homes on a budget

San Antonio suburb 5th on booming U.S. cities list with homes under $500,000

This unique home in Canyon Lake is on the market for $399,000.

Texas suburbs have been soaring in popularity in 2024 as more residents escape the bigger cities. Now one near San Antonio, Canyon Lake, is earning accolades on a new list of the top 50 most affordable housing markets for homes under $500,000.

The study by personal finance website GoBankingRates.com evaluated the two-year numerical and percent change in total population for all U.S. cities with a population between 25,000 and 200,000. Cities were ranked based on two defining characteristics: A nine percent (or more) change in population from 2020 to 2022; and cities whose average home values fell below $500,000 as of July 2024.

Hill Country suburbs
Canyon Lake ranked No. 5 out of all 50 cities in the report, the highest of any Texas city and the only one in the top 10. Situated almost halfway between Austin and San Antonio (but closer to the latter), this city is full of lakefront properties, parks, country clubs, and other ways to enjoy nature without being too far from the convenience or entertainment of a large city.

In July 2024, the home value in Canyon Lake was $461,779. In 2020, the total population was recorded at 26,338, but by 2022 it was 32,035. That's a change of 21.63 percent. Despite the population growth — and many residents must love this — the city doesn't make too many headlines outside of its beautiful ecology and some high school sports games.

However, new residents are entering a community that's already watching water levels drop at the lake. They may need to think about sustainability or miss out on some lake days in the future.

New Braunfels, another city in between the two Central Texas metros, also made the list at No. 44. Although it didn't make it quite so high in the rankings, this city is on a heavily trafficked path and the news is always flowing, whether it's about the big sausage and beer festival Wurstfest, a cool RV park, or the ultra-popular Schlitterbahn waterpark.

It was significantly more affordable than Canynon Lake, with homes valued at $361,132, and a population increase of 9.89 percent from 84,622 to 92,993.

New Braunfels aerial New Braunfels is a beautiful, semi-rural town with plenty of restaurants, shopping, and entertainment venues to keep things interesting. City of New Braunfels/Instagram

Other affordable suburbs in Texas
Eight total Texas suburbs earned spots on GoBankingRates list of fastest-growing suburbs with home values under $500,000. Baytown, which is located 26 miles east of Houston, ranked No. 36. The Austin suburb of Hutto fell towards the bottom of the list at No. 42. North Texas has four suburbs in the ranking: Lewisville (No. 11), Waxahachie (No. 20), Midlothian (No. 27), and Wylie (No. 34). See the entries below to learn about the North Texas domination.

The top 10 fastest-growing American suburbs with home values under $500,000 are:

No. 1 – Mooresville, North Carolina
No. 2 – Hamtramck, Michigan
No. 3 – Buckeye, Arizona
No. 4 – Union City, Georgia
No. 5 – Canyon Lake, Texas
No. 6 – Olive Branch, Mississippi
No. 7 – Maricopa, Arizona
No. 8 – Clermont, Florida
No. 9 – Leesburg, Florida
No. 10 – Goodyear, Arizona

North Texas cities take over
Lewisville ranked No. 11 out of all 50 cities in the report, with homes valued at $410,904 as of July 2024. The suburb is situated between Dallas and Fort Worth, and is conveniently north of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

The city's population grew 16.05 percent from 2020 to 2022, from 107,740 to 125,028 residents. The city's steady growth rate has simultaneously brought more development to the area, including a new coffee shop, discount bin store, and even eight new dining options at The Realm at Castle Hills.

Located 60 miles south in the opposite direction of Lewisville is Waxahachie, which landed at No. 20 on the list. With home values in the city adding up to $363,709, Waxahachie is the most affordable North Texas suburb in the report. The city's population grew 13.79 percent from 2020 to 41,801 residents in 2022, the report found.

Waxahachie's nickname as the "Crepe Myrtle Capital of Texas" was earned thanks to the city's beautiful scenery and its annual Crape Myrtle Festival, where tourists and residents from all over North Texas flock to see the fully bloomed trees in the summer.

"The charm of the historic homes and buildings brings thousands of visitors to the city each year," the Waxahachie Convention and Visitor's Bureau website says. "While here, visitors enjoy numerous unique shopping opportunities, including antiques, specialty shops and boutiques."

