‘Wall Street to Y’all Street’: Why America’s wealthy trades city luxury for acres of Texas freedom
For millionaire business owner Frederic Lepoutre, the decision to move his family from the South Florida coast to Texas Hill Country wasn't just about a change of scenery — it was a lesson in efficiency.
While building a custom home in a place like Broward County can be a yearslong odyssey of red tape and soaring insurance premiums, Lepoutre saw his 11-acre Texas estate go from breaking ground to move-in ready in just over 12 months.
With an initial property tax bill of just $8 on his land and insurance costs one-fifth of what he’s paid for decades in the Sunshine State, Lepoutre is part of a growing wave of high-net-worth individuals proving that, in 2026, the Lone Star State isn't just winning on taxes — it’s winning on speed.
"I think it already has [surpassed Florida as the center of gravity]," Lepoutre told Fox News Digital. "First of all, you have the land for manufacturing. You don't have it here in Florida... it’s a huge state... and part of West Texas now, you hear about AI factories that are building up."
"I think it will if it hasn't already," Lepoutre’s wife, Lynn Lepoutre, also said.
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"Americans are voting with their feet. They want places that are livable. They want places that are workable. They want places that are sustainable and affordable," Texas REALTORS Chair Jennifer Wauhob told Fox News Digital. "And so I think this migration, as we call it, is really turning into a long-term shift."
Recent data from Texas REALTORS shows that one-third of new residents are coming from California, Florida, New York and Colorado, with 30% of interstate movers choosing to relocate to Dallas. Texas’ median home price currently sits at $335,000, below the national average of about $415,000.
While younger workers and families may flock to bigger cities and their suburbs, the semi-retired Lepoutres – who oversee National Textile and Apparel and invest in oil and gas – purchased their land in a remote area near Bandera and Kerrville, a few hours’ drive west of San Antonio. They had to purchase at least 10 acres per a county minimum mandate, and bought the land three years ago for $26,000 per acre.
Plans for a second home were long in the works, and Texas not only provided enough land for their project, but Lepoutre claimed the initial tax bill with agricultural exemptions was $8 per year (while the home itself awaits formal assessment) and the regulatory environment allowed for quick construction turnaround.
"It takes three years to build a house here. It took us one year from literally getting the ground ready to moving in. In Texas, it took us one year, and the only permit we needed was for the water well and the sewer system," Lepoutre said. "It’s the opposite [of Florida]. It’s a total 180."
"The highways, the infrastructure, they're quick. They move fast. There's no resting on their laurels," Lynn said. "If they're building a highway, it's finished. They get it from start to finish quickly."
"We were looking for peace, quiet, tranquility, privacy and a slower pace," Lynn added. "When we were looking online [at homes], it's either an older home, and we wanted to build a house together. We already pretty much knew exactly what our design would be. You couldn't find that [anywhere]."
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Their new home is off-grid enough that they had to build a private 600-foot water well and switchback mountain-style driveway, which makes package delivery a "nightmare" as items are often left at the bottom and must be retrieved by four-wheel drive. Additionally, there’s a remote-specific helicopter ambulance service membership that’s offered due to their rural location.
"We wanted to be somewhere where you can look at the stars at night and not see one light. You can't see your neighbors. The trees are still low enough where you can see out, the view from our house now is 40 miles," Lepoutre said. "It's very rare to see properties like this in America anymore."
"I've been [in Florida] since ‘88, so I'm ready for the change, and I just like the way of life in Texas and the people in Texas, and it's just a nice, refreshing place to be," Lynn said. "Everything's bigger in Texas."
"What we're seeing with this migration of all these people moving to our state is, it's creating a really steady demand for housing, and that spans to all levels. We're seeing a demand for entry-level housing, and we're still seeing a strong demand for luxury-level housing. So it's, right now, a really balanced, healthy market," Wauhob noted, "and all these people coming in here, it's just creating good things for Texas."
"I am a native Texan, but I did spend some time moving around the country for my husband's job. And I can say, having to live in other states, people who move here, they are very happy with how far their housing dollar goes," she continued.
As more and more companies dual-list on the NYSE Texas, Texas is also seeing executive relocations happen in waves. Wauhob briefly discussed how REALTORS work with state economic development teams to ensure there is enough housing to meet the rising residential and corporate demands.
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"We're really trying to be proactive. We don't wanna be trying to catch up after all these people get here. We wanna think ahead, plan ahead, and make sure that when people get there, we have infrastructure in place and we have healthy communities for them to move into," the chair said.
"I would say this does not feel episodic to me. If you look at the data, this has been going on for several years in a row now," Wauhob expanded. "We have a steady flow of people coming here. We're not seeing big surges, which is a great thing because we wanna have slow, steady growth. So to me, this is something to keep an eye on. I don't think it's gonna go away anytime soon… people are coming, and they’re not leaving."