removed the month the lender is legally required to drop it, rather than being averaged away.
What is the calculator not accounting for?
Federal tax, mainly, and it cuts both ways. Mortgage interest and property tax are deductible if you itemize, and whether itemizing beats the standard deduction depends on the household: first-year interest on the median loan is about $26,300 and property tax about $7,446. A principal residence's gain is excluded up to $250,000 single or $500,000 married under section 121, and the renter's portfolio is not. None of that is modeled, and none of it is advice. Four Dallas things it also cannot price: the appraisal district's value, which you can protest every spring and which the 10% cap holds down from the second year of the exemption; the rate itself, which each unit sets every autumn; the roof, which decides the insurance, since hail is the largest cause of paid homeowners losses in Texas and an insurer may pay only the depreciated value of an old one; and the school district, since parts of the city are in Richardson ISD or another district with its own rate. None of this includes a public improvement district. Parts of Dallas, from downtown, Uptown and Deep Ellum to Prestonwood, Lake Highlands and the apartments of Vickery Meadow, sit inside a district the City Council renews and whose assessment rate it sets each year after a public hearing, on top of the five tax rates, for services such as extra security, landscaping and upkeep. The typical house is in none of them, but an address inside one can owe the assessment, and the City's map of the districts is the first thing to check.
Which figures here are estimates
The prices, rents, tax rates, exemptions and title premiums above come from published sources, each one listed below with the period it describes. These do not:
- The condominium fee, at $400 a month: the Census Bureau publishes a median association fee of $280 for Dallas owners who pay one, a median that mixes buildings with townhouse and subdivision associations
- Home insurance at $400 a month, between the published Dallas averages of $4,212 and $6,915 a year and above the state's $3,489
- The buyer's half of the title company's escrow fee, at $600, which the state does not set
- The county clerk's recording fees, at $130, which are the state's estimate rather than Dallas County's own schedule
- The utilities and City fees an owner pays over a renter, at $150 a month
- Maintenance at 1% of the home's value a year
- Every forward-looking rate: appreciation, rent growth, cost inflation and the return on the invested difference
- The private mortgage insurance rate, which is priced per borrower by credit score rather than published as a schedule
If you want the payment side on its own, with the biweekly plan, prepayments and the month mortgage insurance stops, the mortgage calculator covers it in more detail. To work out where rather than whether, start with the neighborhood guides.
Sources
- NTREIS monthly MLS summary report, August 2026 · North Texas Real Estate Information System and the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University, via the MetroTex Association of REALTORS · retrieved Supports: A median single-family sale price of $469,900 in the City of Dallas in August 2026 on 640 sales, against $499,900 on 667 sales in August 2025, A median townhouse sale price of $543,000 on 30 sales, against $475,000 on 42, and a median condominium sale price of $310,000 on 121 sales, against $237,000 on 136, 2,725 active single-family listings and 4.2 months of inventory in the City of Dallas, A median single-family lease of $2,850 a month on 276 leases, City figures by property type only, with no all-types median
- Housing market reports · MetroTex Association of REALTORS · retrieved Supports: Monthly reports featuring data from the Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center, based on listings of properties physically located within the specified geographic areas
- Zillow Home Value Index, all homes, middle tier, smoothed and seasonally adjusted, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved Supports: A typical home value of $305,765 for the city of Dallas (region 38128) in August 2026, $310,919 in August 2025, so a fall of 1.7% over the year
- Zillow Home Value Index, single-family and condominium series, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved Supports: A typical single-family value of $319,987 in the city of Dallas in August 2026, against $324,674 a year earlier, down 1.4%, A typical condominium value of $208,501 in the same month, against $222,477, down 6.3%, from the condominium file at https://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public_csvs/zhvi/City_zhvi_uc_condo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv
- Dallas, TX average rent and rent trends · RentCafe / Yardi Matrix · retrieved Supports: An average Dallas apartment rent of $1,592, down 0.92% from $1,607 a year earlier, updated 31 August 2026, Average rents of $1,245 studio, $1,416 one-bedroom, $1,853 two-bedroom and $2,221 three-bedroom
- Zillow Observed Rent Index, all homes plus multifamily, smoothed, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved Supports: An observed rent index of $1,591 for the city of Dallas in August 2026, up 0.63% from $1,581 a year earlier
- 2025 ad valorem tax rates for Dallas County, revised 5 November 2025 · Dallas Central Appraisal District · retrieved Supports: 2025 rates per $100: Dallas County 0.215500, Parkland Hospital 0.212000, Dallas College 0.106575, Dallas 0.698800, Dallas ISD 0.993835, Optional homestead exemptions of 20% for Dallas County, Parkland Hospital, Dallas College and the City of Dallas, and 10% for Dallas ISD, A general homestead exemption of $140,000 for every school district, contingent on the November 2025 constitutional amendment, A calculated local optional homestead value of not less than $5,000, Separate rates and exemptions for Highland Park, University Park, Cockrell Hill and Highland Park ISD
- 2026 estimated ad valorem tax rates for Dallas County, revised 4 March 2026 · Dallas Central Appraisal District · retrieved Supports: The 2026 table was an estimate, repeating the 2025 rates for the five units, when these figures were retrieved