Waxahachie’s legendary Ellis County Courthouse is the most photographed courthouse in the state of Texas. Photo courtesy of Visit Waxahachie

Midlothian ranked just seven spots behind Waxahachie, with home values reaching $454,929 in July. This far-flung suburb is 26 miles southwest of downtown Dallas, and is a next door neighbor to Waxahachie.

From 2020 to 2022, Midlothian's population grew by nearly 4,000 people to 35,460 total residents. Locals should expect that number to continue growing over the next few years (along with the city's home values) as Google invests over $1 billion into its Midlothian data center campus.

In a statement, Google Cloud VP Yolande Piazza said that "expanding [Google's] cloud and data center infrastructure in Midlothian and Red Oak reflects [the company's] confidence in the state's ability to lead in the digital economy."

Meanwhile, Wylie (No. 34) rounds out the list of North Texas suburbs with the most affordable housing markets for under $500,000. According to the report, home values in Wylie amounted to $441,105 in July 2024.

Wylie had the smallest growth by percentage out of the four DFW cities, at just 11.40 percent. But that resulted in 5,812 new residents moving to the city from 2020 to 2022, bringing the total population to 57,063 residents.

In 2022, Fortune Magazine rated Wylie the No. 2 best place in the U.S. for families to live, hailing the city "a fast-growing, modern community that doesn’t skimp on the amenities."

"With its start as a stop on the Santa Fe Railway in the 1880s, Wylie has always been a gathering place," the magazine wrote at the time. "In fact, because shops stayed open late to accommodate the railway visitors and business, one of the town’s nicknames became 'Wide-Awake Wylie.' The historic downtown continues that tradition of community today..."

For the purpose of the study, GoBankingRates analysts focused on U.S. cities that are part of a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) with more than one million in total population.

The full report and its methodology can be found on gobankingrates.com.

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bang for your buck

San Antonio ZIP code is 4th most affordable place for renters in U.S.

Photo by Florian Schmid on Unsplash

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Trying to afford buying a home in San Antonio is difficult enough with current mortgage rates, and doubly so if you're already paying high rent on an apartment or a house. But there are six San Antonio ZIP codes where renters can get the most bang for their buck, according to a new study by financial services company CashNetUSA.

To find the most affordable ZIP codes for renters in the U.S., analysts compared median household incomes by ZIP code to the average annual rent costs in those areas using the Zillow Observed Rent Index. ZIP codes where the average annual rental constituted the lowest percentage of median household income were considered the "most affordable."

San Antonio's 78248 ZIP code specifically stood out as the No. 4 most affordable in the country, and the No. 1 most affordable in Texas. This area encompasses the north San Antonio neighborhoods of Inwood, Forests at Inwood, Oakwood, The Park at Deerfield, Canyon Creek Bluffs, Canyon Creek Village, Blanco Village, Deerfield, Cadillac Drive, and Churchill Estates.

According to the study's findings, the average monthly cost of a rental in 78248 comes out to $1,259.17, and the median annual income of a household in the area is $122,986. Analysts then calculated that the annual rent of a home in this ZIP code only takes up 12.29 percent of a household's median income, which is the fourth-lowest in the nation.

CashNetUSA found the No. 1 most affordable ZIP code for renters nationwide is 66224 in Leawood, Kansas, where annual rent only takes a 10.57 percent cut out of a household's median annual income.

Elsewhere in Texas, two Houston-area ZIP codes – 77401 and 77094 – ranked No. 9 and No. 12 nationally, while Allen's 75013 ZIP code fell two spots behind to claim the No. 14 spot.

The most affordable San Antonio-area ZIP codes for renters
CashNetUSA further unveiled the five most affordable ZIP codes across major U.S. cities, including in San Antonio, Austin, and Houston.

Following 78248 (which took the No. 1 spot citywide) is 78261 (No. 2), which spans east of Highway 281, across Smithson Valley Road. Rent costs in this ZIP code averaged out to $1,698 per month, the report found.

Landing in the No. 3 spot is 78258, which includes Rogers Ranch, The Vineyard, Stone Oak, Summit, Hidden Canyon, and Big Springs neighborhoods. The report said average rent in the area comes out to $1,507 per month, which takes up 17.54 percent of a household's median annual income.

The remaining top two most affordable ZIP codes for San Antonio renters are located in 78259 (Encino Park, Encino Ranch, Cavalo Creek Estates, Northwood Hills, Summit at Bulverde Creek, Roseheart, Redland Woods) and 78260 in Timberwood Park, which is about 25 miles north of downtown San Antonio.

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