The Dallas area passed Houston for the No. 1 spot in a new national ranking of new-home activity, according to a ConsumerAffairs analysis updated May 20.
The report reviewed new residential building permits and new-construction home sales across the 150 largest U.S. metropolitan areas during January and February 2026. ConsumerAffairs used U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey data and Zillow sales data, with each metric weighted equally.
The report labels the rankings by city, but ConsumerAffairs noted that the underlying permit, sales, and pricing data reflect metro-area measurements.
Dallas recorded 11,327 new residential building permits during the two-month period, the second-highest total in the country. The area also recorded 3,009 new-construction home sales, the second-highest nationally.
The combined score moved Dallas into the No. 1 spot after it ranked second in ConsumerAffairs’ 2025 analysis.
The shift marks a reversal from ConsumerAffairs’ prior ranking, in which Houston held the top spot, and Dallas ranked second, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Houston ranked second in the new report. The Houston area issued 9,239 new building permits during January and February and recorded 3,535 new-construction home sales, the highest sales total in the country.
Texas metros accounted for four of the top 10 spots. Dallas ranked first, followed by Houston at No. 2, Austin at No. 7, and San Antonio at No. 10.
ConsumerAffairs said Dallas moved up “mainly because of a surge in new-construction sales.” The report also pointed to a 2025 Dallas residential code change as a possible factor.
On April 23, 2025, the Dallas City Council approved changing the Dallas One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code to the One- to Eight-Family Dwelling Code, according to the City of Dallas. The change allows buildings with up to eight dwelling units to be constructed under residential-based codes.
Before the change, structures with more than two dwelling units had to comply with the International Building Code, which the city said could add complexity and costs to smaller-scale residential development.
The ranking comes as Dallas-Fort Worth’s broader new-home market showed stronger spring activity.
New home sales in Dallas-Fort Worth rose to 1,947 in April from 1,724 in March, according to the latest HomesUSA.com New Home Sales Report. Pending sales also increased to 2,704 in April from 2,588 in March.
“Dallas builders are seeing improved buyer activity, but the market is still working through higher inventory and longer selling times. The good news is that demand is moving in the right direction,” Ben Caballero, CEO of HomesUSA.com, said in the report.
Dallas-Fort Worth still had the longest days-on-market figure among the major Texas markets tracked by HomesUSA.com. New homes in DFW spent an average of 148.80 days on the market in April, down slightly from 149.48 days in March.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Texas has remained one of the nation’s strongest states for residential construction.
Texas led the country in single-family building permits during the first quarter of 2026, with 35,231 permits issued, according to the National Association of Home Builders. However, that total was down 8.3% from the same period in 2025.
Through March 2026, Dallas-Fort Worth ranked second nationally among single-family markets with 9,503 permits, though that total was down 14% from the same period in 2025, according to NAHB. The metro also ranked third nationally for multifamily permits, with 7,374 units, up 65% year over year.
