“At the same time, to be able to afford a $200,000 house you have to have a minimum household income of about $55,000,” he said. “The number of people that make $55,000 or less has increased by 58,000 in Dallas-Fort Worth the past six years.”

Wilson said this means more people are competing for fewer properties in the $200,000 price range.

“Affordability is becoming a concern, but I don’t necessarily know if it’s a huge big red flag concern yet,” said Melissa Hailey, president-elect of Collin County Association of Realtors. “But there are definitely people who could have bought a house three years ago that can’t buy one today because they have been priced out of the market.”

According to CCAR data, the average home price in Frisco in January 2012 was $222,333, and the average price in May 2017 was $327,025.

“That’s a $100,000 increase from 2012 to 2017, and that’s huge; it causes people to not be able to buy,” Hailey said.

Market trend

A typical housing market increases 1-2 percent annually, Wilson said. But from May 2015 to May 2017, there has been a 7.3 percent increase in home prices across Collin County and specifically in Frisco there has been a 14 percent increase, according to CCAR.

Hailey said this is a trend that has been occurring since 2013, and she sees no indication that the market will change unless there is a major economic shift across the country. But people are continuing to move to Collin County.

“We have people relocate here for big corporations, smaller businesses, great schools and great housing,” Hailey said. “All of those put together is going to assist with us having a steadily increasing housing market, and Frisco is one of the hottest areas.”

Major Collin County developments taking shape along the Dallas North Tollway in Frisco and Plano have drawn thousands of workers to an influx of relocated headquarters and a range of companies big and small.

Wilson said since 2011, the Dallas-Fort Worth area has had “an incredible influx” of jobs—to the tune of 600,000 positions—which has put an increasing strain on the market.

“Those values and appraisals continue to increase because it is a direct result of demand created by new job centers opening up in new areas, such as Legacy West and the $5 Billion Mile, that continue to pressure on our market,” Nelson said.

Hailey said the advice she would give a consumer whose property taxes have gone up is to fight against it and to apply for a homestead exemption.

In Collin County, there were 58,065 protests filed by residents seeking to lower their property tax appraisals. In Denton County there were 45,000 protests filed.

“At the minimum, [people] can at least try and protest it and see what they can do,” Hailey said.

Another trend that seems to be occurring in Frisco is a number of investors who are buying and holding properties.

“We’re continuing to attract investors, people that realize there is more money to be made by buying properties and holding them and renting them out,” Nelson said.

Hailey said investors are holding onto properties in anticipation of the market continuing to grow and increase in value while turning them into rental properties.

“We’re building more apartments all over the place because we need rental properties that are available for people who can’t afford to buy, and that is definitely playing a factor in our market,” Hailey said.

The ‘California effect’

The recovery from the recession of 2008-09 and a flood of homebuyers from other states has also affected the affordability of the Collin County real estate market.

According to the January 2017 Texas Relocation Report, the total number of residents moving to Texas from out of state in 2015 increased 2.8 percent year-over-year to 553,032 incoming residents.

The highest number of residents moving to Texas came from California with 65,546 people, Florida with 33,670 people and Louisiana with 31,044 people, according to the report.

“What’s really kind of single-handedly held this market up is the fact that we’ve had so many people move in here,” Wilson said. “People need a place to live.”

The relocation report also showed 21,568 people moved to Collin County from out of state in 2015, making Collin County No. 7 of the top 10 Texas counties with the highest gains in out-of-state residents.