Daniel Estrada

Founder of Sisu Development | Custom & Commercial Builder | South Texas | Sharing what I see in the market, on the job site & in the deal room.

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

Texas Q1 2026 home sales rose 0.7% overall. McAllen posted 17.5% growth. Texas REALTORS report released June 1.

McAllen outperformed larger metros. This points to resilient local demand even as statewide prices dipped slightly. For builders it confirms the Valley remains a relative bright spot.

Mortgage rates near 6.53% continue to constrain broader activity. Yet stronger sales volume suggests inventory absorption holds. Framing labor and land costs remain the bigger variables.

Takeaway: Prioritize projects in high-velocity local segments. Momentum favors steady production.

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

30-year fixed mortgage rate hit 6.51 percent. Freddie Mac, week of May 21 2026.

For McAllen builders this means another headwind on affordability. A 15 basis point jump adds about 25 dollars monthly on a 260K median home. At Valley income levels that difference still narrows the pool of qualified buyers.

National data shows new home sales dropped 6.2 percent in April as rates stayed elevated. Local framing and material costs already swing project math more than rates alone. Builders should price conservatively and watch incentives.

Takeaway: Lock in buyer commitments early while monitoring weekly rate moves.

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

$275K McAllen median sale price in April. Sales took 85 days versus 74 last year. From RGV framing crews this signals buyers wait for better rates on $260K homes adding $20 monthly P and I.

[X @X]

all you have to do is start posting

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

McAllen average home value sits at $229,034. Up just 0.6 percent over the past year. National prices climbed 1.2 percent in the same stretch. Here on jobsites we see steady demand but buyers moving careful.
Source: Zillow.

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

@DallasFed Texas added jobs at 1.7 percent in Q1 2026. Labor growth shows up slower in RGV trades than the statewide print suggests.

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

@NewsLambert Last year saw only 87 basis points of movement in the 30-year fixed. My lumber supplier in Edinburg says bids this spring sat frozen for 45 days straight. Tight ranges like that keep small crews from scaling past two projects at once.

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

@NewsLambert Fannie sees 30-year fixed stuck at 6.3 percent through Q4 2026. Here in McAllen builders locked in 6.8 percent last week on a 12-unit spec project.

[Aviva-Luxury Reseller 👛 💎 @avivafashion11]

Being a small account on X is WILD.

You write thoughtful content every single day, eagerly engage with everyone, and follow every “growth tip” people swear by…all for a handful of likes and the occasional comment.

Meanwhile, giant accounts are posting:

“Do you eat mayo?”
“Who remembers Blockbuster?”
“Would you date someone who drinks Diet Coke?”

…and somehow pull millions of views and thousands of likes and comments in under an hour 🫩

I’ve only been on X for 3 months. Has it always been like this?

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

The 25% tariff on Mexican imports was supposed to choke the border. Reynosa just posted 97.7% industrial occupancy.

In April the read was simple. New duties land, cross-border manufacturing stalls, the McAllen to Reynosa engine cools. McAllen EDC spent the month watching for it. It went the other way.

Tamaulipas booked $221M in fresh nearshoring investment and 1,485 jobs across Reynosa, Matamoros and the coast. Prologis sits at 97.7% on 5.5M sq ft. The reason holds up: goods built under USMCA skip the Section 301 China duties of 25 to 100%, so the tariff meant to punish the border widened Mexico's cost edge over Asia instead.

What it means for the next 90 days of my work: every plant that expands in Reynosa puts a manager, a quality engineer or a line supervisor on the US side of the river. They build and buy in McAllen, Edinburg and Mission. McAllen EDC alone carries 13 projects absorbing 753,000 sq ft, close to 1,000 jobs inside a year. That is commercial GC work on this side and custom homes for the people running the plants on the other.

Cheaper to build in Mexico. Then house that workforce in McAllen. I am watching Pharr bridge volume and two flex-space bids tied to supplier logistics.

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

@LoganMohtashami Hidalgo County active listings sit 9 percent below last May.

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

@NewsLambert @ResidentialClub McAllen single family permits hit 187 last month. National cycles miss how steady border trade keeps our subs busy even when rates sit at 6.8 percent. Local builds show demand holds firmer than 2008 comparisons suggest

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

@claudeai You should work something for Homebuilders, like take off, reading plans, estimating. Id been working in some skills and feeding him with real data but still way off with its numbers

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

@ClaudeDevs You should work something for Homebuilders, like take off, reading plans, estimating. Id been working in some skills and feeding him with real data but still way off with its numbers

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

McAllen inventory hit levels not seen in years. Active listings keep climbing while median price sits at $285K. Buyers now have choices but rates at 6.51% still add $140 monthly on a typical Valley loan. Steady work comes from reading the shift early.

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

2222 S. 77 Sunshine Strip in Harlingen. Empty Albertson's shell. UT System just dropped $42.3M to convert the 55,430 sq ft box into UTRGV Physical and Occupational Therapy. Opens spring 2027.

$763 per foot. Same range as new construction in South Texas. The savings come in 12 to 18 months of skipped dirt work, permits, and utilities. Existing parking and highway frontage already done.

Builders in Cameron and Hidalgo, watch the empty grocery boxes and dead anchors. That is where the next wave of institutional space gets absorbed.

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

@LoganMohtashami We closed two Spec homes in McAllen. Subcontractor crews remain fully booked through August. Tight labor still drives the real constraint more than rates right now.

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

National home prices now trail income and inflation growth. McAllen MSA median new build price sits at $265k with 4.8 months supply. Suppliers tell me concrete and lumber orders stayed flat last quarter. Affordability eases just enough for the next wave of local buyers entering the market.

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

@LoganMohtashami NAR survey response rate under 4%. Hidalgo County new home sales data shows first time buyers average 34 years old with strong trade wages. Local credit unions close 62% of our deals. Big national samples still miss border market cash flow.

[Daniel Estrada @BuiltByEstrada]

@LizAnnSonders Case Shiller 20 City hit +0.83% y/y in March. RGV median new build lot costs climbed 9% since last year while lumber stabilized. We close 3 custom homes this quarter. Affordability eases only for buyers with cash or strong local jobs.