Most of the coverage about Abilene's data center boom is written for people moving in or investing from out of state. Almost none of it is written for the people who were already here. If you've owned your home for years and you're watching all this happen around you, this one's for you.
The short version of what happened
Abilene became the first site of Stargate, the large-scale AI infrastructure project backed by OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank. The campus north of town brought roughly 6,000 construction workers into a city of just over 100,000 — in a market that was already short thousands of housing units.
Reported median rent in Abilene climbed roughly 42% year over year, from about $1,200 to around $1,700. Motels filled. RV parks filled. The city approved more RV capacity. Demand pushed outward into surrounding counties.
If you own here, you're sitting on an asset that behaved very differently over the last two years than it did over the previous twenty.
What this means for your house
Three honest observations:
- Your equity position is likely stronger than you think. A lot of longtime owners haven't checked in a while. If your mental number is from three years ago, it's probably low.
- Buyer demand is real but uneven. Well-priced homes in good condition are getting attention. That doesn't mean anything sells at any price — overpriced listings still sit here like anywhere else.
- Rental income potential has changed materially. If you've considered keeping a property as a rental, the numbers look different than they did.
The three real options
1. Sell
Makes sense if you were already thinking about it — downsizing, relocating, settling an estate, moving up. Strong buyer demand is a genuine advantage and you may clear more than you expected.
The catch nobody mentions: you have to live somewhere. Selling into a tight market means buying into that same tight market, or renting in one where rents jumped 42%. Selling high only helps if you have a plan for the other side — moving out of the area, moving in with family, or downsizing significantly.
2. Rent it out
Worth considering if you're relocating but not ready to give up the asset. Rents are elevated and demand is strong right now.
Be realistic about what you're signing up for. Being a landlord is a job — maintenance calls, tenant screening, vacancy, the occasional bad month. And current rents reflect a construction surge, not a permanent baseline. Underwrite to normalized rent, not today's peak.
3. Sit tight
Honestly the right answer for most people, and I'll say that even though it isn't the answer that pays me.
If your house works for your family and you have no reason to move, a hot market isn't a reason to move. Paper gains you can't access aren't income. Stay put, enjoy the equity, and revisit when your life actually calls for a change.
The one thing I'd do regardless of which option you pick: check your insurance coverage. If your home's replacement value has moved and your policy hasn't, you may be underinsured — and West Texas hail makes that a real exposure, not a theoretical one. Fifteen-minute phone call to your agent.
The timeline question
Here's the number I keep coming back to, and it's the one that should shape your thinking:
~6,000 construction workers now.
Roughly 357 projected permanent full-time positions after buildout.
Major construction is reported to run into early 2027. The demand pushing rents right now is overwhelmingly construction demand, and construction ends.
That doesn't mean values collapse. A significant piece of national infrastructure now sits permanently in Abilene, alongside Dyess, three universities, and a regional healthcare hub — a more diversified economy than this city had five years ago. But there's a real difference between "Abilene is stronger long-term" and "rents stay at 2026 levels forever." The first is likely true. The second almost certainly isn't.
If selling has been on your mind anyway, the window where both narratives are working in your favor is now rather than later. If it hasn't been on your mind, none of this is a reason to start.
What about property taxes?
The uncomfortable flip side of rising values. If your appraised value jumps, your tax bill follows.
Two things worth doing:
- Make sure your homestead exemption is filed. If it's your primary residence and you haven't filed, do it. It also caps how fast your taxable value can rise annually.
- Know you can protest. Texas gives you the right to protest your appraised value, and there's a deadline each year. If your notice looks out of line with what your home would actually sell for, protest it. Ask me and I'll pull comparable sales to support you — I do this for people who aren't even my clients.
What I'd tell a neighbor
Don't let headlines drive a decision this big. The boom is real, the numbers are real, and none of that changes whether moving is right for your family this year.
What I'd actually do: find out what your home is worth today, check your insurance, confirm your homestead exemption, and then make a decision based on your life instead of the market.
If you want the first part, call or text me at (254) 408-2442 or email me. I'll run a free evaluation and tell you honestly what I think — including "you should stay put," which is what I tell people more often than you'd expect.
Related: the investor's view of the same market, and how I market a listing if you decide to sell.
— Brittany Ferrell, REALTOR®
Sendero Properties, LLC
Market figures reflect publicly reported data as of mid-2026 and change quickly. Nothing here is investment, tax, or legal advice. Consult your own advisors before making decisions about your property.