If you're watching the DFW real estate market right now, you might be asking yourself a pretty reasonable question:

Why would I buy a house right now?

Mortgage rates are high. Affordability is difficult. Home prices haven't fallen dramatically across the board. And if you've been watching the market, you've probably seen plenty of homes go through price reduction after price reduction.

So why would I still recommend buying real estate?

Because I believe there is a big piece of the real estate conversation that gets overlooked: the timeline.

First, let's talk about mortgage rates.

As of September 17, 2026, Freddie Mac's national average for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.95%. That's not above 7%, although individual borrowers can certainly receive quotes above 7% depending on their loan and financial profile.

The last time Freddie Mac's national weekly average was above 7% was November 30, 2023, when it averaged 7.22%.

And affordability is a real problem.

But here's where I think buyers and sellers need to change the way they think about the market.

DFW home prices haven't simply collapsed.

There are absolutely neighborhoods, cities and individual properties where values have declined.

There are also plenty of sellers reducing their asking prices.

But there's an important distinction between a listing price reduction and a broad collapse in home values.

In August 2026, the median DFW list price was about $425,000, only 1.2% below the previous year. Active listings were actually down 4.4% year over year. At the same time, price reductions remained common, giving buyers more negotiating leverage.

That's not a market without problems.

It's a market that has become much more negotiable.

And that's a big difference.

So why are some sellers struggling?

This is something I'm seeing firsthand.

A number of the sellers having the hardest time today are people who purchased during or after the huge run-up in prices around 2020–2022.

That doesn't mean every homeowner who purchased during that period is struggling.

But if someone bought near the peak, put relatively little down, and hasn't owned the property for very long, they may not have accumulated enough equity to comfortably cover:

That's where the timeline matters.

Real estate is not a five-year investment by default.

I generally tell people that if you're buying a primary residence, you should be thinking about staying there for at least seven years.

Some people say five.

Personally, I think five years can be too short depending on the circumstances.

Why?

Because buying and selling a house is expensive.

And your mortgage doesn't pay down evenly.

In the early years of a typical amortizing mortgage, a much larger portion of your payment goes toward interest than principal. As time passes, the balance shifts and you build equity through principal reduction.

That's one reason the length of ownership matters so much.

Your Closing Disclosure even illustrates this. The loan calculations section shows the five-year cost of the loan, including how much principal you will have paid down during that period.

Five years can feel like a long time.

Financially, it may not be.

And homeowners are actually staying longer.

This is one statistic I find particularly interesting.

According to the National Association of REALTORS®, the median homeowner had owned their home for 11 years before selling which is the highest level on record.

That's important.

Because the traditional idea that someone buys a "starter home" and sells it three or four years later is becoming less realistic.

People are staying put.

Affordability is one reason.

Mortgage rates are another.

And when people stay longer, they have more time to absorb transaction costs, pay down principal and potentially benefit from long-term appreciation.

This is why I still recommend buying real estate.

Not because I think every house will appreciate dramatically.

Not because I think prices can never go down.

And definitely not because I think everyone should buy a house right now.

I recommend buying when the property, finances and timeline make sense together.

Right now, buyers have some advantages they didn't have a few years ago.

There is more inventory to choose from than there was during the frenzy.

You can be picky.

You can negotiate.

You may be able to negotiate seller-paid closing costs.

You may be able to negotiate an interest-rate buydown.

You may find a home that has already gone through multiple price reductions.

And you don't necessarily have to compete against ten other buyers to get it.

That's a very different buying environment.

But here's when I would tell you NOT to buy.

If you're early in your career and there's a good chance you're going to get promoted, change companies, relocate or move to another city in the next few years, I may actually recommend that you rent.

Save money.

Increase your down payment.

Build your financial reserves.

Figure out where you actually want to plant roots.

Then buy.

If you eventually find the place where you want to live for the long haul, maybe you're settling into your career, starting a family or simply know that you want to stay in that community, then buying can make a lot more sense.

And when you buy, plan on staying.

Seven years is a good minimum guideline.

Longer can be even better.

The real estate market isn't broken. It's different.

The people predicting a massive housing crash are looking at a market that has certainly corrected. But correction doesn't always mean plummeting home values.

Sometimes the correction comes through:

That's what we're seeing in many parts of DFW.

The market has become more balanced.

And honestly, that's healthier than the frenzy we experienced a few years ago.

So, do I still recommend buying real estate?

Yes.

But I don't recommend buying simply because someone told you, "Real estate always goes up."

I recommend buying when you can afford the payment, you have adequate reserves, you like the property and location, and most importantly, you have a realistic plan to stay there long enough for the economics of homeownership to work in your favor.

Real estate is a long-term play.

Buy it like one.

Market statistics cited above are national or DFW-level data and should not be interpreted as a guarantee of future appreciation. Individual neighborhoods and properties can perform very differently.