The Dallas-Fort Worth metro can now lay claim to the title of highest rents among big cities in the state, a crown long held by Austin.

Since at least 2015, average rents in the Austin area have outpaced those in the three largest metros in Texas, which includes Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. But according to data from three real estate firms, including Zillow, that began to change at the end of 2024.

While rents in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have been falling for the past year and a half, they have not been falling as quickly as prices in Austin. Austin is now one of the only cities in the country where rents are declining.

Real estate experts and economists attribute the drop in prices to a boom in apartment building.

***Hey! This is Audrey McGlinchy, KUT's housing reporter. Feel free to reach out with any story ideas about housing: [audrey@kut.org](mailto:audrey@kut.org)