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Here's where Houston ranks as a top U.S. housing market in 2021, according to experts

Real-estate experts say Austin will be the top housing market in the U.S. in 2021.

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In news that is likely to surprise no one, experts say Houston will be one of the nation's hottest housing markets.

According to the Q4 2020 Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey, real-estate experts, economists, and investment strategists say Houston will outperform the national housing market. The report, which was conducted by independent research company Pulsenomics, includes predictions about home-value growth in the largest 20 U.S. markets in 2021.

Houston ranked 12th overall, with 32 percent of experts saying the Bayou City will outperform the national average.

Also hardly surprising, Austin topped the survey as the No. 1 destination in 2021. Experts had previously predicted Austin’s housing market would be the hottest in 2020. By mid-December, when the median list price for homes in the Austin metro area had risen year-over-year by more than 23 percent — the biggest increase among the 50 largest U.S. markets — it was clear the Capital City would outpace all other large markets in 2020, according to the report.

Driving the housing growth in Austin are a number of factors, among them the seemingly immense exodus of tech companies and workers from the West Coast to Central Texas. This presumption is supported by the Zillow report, which notes San Francisco and Los Angeles land at the bottom of the 20-city list in terms of predicted housing growth this year, alongside New York City.

Even the New York Times recently noted the massive influx of techie San Franciscans moving to Central Texas, claiming Austin is their No. 1 relocation spot, with the paper saying it is the Texas city closest in spirit to the Bay Area and calling out recent news of growth in the local tech industry from such big-name players as Apple, Amazon, and Tesla.

The Zillow report notes another reason Austin’s housing market is the hottest is because, well, it’s hot here. In fact, it is mostly Sun Belt cities, including Austin, Phoenix, Tampa, and Nashville, that are expected to outperform the nation’s housing growth in 2021.

“These Sun Belt destinations are migration magnets thanks to relatively affordable, family-sized homes, booming economies, and sunny weather,” Jeff Tucker, a Zillow senior economist, said in a release. “Record-low mortgage rates and the increased demand for living space, coupled with a surge of millennials buying their first homes, will keep the pressure on home prices there for the foreseeable future.”

Meanwhile, Dallas-Fort Worth claimed the No. 6 spot, with 54 percent of real-estate experts saying the area will outperform the national home-value-growth average.

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rent affordability news

Houstonians need to make nearly $68,000 to afford rent in 2025

Photo courtesy of Dolce Midtown Apartments

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A new rental report from Zillow has revealed Houston renters need to make about 23 percent more money than they did five years ago in order to afford rent in 2025.

Zillow analysts examined the income needed to afford rent in 50 major U.S. metros, and determined rent prices in each city as of April 2025.

The average Houston renter needs to make $67,731 a year to afford living in the city, the report found. To afford rent for a single-family home, the income needed increases even further to $85,017.

Despite Houston's rising rent cost of living, it's still more affordable than many other cities. Nationally, the average income needed for someone to comfortably afford rent comes out to nearly $81,000. The study says that figure has increased nearly 35 percent since 2020.

"Housing costs have surged since pre-pandemic, with rents growing quite a bit faster than wages," said senior Zillow economist Orphe Divounguy. "This often leaves little room for other expenses, making it particularly difficult for those hoping to save for a down payment on a future home. High upfront costs are often overlooked, which can keep renters in their current homes."

Rent prices in Houston averaged $1,693 last month, which is less costly than the national average rent price of $2,024. Additionally, Houstonians are spending about 24 percent of their income on rent, while the typical American spends almost 30 percent of their income on rent.

Renters are also saving hundreds of dollars in comparison to those that own their homes, as a recent SmartAsset study discovered the median monthly housing costs for a Houston homeowner came out to $2,219.

At least we're not living on the East or West Coast, where eight U.S. metros require six-figure incomes to afford rent. Residents in San Jose, California need to make $136,532 a year to afford rent, the highest out of all 50 U.S. cities. Rent prices in San Jose came out to $3,413 in April.

Here's how much money renters need to afford living in other Texas metros, according to Zillow:

Dallas – $71,413
Austin – $68,840
San Antonio – $58,590

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