Brownsville, Texas Housing Market

What stands out in Brownsville?

• The median household earns $53,183 a year: among the lowest incomes of 763 tracked cities. Rents are capped by what local households earn.
• 12% of sellers have cut their price: among the lowest share of price cuts of 763 tracked cities. Sellers are holding firm on price.
• Homes for sale are down 11% on last year: among the sharpest inventory declines of 763 tracked cities. Supply is shrinking, which shifts leverage to sellers.

Are Brownsville price gains broad or limited to a few ZIP codes?

Asking price per square foot in Brownsville is up 3.8% over the last year. Over five years the pace has been 5.9% a year. Underwrite closer to that than to the last twelve months.

How does Brownsville compare with other Texas markets?

Ranked among the 77 Texas markets we track:

• Asking price: 14th cheapest of 77. Brownsville is at $263,620. Closest: Waco and Temple.
• Buyer competition: 14th most competitive of 67. Brownsville is at 0.32 buyers per home. Closest: Flower Mound and Lubbock.
• Time on market: 34th longest time on market of 77. Brownsville is at a median of 67 days on market. Closest: El Paso and Sherman.
• Price cuts: 4th fewest price cuts of 77. Brownsville is at 12% of sellers cutting. Closest: Abilene and Mission.

Is now a good time to buy in Brownsville?

The median asking price is 12.4% below its May 2024 peak. Per square foot, asking prices are at their high. Part of the drop is smaller homes coming to market. Prices are rising again. Every month you wait costs money. The question is no longer when. It is which house. Brownsville prices have risen in 93 of the last 112 months. Drops here have been short and shallow. Buying in a slow month has rarely hurt a long hold.

This market is turning. Which way is not settled yet. Check the monthly numbers above before you commit.

Who will rent from you in Brownsville?

In Brownsville, 37 out of every 100 households rent. Most own their home. That share has held steady for five years. Brownsville added about 3,200 renter households in five years. Renter households here average 3.0 people. Families rent here. Buy bedrooms. Studios will sit.

Households grew 16% in five years. The housing stock grew 13%. Demand is outrunning supply. 7.6% of homes sit empty. That is normal for a healthy market.

The median Brownsville household earns $53,183 a year. Incomes here have grown 6.6% a year since 2019. Incomes and home prices are rising in step. A typical home costs 5.0 times the median income. That is the national middle. Neither cash flow nor appreciation is free here. At 30% of income, a tenant on the median income can pay about $1,330 a month.

To see what one Brownsville address would rent for and cash flow, run it through the app.

How much can you negotiate in Brownsville?

For every 100 homes still for sale, 32 are under contract. In 2017–2019 at this time of year it was 28. The rest are still waiting for a buyer. Few sellers are dropping their price. Asking prices are holding firm. Your discount will come from one stale listing.

Brownsville listings spend a median 67 days on the market. There are 414 homes for sale in Brownsville. That is 3.8 times the tightest month on record, but below the peak of 520. Supply is shrinking against last year.

What to do about it

• Judge each listing on its own.
• Homes listed 90+ days ago with a price cut are where your discount is.
• Fresh, well-priced homes will not move on price. Do not waste offers on them.

What numbers should you underwrite a Brownsville deal with?

• Price growth to assume — +5.9%/yr. Brownsville has grown about 5.9% a year for five years and for ten. That pace held before and after the 2020–2021 boom, so it is a fair long-run input. Prices rose 3.8% over the last year. Use it for timing. The five-year rate is the better guide.
• Months of carrying cost — 3. Budget at least 67 days of holding costs, the current median time on market, when you exit or refinance.
• Odds you cut your price to sell — 1 in 9. 12% of Brownsville listings have cut their asking price. Underwrite your exit below asking.
• Comp on price per square foot — $164/sqft. The typical Brownsville listing shrank from 1,898 to 1,622 sqft since Jul 2016. So median price hides real growth: 103% per sqft versus 78% on the median. Comp on median price and you will overpay for small homes.
• Competition when you exit — -11%. Homes for sale in Brownsville are down 11% on last year, so your resale faces less competition than today's comps did.

Read cash flow versus appreciation and how we read these numbers, then run the numbers on a deal.

What is the median home price in Brownsville?

The median asking price in Brownsville is about $264,000 as of Oct 2026, down 10.1% from a year ago. The typical listing is 8% smaller than a year ago, and asking price per square foot is up 3.8%. So the size of homes on the market explains much of the drop. This is the asking price on homes listed for sale. Sites that report sold prices or estimated home values will show a different number. Our Brownsville figures cover the 5 ZIP codes with a Brownsville mailing address, which can reach past city limits.

Is Brownsville a buyer's or seller's market in 2026?

Neither side has the upper hand in Brownsville right now. We compare Brownsville with 2017–2019 at this time of year: listings spend 18% fewer days on the market; there are 32 pending sales per 100 listings, against 28 then; there are 8% more homes for sale.

Are Brownsville home prices going up or down?

The median asking price is 12.4% below its May 2024 peak. Per square foot, asking prices are at their high. Part of the drop is smaller homes coming to market. Prices are rising again. Every month you wait costs money. The question is no longer when. It is which house.

What is the best month to buy a house in Brownsville?

Across 9 full years, Brownsville asking prices ran lowest in January, about 3.9% below the year's average. They peaked in October. The most homes for sale show up in November, about 5% above the yearly average.

What price growth should I assume for Brownsville?

Assume +5.9% a year. Brownsville has grown about 5.9% a year for five years and for ten. That pace held before and after the 2020–2021 boom, so it is a fair long-run input. Prices rose 3.8% over the last year. Use it for timing. The five-year rate is the better guide.

What is the fair market rent in Brownsville?

HUD's fiscal year 2026 fair market rent for Cameron County is $1,047 a month for 2 bedrooms and $1,414 for 3 bedrooms. The figures include tenant-paid utilities and cover the whole county.