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Sun Belt Now Firmly Leads As A Buyer’s Market

U.S.: The nationwide outnumbered buyers by 43%, close to the largest gap recorded since 2013. The trend has been rising steadily over the past several months and Redfin reports that with more homes hitting the market, buyers are sitting patiently. They are waiting for the right home at the right price with the right conditions, particularly move-in ready. Redfin also said that lopsided markets exist mostly in Sun Belt states and large metro areas that saw population swings and frenzied home purchases during the pandemic. Leading the way is Miami, where sellers outpace buyers by nearly 150%; Nashville, 119%; Austin, 112%; and San Antonio, 109%. It listed Houston sellers as overshadowing buyers by 97% and in Dallas by 87%. Austin metro prices reportedly are nearly 30% below their peak of just four years ago during the post-pandemic frenzy before higher mortgage rates hit the market. Redfin lists the Midwest as the best place to buy because of lower median home prices. Cleveland, for example, has a median home price of about $150,000, far below the national average of more than $400,000. 

U.S.: Fixer-uppers, long-term mortgages, dipping into savings. Those are all the options that first-time homebuyers would consider in order to help finance their new home. While a buyer’s market exists throughout the country, prices still remain high for many would-be homebuyers. In its annual survey, TD Bank U.S. said that 74% of its respondents said they would consider using a 50-year mortgage to help buy their home. It also said that 78% of millennials and 74% of Gen Zers said they would dip into their 401(k) if allowed to buy a home. And those harder-to-find fixer-uppers in this market environment? Half of first-time homebuyers said they would buy it and make it work. About one-third of those surveyed said they have shifted from contributing to retirement plans in order to save for their first home and more than 80% of the respondents said they felt positive about the housing market in 2026 despite shifts and challenges.

DFW: An international electronics firm is planning big things in Cowtown. Celestica, a Toronto-based electronics company, is a leading supplier of Ethernet switches and other devices preferred by AI companies. The global company says that it will invest more than $870 million to build an electronics manufacturing campus of more than 1 million square feet near Fort Worth Alliance Airport in the AllianceTexas development. The firm could employ more than 1,700 people by the end of the decade. The company will benefit from more than $40 million in tax incentives approved by the Fort Worth City Council if the company meets certain conditions. The investment is projected to be among the largest at the 27,000-acre development in North Fort Worth. 

DFW: Another large tract of land in Grayson County has sold for a mixed-use development planned up to 10 years in the future. The Hightower family, which had owned the 180 acres of land near Howe for nearly 150 years, sold the property to Cherukuru Investments at Howe LLC. Previous purchases of large swaths of land in Grayson County and northern Collin County have been developed or are being developed into huge mixed-use projects and master-planned communities for tens of thousands of people. Howe is located between McKinney and Sherman and near the sites of manufacturing facilities owned by Texas Instruments and GlobalWafers that will employ close to 5,000 people combined.  

EAST COAST: Kathie Lee Gifford has put her waterfront Connecticut home on the market for a staggering amount. The former “Today” show co-host and her late husband, former football player and TV analyst Frank Gifford, paid $7.8 million for the nearly 3-acre property called Cedar Cliff three decades ago. She is now asking $100 million, more than double what any other property is listed for in Greenwich, Connecticut. The couple did overhaul the now nearly 100-year-old storied estate and added to the property, creating a 13,000-square-foot oasis with eight bedrooms and 14 baths. The picturesque estate also includes a movie theater, recording studio, tennis court and has other luxurious amenities inside and out with numerous spots to take in Greenwich Cove. Frank Gifford died in 2015, and Kathie Lee Gifford moved to Nashville in 2019 after she left the “Today” show. 

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