Dallas-Fort Worth Multifamily Market, Q3 2026

The Dallas-Fort Worth metro had 4,352,100 nonfarm jobs in September 2026, 43,900 (1.0%) more than in September 2025 (BLS, series SMU48191000000000001). The figures are preliminary and not seasonally adjusted, so each month is compared with the same month a year earlier. The unemployment rate was 4.1% in September 2026 (BLS, series LAUMT481910000000003, preliminary). The 43,900 jobs added were the most of the 11 metros in our best places to invest in multifamily comparison, ahead of Houston’s 33,600.

The Census Bureau estimates 8,477,157 residents on July 1, 2025, up 123,557 (1.48%) from a year earlier. Net international migration added 55,444 people and net domestic migration 18,197 (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 metro estimates). The metro covers 11 counties in two metropolitan divisions, below.

The federal metro definition splits Dallas-Fort Worth into two metropolitan divisions, and both the BLS and the Census Bureau report each one:

On these figures, jobs grew faster in the Fort Worth division and population grew faster in the Dallas division (BLS, series SMU48191240000000001; series SMU48231040000000001; Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). Neither series is broken down by city here.

Each source counts the pipeline its own way and over its own period, so the counts differ:

• Under construction: 29,700 units in Q3 2026, 28.6% fewer than a year earlier and about half the Q2 2023 peak of more than 60,000 (Cushman & Wakefield); 43,320 units in Q2 2026 (Colliers); about 43,300 units in Q2 2026, 43% below the 2023 peak (Northmarq).
• Completed: year-to-date completions through Q3 2026 were 18.9% below the same period of 2025 (Cushman & Wakefield); 6,390 units in Q3 2026 and 26,062 over the 12 months to Q3, down 23%, against 42,334 in 2024 (Matthews); about 6,200 units in Q2 2026, the fewest since early 2023 (Northmarq); a record 44,218 units delivered in 2024 (Newmark, 1Q26 report).
• Absorbed (the net change in leased units): over 26,700 units in the year to date through Q3 2026, up 27.7% from a year earlier (Cushman & Wakefield); 6,736 in Q3 2026, against 3,447 in Q3 2025 (Matthews); about 12,000 in Q2 2026 (Northmarq).
• Permitted: 16,551 units in buildings with five or more units from January to September 2026, or 2.0 per 1,000 residents (Census Bureau building permits). A permit counts a building approved, not one started or finished.

Matthews and Newmark both count 2024 deliveries and arrive at different totals (42,334 and 44,218): the firms draw on different data sources and sets of properties.

The latest reports put Dallas-Fort Worth vacancy between 6.1% and 9.4%, and occupancy between 92.3% and 93.8%. They measure different things:

• Which buildings. Each firm surveys its own set of properties, by size, age and class.
• Stabilized or every unit. Yardi Matrix reports occupancy in stabilized properties, which leaves out buildings still in their first lease-up. A figure that counts every unit in the market reads lower while many new buildings are leasing.
• Asking or effective rent. Asking rent is the advertised price. Effective rent subtracts concessions such as free weeks, so it reads lower when concessions are common.
• When. The reports cover periods from April 2026 to Q3 2026.

The two government measures are a check on the private reports, and they cover every rented home, not only apartments. The American Community Survey's median gross rent adds utilities to the rent: $1,744 for the Dallas-Fort Worth metro in 2025 (Census table B25064), and the median renter household's gross rent was 31.3% of its income (Census table B25071). Both are survey estimates with margins of error. The Consumer Price Index for rent of primary residence in the Dallas-Fort Worth area was 1.2% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier (BLS, series CUURS37ASEHA).

The other figures above come from Cushman & Wakefield, Matthews, Colliers and Yardi Matrix. In March 2026 the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas wrote that the sharpest rent drops in Texas had been in Austin, San Antonio and Dallas, and that Austin led the major Texas metros in rent concessions, followed by Dallas (Dallas Fed, Southwest Economy).

What the latest reports show:

• Matthews reports an average cap rate of 5.66% in Q3 2026, up for 19 straight quarters, and an average price per unit of $171K, 12% below the Q3 2022 peak of $193K. Sales volume over the 12 months to Q3 2026 was $10.8 billion, up 3%, with $4.12 billion closing in Q3 (Matthews, Q3 2026).
• Northmarq reports first-half 2026 sales volume of about $3.4 billion, down 22% (Northmarq, Q2 2026).

The two volume figures cover different periods and sets of sales. A cap rate is a property's net operating income divided by its price. For how it differs from cash-on-cash return and IRR, see Cap Rate vs. Cash-on-Cash vs. IRR.

The same measures for the two Texas metros, one source per row:

The Houston multifamily market page lists that metro’s sources, and Texas multifamily covers the state. The best places to invest in multifamily post compares more U.S. metros.

EagleCap Legacy Wealth Partners is a multifamily real estate investment firm founded in the Tri-Cities, Washington, in 2018 by Justin Pratt and his son, Jarom Pratt. It buys and improves value-add apartment communities in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth metros for accredited investors across the United States. Its team works from Utah and Texas.

This page describes the market; it is not a recommendation or an offer.

How this page is built. Government figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau, through the series and tables linked on this page. Broker and research figures are quoted as each firm published them, with its name and period; EagleCap does not estimate, adjust or average them. Forecasts are left out; the linked reports carry their own. The page is refreshed once a quarter, about six to seven weeks after the quarter ends, when the main reports are out. The next update is planned for mid-February 2027.