Fort Worth, Texas Housing Market

How much can you negotiate in Fort Worth?

Only 47 out of every 100 homes for sale have found a buyer. The other 53 are still waiting. Your offer may be the only one on the table. About 1 in 4 sellers has already dropped their price. Each one has learned their first price was too high. Start below their new price, not their old one.

A typical Fort Worth home takes 52 days to find a buyer. Half of them take even longer. That is 8% slower than a year ago. Those sellers are paying to own a house they want to sell. Search for homes listed 60+ days ago. There are 2,899 homes for sale in Fort Worth. That is 5.5 times the tightest month on record, but below the peak of 3,228. Supply is shrinking against last year.

What to do about it

• Start in 76111, 76110, and 76114. Those are the three softest ZIP codes in Fort Worth.
• Filter for homes listed 60+ days ago that have already cut their price.
• Offer below the reduced price.
• Keep your inspection and financing contingencies.
• In 76111 only 20 out of 100 homes have a buyer. You can lose a few offers there and still win.

Is now a good time to buy in Fort Worth?

Asking prices are 10.7% below their May 2022 peak. You are not buying at the top. Prices stopped falling about a year ago. They are flat now. Waiting will not get you a cheaper house. It might still get you a more motivated seller. Fort Worth prices have risen in 81 of the last 108 months. Drops here have been short and shallow. Buying in a slow month has rarely hurt a long hold.

The discount is already here. It is not getting bigger. Buy now while sellers are still weak. Waiting for a lower price stopped working a year ago.

Who will rent from you in Fort Worth?

In Fort Worth, 42 out of every 100 households rent. That is nearly half. That share has held steady for five years. 8.7% of homes sit empty. That is normal for a healthy market.

The median Fort Worth household earns $78,441 a year. Incomes here have grown 4.9% a year since 2019. Incomes are rising faster than home prices. Affordability is improving. A typical home costs 4.6 times the median income. That is the national middle. Neither cash flow nor appreciation is free here. A tenant on the median income can pay about $1,961 a month. That is the standard 30% affordability line. Rents above it thin your tenant pool fast.

What numbers should you underwrite a Fort Worth deal with?

• Price growth to assume — +1.0%/yr. 1 year: -0.8% · 5 years: +1.0% · ten years: +4.2%. Do not use the ten-year rate. Most of that growth landed in the 2020 and 2021 boom. The five-year rate is what Fort Worth does without one. Underwrite closer to +1.0%. Measure growth per square foot. Fort Worth median list price grew 2.1% a year, but price per square foot grew 4.2%. The gap is smaller homes, not weaker growth. The house you buy will not shrink. The one-year rate is a timing signal. It is not an underwriting input.
• Months of carrying cost — 2. A typical home takes 52 days to sell. Budget that long when you exit or refinance. It is 8% slower than a year ago.
• Odds you cut your price to sell — 1 in 4. About 25% of homes on the Fort Worth market right now have already cut their asking price. Assume you are one of them when you sell. Do not underwrite an exit at your asking price.
• Comp on this, not median price — $194/sqft. The typical Fort Worth listing shrank from 2,345 to 1,931 sqft since Jul 2016. So median price hides real growth: 50% per sqft versus 23% on the median. Comp on median price and you will overpay for small homes.
• Competition when you exit — -9%. That is how much the number of homes for sale shrank in a year. Your resale will face a smaller crowd than today's comps did.
• Price-to-income ratio — 4.6×. A typical home costs 4.6 times the median income. That is the national middle. Neither cash flow nor appreciation is free here. Incomes are rising faster than home prices. Affordability is improving.
• Tenant rent ceiling — $1,961/mo. 30% of the median household income of $78,441. Rents above this line shrink your tenant pool fast.

Is Fort Worth a buyer's or seller's market in 2026?

Yes, if you negotiate. Buyers have the upper hand in Fort Worth right now. 0.47 out of every 100 homes for sale have a buyer, 25% of sellers have cut their price, and a typical home takes 52 days to sell.

Are Fort Worth home prices going up or down?

Asking prices are 10.7% below their May 2022 peak. You are not buying at the top. Prices stopped falling about a year ago. They are flat now. Waiting will not get you a cheaper house. It might still get you a more motivated seller.

What price growth should I assume for Fort Worth?

+1.0%/yr. 1 year: -0.8% · 5 years: +1.0% · ten years: +4.2%. Do not use the ten-year rate. Most of that growth landed in the 2020 and 2021 boom. The five-year rate is what Fort Worth does without one. Underwrite closer to +1.0%. Measure growth per square foot. Fort Worth median list price grew 2.1% a year, but price per square foot grew 4.2%. The gap is smaller homes, not weaker growth. The house you buy will not shrink. The one-year rate is a timing signal. It is not an underwriting input.

How fast are homes selling in Fort Worth?

A typical Fort Worth home takes 52 days to find a buyer. Half of them take even longer. That is 8% slower than a year ago. Those sellers are paying to own a house they want to sell. Search for homes listed 60+ days ago.

Is Fort Worth a renters' market or an owners' market?

In Fort Worth, 42 out of every 100 households rent. That is nearly half. That share has held steady for five years. 8.7% of homes sit empty. That is normal for a healthy market.

What rent can Fort Worth tenants afford?

A tenant on the median income can pay about $1,961 a month. That is the standard 30% affordability line. Rents above it thin your tenant pool fast. The median Fort Worth household earns $78,441 a year.

Which Fort Worth ZIP code has the most negotiating room?

76111. Only 20 out of 100 homes there have a buyer, 33% have cut their price, and a typical home takes 69 days to sell.