- 2025 and 2026 residence homestead average and median values · Dallas Central Appraisal District · retrieved Supports: A certified median residence homestead market value of $364,530 in the City of Dallas for 2025, on 177,599 homesteads, A certified median of $364,000 for 2026, on 172,862 homesteads, in the table dated 22 July 2026
- Annual report, 2025 appraisal year · Dallas Central Appraisal District · retrieved Supports: 230,276 protests received for the 2025 appraisal year, 180,733 of them residential, and 788,553 appraisal notices mailed, A protest process that begins around 15 April and concludes by 20 July each year
- Property tax exemptions · Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · retrieved Supports: A school district residence homestead exemption of $140,000 under Tax Code section 11.13(b), from Proposition 13 approved on 4 November 2025 and effective for the 2025 tax year, Local option homestead exemptions of up to 20% of appraised value, and not less than $5,000, under section 11.13(n), A prorated exemption in the year of purchase only if the previous owner did not have one
- Valuing property: the homestead cap and the circuit breaker limitation · Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · retrieved Supports: A residence homestead's appraised value may not rise more than 10% a year, from the year after the owner first qualifies, A 20% annual limit on the appraised value of non-homestead property valued at $5 million or less, the circuit breaker, which expires on 31 December 2026
- Tax Code, Section 41.44: notice of protest · Texas Legislature · retrieved Supports: A protest must be filed by 15 May or the 30th day after the appraisal notice is delivered, whichever is later
- Midtown Improvement District · City of Dallas Office of Economic Development · retrieved Supports: The Midtown Improvement District, formerly the Vickery Meadow Public Improvement District, established in 1993 and renewed to 31 December 2032, An annual budget and assessment rate subject to a public hearing and Dallas City Council approval
- Public Improvement Districts (PIDs) layer · City of Dallas · retrieved Supports: Public improvement districts mapped by the City including Dallas DID, Uptown, Deep Ellum, Klyde Warren/DAD, Knox Street, Oak Lawn-Hi Line, Prestonwood, Lake Highlands, North Lake Highlands, Midtown, University Crossing, South Side, Far East Dallas and RedBird
- Primary Mortgage Market Survey, 24 September 2026 · Freddie Mac · retrieved Supports: A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 7.03%, up from 6.95% the week before and 6.30% a year earlier
- Texas homeowners insurance market overview · Texas Department of Insurance · retrieved Supports: A statewide average homeowners premium of $3,489 a year for 2025, from the Texas Statistical Plan for Residential Risks, Hail as the largest cause of paid homeowners losses, $4.93 billion in 2024 against $2.21 billion for wind
- Insurance and your roof: what to know when buying a policy or filing a claim · Texas Department of Insurance · retrieved Supports: Replacement cost coverage pays for a new roof at current prices, and actual cash value coverage pays replacement cost minus depreciation, As roofs age, some companies will switch to actual cash value, A deductible for wind and hail damage can differ from the deductible for other damage
- Texas homeowners insurance · NerdWallet · retrieved Supports: An average Dallas premium of $6,915 a year and a Texas average of $5,910, for $500,000 of dwelling cover, updated 20 February 2026
- How much is homeowners insurance in Dallas, TX? · Insure.com · retrieved Supports: An average Dallas premium of $4,212 a year for $300,000 of dwelling cover, $100,000 of liability and a $1,000 deductible, updated 27 May 2026
- Renters insurance in Texas · NerdWallet · retrieved Supports: An average Dallas renters premium of $167 a year for $30,000 of personal property, updated 23 September 2026
- Monthly homeowners' or condominium association fee, table B25143, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Dallas city · United States Census Bureau · retrieved Supports: A median monthly association fee of $280 among Dallas owner-occupied units that pay one, 50,335 of 226,859 owner-occupied units, or 22.2%, paying such a fee, from table B25142
- City of Dallas utility fees effective 1 October 2025 · City of Dallas · retrieved Supports: A residential sanitation fee of $40.09 a month, $43.40 with tax, A residential stormwater fee of $5.39 to $21.01 a month by impervious area, An environmental cleanup fee of $3.00 a month on every City of Dallas utility account
- Dallas Homebuyer Assistance Program (DHAP) · City of Dallas Housing and Homelessness Solutions · retrieved Supports: Assistance of up to $60,000 in High Opportunity Areas and $50,000 elsewhere in Dallas, for households at or below 80% of area median income, A maximum sales price of $342,000 for existing and newly built homes, for contracts from 1 September 2024, A second lien as an interest-free forgivable deferred loan with no monthly payments, prorated annually, with partial repayment due on a sale, lease or transfer, Administered by Business and Community Lenders of Texas from 1 May 2026
- Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 2020 to 2025 · United States Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program · retrieved Supports: A population of 1,329,491 for Dallas on 1 July 2025, 1,245,355 of them in Dallas County, 54,266 in Collin, 29,865 in Denton, five in Rockwall and none in Kaufman, 3,638 in Cockrell Hill, 8,764 in Highland Park and 25,323 in University Park
- 2025 Gazetteer files: places, Texas · United States Census Bureau · retrieved Supports: A land area of 339.685 square miles and a water area of 43.966 square miles for Dallas city
These are estimates built from published figures, not a lender quote, a pre-approval or financial advice. Rates, premiums and state and federal rules change; confirm anything you plan to act on with a mortgage professional and read the sourcing methodology.