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3 booming Houston 'burbs dominate top 10 list of most 'house rich' cities in U.S.

Sugar Land residents boast the No. 3 'house-rich' home rank in the U.S.

Photo via Martha Turner Sotheby's

With high interest rates and home prices making daily headlines, houses in Texas' current real estate market may seem out of reach for many potential homebuyers.

But that isn't the case in the Houston area. A new study has revealed three H-town suburbs were ranked the most "house rich" cities in the United States: Sugar Land (No. 3), Pearland (No. 5), and League City (No. 7).

To define the term "house rich," home services provider All Star Home examined data from the U.S. Census Bureau regarding the median value of owner-occupied homes and the median household income across the 25 most populous American cities. A home-value-to-income ratio was established for each city based on the Census data, and rankings were determined based on whether a city had a low home-value-to-income ratio and high homeownership rate.

Sugar Land has a homeownership rate of 80.90 percent, which is an impressive number in comparison to Houston's own homeownership rate of 42.50 percent. The census data estimates Sugar Land's median home value at $397,000, the greatest out of the three suburbs, and the median household income is $132,766. The report determined Sugar Land's home-value-to-income ratio is 2.78, which is also the highest out of the three total Houston 'burbs.

The homeownership rate in Pearland isn't too far behind Sugar Land's, at 76.60 percent, with home values estimated at a median $334,800. The census data places the median household income in Pearland at $103,496, which means the city's home-value-to-income ratio is 2.52.

League City's homeownership rate of 74.40 percent is much closer to Pearland's than Sugar Land's. The median value of a home in League City is $350,300, and the median household income is estimated at $104,867. The city's home-value-to-income ratio is 2.44.

The top 10 most house rich American cities are:

No. 1 – Davie, North Carolina
No. 2 – Buckeye, Arizona
No. 3 – Sugar Land, Texas
No. 4 – Fishers, Indiana
No. 5 – Pearland, Texas
No. 6 – Lee's Summit, Missouri
No. 7 – League City, Texas
No. 8 – Rio Rancho, New Mexico
No. 9 – Boise, Idaho
No. 10 – Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

In a separate analysis of the 25 most populous American cities, Houston ranked No. 12.

The study found 42.50 percent of all housing in Houston is owner-occupied. The median value of a home in the city is $200,700, according to the report, which also pegs the median household income at an estimated $56,019 per year. Using those financial factors, All Star Home determined Houston has a home-value-to-income ratio of 3.58.

With Houston's median household income, affording a starter home in the city might not be as unattainable as potential homebuyers might think.

Texas cities dominated the top five in the major cities category of the report. El Paso took the No. 1 spot, leading over all other major American cities with the highest homeownership rate (59.80 percent) and a home-value-to-income ratio of 2.68. Fort Worth (No. 4) and San Antonio (No. 5) rounded out the top five, following behind Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (No. 2) and Indianapolis, Indiana (No. 3). Dallas also ranked outside the top 10, falling behind Houston into No. 15.

The top 10 most house-rich major cities in the U.S. are:

No. 1 – El Paso, Texas
No. 2 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
No. 3 – Indianapolis, Indiana
No. 4 – Fort Worth, Texas
No. 5 – San Antonio, Texas
No. 6 – Jacksonville, Florida
No. 7 – Columbus, Ohio
No. 8 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
No. 9 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 10 – Phoenix, Arizona

All Star Home also analyzed the most house rich states in America, but Texas appeared at the bottom of the study's category for the least house rich states, ranking No. 21.

The full report can be found on allstarhome.com.

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housing affordability news

This is how much Houston home prices have fallen since 2024

16403 Sheffield Run Drive, Houston home for sale

Estately.com/

This home at 16403 Sheffield Run Dr. in Houston's Berkshire Oaks neighborhood is on the market for $309,900.

A new real estate analysis has revealed housing prices across the Southern United States have seen a major large-scale decline from 2024-2025, with Houston homebuyers experiencing the 11th-steepest "price correction" in the region.

Houston-area buyers have a better chance of purchasing an affordable home this year after prices cooled 1.5 percent from 2024-2025, the study found.

Online real estate marketplace Zoocasa compared year-over-year median price changes for single-family homes across 20 cities in the South based on local real estate data. The study also looked at housing affordability in the American West, Midwest, and Northeast.

In Zoocasa's ranking of the Southern cities where affordability is improving the most, Houston ranked No. 11.

In 2024, the median price for a single-family home in Houston was nearly $340,000, which has since dropped to $335,000 in 2025. Local sellers may not be happy about cooling prices, but it does make housing more attainable for first-time homebuyers.

Better housing prices will surely attract even more new residents to the area, especially since Houston was the second-hottest destination for movers in 2025, and its suburbs are still booming in popularity.

"Affordability is on the rise across Texas, with major cities seeing significant price corrections," the report said. "Most importantly for buyers, the median home price in each of these cities remains more affordable than the national median."

The national median price of a home in the third quarter of 2025 was $426,800, according to the latest information from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Housing affordability elsewhere in Texas
Dallas was the No. 2 Southern city where housing is becoming more affordable. Dallas-Fort Worth's housing prices fell 5.71 percent from 2024-2025. The median price of a single-family home in North Texas fell from $397,700 to $375,000 during the one-year span.

In Beaumont-Port Arthur (a metro area east of Houston), housing prices have fallen 4.62 percent year-over-year, making it the metro with the No. 5 steepest price correction in the South. Median home prices dropped to $217,000 in 2025, or $10,500 lower than the year before, the report found.

Austin's housing prices fell 2.04 percent during the same time span, landing the Capital City in the No. 9 spot. The median price of a single-family home in Austin fell from $437,925 in 2024 to $429,000 last year.

Surprisingly, San Antonio ranked near the bottom of the list with housing prices increasing by five percent year-over-year. Single-family homes in the Alamo City had a median price just under $300,000 in 2024, which spiked to $315,000 in 2025.

Housing market predictions in 2026
Zoocasa predicts the 2026 U.S. housing market is "poised for a steady revival" since mortgage rates have dipped nearly a full percentage point since this time last year. Current interest rates for a a 30-year mortgage are sitting at 6.16 percent, the study said.

The NAR report additionally found that pending home sales have grown by 2.6 percent year-over-year from 2024.

"Homebuyer momentum is building," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "The data shows the strongest performance of the year after accounting for seasonal factors, and the best performance in nearly three years, dating back to February 2023."

The top 10 Southern cities where housing affordability is improving the most in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Florida
No. 2 – Dallas, Texas
No. 3 – Durham, North Carolina
No. 4 – Ocala, Florida
No. 5 – Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas
No. 6 – Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida
No. 7 – Jacksonville, Florida
No. 8 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 9 – Austin, Texas
No. 10 – Raleigh, North Carolina

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