Much has been written about how the Dallas-Fort Worth real estate market is getting more competitive and less affordable. However, the local market still ranks high on WalletHub’s list of best cities for first-time homebuyers. In fact, four out of the top 10 best cities are suburbs in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

The three cities on top of the list were McKinney, Frisco, and Allen. Richardson was No. 7 on the list, Denton was No. 11, and Carrollton was No. 18. Fort Worth ranked number five among large cities.

WalletHub’s annual list compares the state of real estate in 300 metro areas in the country. The cities they ranked varied in size. Cities were evaluated based on 23 criteria, including real estate factors and quality of life factors.

The real estate factors included rent-to-price ratio, median home price appreciation, housing market health, share of listings with price cuts, share of homes sold within one year, foreclosure rate, building permit activity, buy versus rent break-even point, and share of housing units built between 2010 and 2015. 

The quality of life factors included weather, quality of public school system, violent crime rate, property crime rate, recession recovery, recreation amenities, driver friendliness, job market, and total home energy cost. 

The cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex ranked high because of low crime rates, favorable job market and recession recovery, and a strong real estate market with a newer housing stock. Compared to other cities in the country, housing costs are still more affordable than in many other areas. However, the median home price in Dallas-Fort Worth recently topped the national median price.