McAllen metro shifts toward a buyer’s housing market as Brownsville metro stays balanced in July

The Rio Grande Valley housing market, split across two metro areas, continues to sell more homes each month than last year through July, according to the most recent REALTOR data compiled by the Texas A&M University Real Estate Center. 

In the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area, there were 393 homes sold in July, up from 392 in July 2025, according to REALTOR data. 

About 20% of those home sales were in the $300,000 to $400,000 range, according to the sale price range data. Nearly 19% of home sales were in the $250,000 to $300,000 range, and 19% were between $200,000 and $250,000.

Roughly 16% were between $150,000 and $200,000 — representing 62 homes sold in the McAllen metro in July 2026. 

There are still 9 months of inventory on the market in the McAllen metro area, which means if the current pace of home sales continues, it would take 9 months to sell out. That is referred to as a buyer’s market because there’s more supply than demand. 

There were more than 3,200 active listings on the market in the McAllen metro as of July 2026, up from 2,891 in July 2025. And the median sale price is $249,000, down from $250,000 last year. 

In the Brownsville-Harlingen metro area, there were 253 homes sold in July 2026, up from 243 in July 2025.

Inside that dataset, about 21% of home sales were in the $300,000 to $400,000 range, 14% were in the $250,000 to $300,000 range, and 19% were between $200,000 and $250,000. 

Roughly 16% of homes were sold between $150,000 and $200,000 — representing 41 homes sold in the Brownsville metro in July 2026. 

There is about 6 months of inventory on the market in the Brownsville metro area, which means it’s a balanced market between sellers and buyers. 

There were 1,594 active listings on the market in the Brownsville metro, down from 1,659 in July 2025. While the median sale price declined from $274,000 in July 2025 to $255,000 in July 2026.

One key indicator that tends to mirror home sale volume is the nationwide 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate, which was about 6.75% in July 2025 and dropped slightly to 6.5% by July 2026. That interest rate was roughly 6.6% in July 2007 before the Great Recession and housing market crash of 2008. 

Formally, most economists are not predicting a housing market collapse because the current conditions are very different from those of the subprime mortgage issue in 2007, when too many loans were underwritten for individuals who were underwater and could not afford the mortgages, and the data was not accurately reflected by the bond rating agencies. 

By 2021, there was a period of record lows that led to interest rates in the 2% range, but they jumped back up in 2022 to the 6% to 7% range. 

The Federal Reserve Board sets the behind-the-scenes federal funds rate, which is the rate at which banks lend to each other but affects consumer interest rates as a result. The Fed has debated different philosophies about how to keep unemployment low, inflation at bay, and when to cut interest rates as demanded by consumers and business owners.

Another metric to watch that ultimately affects the housing market is affordability. 

South Region’s consumer price index, a measure of a comparable basket of goods conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed inflation increased by 3.2% over the year, including 0.1% in July 2026. The energy index jumped by 14.6% over the past 12 months ending in July 2026 — led by higher gasoline prices. 

The Rio Grande Valley falls within the South Region, and the index is not conducted at a hyperlocal level. 

Then there’s the median sale price, which has grown exponentially over the past decade in both the McAllen and Brownsville metros while wage growth has not kept pace with the combination of inflation, higher interest rates and updated housing stock. 

A housing market in the Valley that once had a choice selection of homes in the $150,000 price range simply no longer has the same options available, but there are more active listings and more inventory in some submarkets — albeit at much higher price points. 

For example, there was a 3-bedroom, two-bath new construction home in San Juan near the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 495 (which is Pecan Boulevard in McAllen) and North Cesar Chavez Road, spanning 1,579 square feet on a 5,937-square-foot lot, which sold recently with the latest listing price of $249,990. The home was initially listed in April for $251,000. 

The taxable value of the property was closer to $181,600 in 2026 and is $199,922 in 2027, Hidalgo County Appraisal District records show. 

Meanwhile in McAllen, a new construction home near North 23rd Street and Freddy Gonzalez Avenue spanning 3-bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms totaling 2,081 square feet on a 9,601-square-foot lot was listed at $450,000 in February 2025. 

The home was removed from the market and relisted in September 2025 with a price cut to $445,000. Another price reduction happened in March 2026 to $437,000, and it declined to $430,000 by May 2026, according to Realtor.com records. 

The sale price was not publicly disclosed, as is the case in Texas, but the home was ultimately sold by July 2026. 

The taxable value of the property was closer to $440,400 in 2026 and is $436,900 in 2027, Hidalgo County Appraisal District records show. The mortgage taken out by the buyer, which was financed by Rocket Mortgage, a major nationwide lender, was for $422,211, Hidalgo County deeds show. 

There will be a difference in the property taxes for each of those homeowners due to the county, city, and other taxing authorities next year, but it shows how much the market has changed.