Real estate remains America's top long-term investment

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1. Real estate remains America's top long-term investment

For the 14th consecutive year, Americans ranked real estate as the nation's best long-term investment, according to Gallup's 2026 survey — a streak dating back to 2013 that's held through stock market swings, inflation, and rising interest rates.

Real estate led with 38% of respondents, ahead of stocks and mutual funds (20%), gold (18%), savings accounts (12%), bonds (4%), and cryptocurrency (2%). Gallup also found that stock owners themselves rank real estate ahead of stocks as the top investment.

2. Gov. Abbott announces $114 Million in housing tax credits

Texas is investing more than $114 Million in housing tax credits to help finance 70 affordable rental developments across the state. The funding, administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), will support the construction or rehabilitation of more than 4,400 affordable housing units.

State officials say this year's allocation is the largest in TDHCA history, boosted by a 12% increase in the federal housing tax credit ceiling.

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3. Catch up quick

💵 AI wealth helps drive an 18% jump in million-dollar home sales. (NAR)

🏠 Housing market splits as luxury sales outpace starter homes. (Zillow)

⚠️ CoStar cuts Homes.com sales team by nearly 40%. (Inman)

🤝 Compass joins the American Real Estate Association. (BusinessWire)

🏖️ Vacation-home mortgages rise faster than those for primary homes. (Realtor.com)

4. Fed holds rates steady as officials split on inflation

The Federal Reserve left its benchmark rate unchanged at 3.5%–3.75% for a fifth straight meeting, despite renewed inflation concerns tied to rising energy prices.

Three regional Fed presidents — Dallas' Lorie Logan, Minneapolis' Neel Kashkari, and Cleveland's Beth Hammack — dissented in a 9-3 vote favoring a quarter-point hike, the largest split among policymakers in nearly a decade.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh reaffirmed the central bank's commitment to its 2% inflation target while acknowledging that geopolitical tensions and higher oil prices are complicating the outlook. Core inflation eased to 2.6% in June, but officials remain concerned rising energy costs could spill into broader price increases.

5. Texas tops the nation for ranch real estate

The national median ranch listing price hit $769,000 in June 2026, up more than 112% over the past decade, compared with 66% for all homes, according to Realtor.com.

• Inventory remains below pre-pandemic levels, with 19,486 ranch listings nationwide versus more than 30,000 in 2019.

• Nine of the top 10 counties for ranch listings are in Texas, as are four of the five metros with the most inventory. Austin led with 727 listings in June, followed by Houston (640), San Antonio (564), and Dallas-Fort Worth (274).

• Texas also remains relatively affordable compared with premier ranch markets in the Mountain West. San Antonio's median ranch listing price was $968,000, a fraction of Jackson, Wyoming's nearly $7.9 million — the nation's most expensive ranch market.

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