The Dallas Cowboys and Real Estate Values

Growing up as the daughter of a coach, I have watched and cheered for the Dallas Cowboys ever since I can remember. I grew up near Houston at the time of the Houston Oilers and Earl Campbell.  I loved the Oilers but I loved Tom Landry and Roger Staubach of the Dallas Cowboys even more. Now that I live in North Texas,  I am even more aware of America's Team and as a real estate appraiser, I thought it would be fun to compare real estate values to the Dallas Cowboys win records. 

Let's take a look at the Dallas Cowboys records -

As you can see from the chart above, the number of Cowboy wins has fluctuated within the past 10 years with 2015 being the bottom. Wade Phillips become the head coach in 2007 following Bill Parcells.  The current coach, Jason Garrett took over mid-season in 2011.  The 2015 season was obviously the worst of this decade with only four wins.  This, however, is not the worst season in Dallas Cowboy history as they only won three games in 1988 (Tom Landry's last season as head coach), only one game the following year in 1989 (Jimmie Johnson's first year as head coach) and the worst season on record was their very first season in 1960 which the Cowboys had zero wins and one tie with the NY Giants (Tom Landry's first season). The Dallas Cowboys have won five Super Bowl championships and have made eight Super Bowl appearances, tied with the Denver Broncos for the second most appearances behind the New England Patriots which have nine. The Cowboys haven't won a Super Bowl since 1995 but they sill have a large fan base and they are the most valuable sports franchise in the world, followed by the New York Yankees. 

So, what does this have to do with real estate? 

Although the chart above depicts the median sales price compared to the number of Cowboy wins I am NOT suggesting that there is a direct correlation between the number of Dallas Cowboy wins and the price of home sales in DFW.  Truly, I just put the two stats together for fun as I kind of like to make charts!  The median sale price in this chart is the sale price of single-family homes in Dallas and Tarrant Counties of Dallas and Fort Worth. The median sales price for single-family homes began to decline in 2007 due to the housing crisis that impacted the entire US, not because the Dallas Cowboys got a new coach!!    The median sale price of homes bottomed out in 2011 and has been on a steady increase since that time.  The median sales price is up 52% from 2007.  There have been many different factors that have influenced the decline and increase of real estate values in the DFW area.  There has been a large population explosion in DFW with large companies such as Toyota Headquarters, Liberty Mutual, JP Morgan Chase bringing jobs and demand for housing.  With lower inventories and higher demand for single-family homes, the median sales price  for homes in DFW has increased substantially within the past five years.   

This is not to say that the Dallas Cowboys franchise does not have an impact on real estate in the DFW area.  It absolutely has had tremendous economic impact on Collin County and particular the city of Frisco.  The Star, Mixed Use Development with includes the Dallas Cowboys training facility just opened in Frisco one year ago with more to come. This development is a part of the $5 Billion  Mile in Frisco and real estate values in Frisco skyrocketed.  Frisco single-family median sales price has increased 50% in the past five years.

Not all impact is positive- 

Trulia did an interesting study on home values located within a 2-mile radius of  NFL stadiums.  For AT&T stadium, where the Dallas Cowboys play, home values have declined since the opening of the stadium in 2009 while other stadiums showed higher home values. Knowing the location of AT&T Stadium in Arlington,( location is key in real estate), it does not surprise me that home values have decreased in the area.  AT&T Stadium is not located near a downtown or walkable neighborhood.  Most everyone drives to the games and many other events at the stadium creating large traffic jams in and out of the area.  AT&T Stadium is located next to GlobeLife Park where the Texas Rangers baseball team plays and near the large Six Flags Amusement Park.  The addition of AT&T Stadium only added to the congestion of traffic in the area which would be a determining factor on whether to live in the area near the stadium.  

The timing of this post may not be the best. The NFL is currently in the news for issues concerning the lasting repercussions of concussions and issues of nationalism and socialism.  DirectTV is currently offering refunds for those who purchased the NFL Ticket. What does this mean for the future of the NFL?  What does this mean for the future of the Dallas Cowboys?  That remains to be seen.  For now, I will continue to watch and cheer for the Dallas Cowboys, wear my #82 jersey (Jason Witten)  and also continue watch and report real estate values in North Texas.