Thanks to a white-hot real estate market and a rising profile in nationwide rankings of Most Desirable Cities, Austin’s popularity among homebuyers has never been higher. If you’re one of the many Americans looking to put down roots in the Lone Star Capital, these neighborhoods provide an excellent starting point for your search.

Neighborhoods With the Most Homes For Sale

Austin has a large selection of neighborhoods that range from family-friendly to urban enclaves. As Austin continues its trend of urbanization, the quantity of luxury condos and high-rise apartment buildings steadily increases, particularly in central neighborhoods with easy proximity to city amenities.

A prime example can be found in Downtown Austin, the city’s central business district with easy access to public transit. Because of Downtown Austin’s convenient location and dizzying array of restaurants, bars, shops, and office buildings, the neighborhood features some of the highest home prices in Austin. Neighborhoods.com currently lists over 150 available homes in Downtown Austin, with a median sale price in the mid $400s. 

Directly opposite Downtown Austin with Interstate 35 as a barrier, the super-trendy (and rapidly changing) neighborhood of East Austin also counts among the city’s highest-inventory regions. According to current listings, East Austin has over 110 homes for sale at the moment, and the median sale price hovers in the low $400s.

For a family-friendly but still culturally-rich neighborhood south of Lady Bird Lake, try Bouldin Creek. Because this neighborhood includes more single-family homes than Downtown Austin or East Austin, average home prices skew higher, with a current median sale price in the low $600s.

Residential buildings in Downtown Austin

View homes for sale in Downtown Austin

Most Popular Neighborhoods

While Downtown Austin and East Austin remain consistently popular among homebuyers in search of the hippest restaurants and most critically-acclaimed nightlife destinations, homebuyers seeking a neighborhood for the long haul are setting their sights on lower-profile areas with unique vibes and family-friendly amenities.

An enduringly-popular enclave for UT students and faculty, North Loop features a solid stock of single-family homes, excellent schools, and quirky independent businesses. The neighborhood has a current median home sale price in the low $400s. 

South Lamar, a South Austin neighborhood with a burgeoning foodie scene and a rapidly growing inventory of newly-built apartments and condos, also tops regional lists of the hottest neighborhoods for homebuyers. At the moment, the median sale price in South Lamar stands in the low $400s.

Austin’s recent population boom resulted in an outward spread, with the city’s suburbs reaping the benefits of new amenities and an increasingly-competitive real estate market. A key example can be found in Rollingwood, a tiny town directly adjacent to the city that’s becoming a hot commodity among real estate buyers looking for larger homes and suburban perks like great schools and family-friendly neighborhoods.

Where Our Users Are Searching

Neighborhoods.com users in the Austin market seem especially interested in residential pockets directly adjacent to the Downtown Austin scene as well as master-planned communities on the city’s edges. The most visited Austin-area pages on Neighborhoods.com over the last three months include Austin’s Colony, Cherrywood, Avery Ranch, Circle C Ranch, and Clarksville.

Austin's Colony, a neighborhood east of Interstate 130 with close proximity to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, likely owes its search popularity to its extremely reasonable home prices, especially in comparison to the rest of the swelling Austin market. This family-friendly area features a median sale price in the high $100s, well below the city average.

Nestled between East Austin and Mueller on the eastern side of Interstate 35, Cherrywood blends the convenience of a close-to-downtown location with a quaint country-style vibe. Here, you’ll find plenty of independently-owned shops and eateries, neighborhood greenspaces, and quality public schools. In the mid $400s, the median sale price in Cherrywood is on the higher side for Austin neighborhoods.

Like Cherrywood, Clarksville possesses both a prime next-to-downtown location and a peaceful semi-suburban energy that appeals to families. The neighborhood’s fortuitous position in the city landscape drives up property values, resulting in a median sale price in the mid $600s. 

Families looking to settle in the Austin area flock to master-planned communities (MPCs) for the amenities, the safe and secure boundaries, and the favorable locations (close enough to the city to make commuting easy, but far enough away to allow for affordable square footage and space to spread out). Located on the far northern border of Austin, Avery Ranch counts among the most popular MPCs in the metropolitan area, with residents raving about its recreational amenities, charming houses, and reasonable prices (the median sale price is in the mid $300s). 

Another very popular MPC close to Austin, Circle C Ranch gets major rural-living points for its Texas Hill Country location, while also being within commuting distance from Downtown Austin. The single-family homes in Circle C Ranch sell for a median price in the high $400s. 

Homes in East Austin

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Most Expensive Neighborhoods

An upscale Austin suburb renowned for its public schools and serene suburban energy, West Lake Hills currently claims the title of “Most Expensive Community in the Austin area.” The vast majority of the housing inventory in West Lake Hills consists of single-family homes, with a median sale price of $1.8 million.

In the northwest corner of Austin proper, Balcones benefits from close proximity to UT, a strong reputation for top educational prospects, and riverfront access (resulting in high price tags). The median home sale price in Balcones currently stands in the mid $800s. 

Affordable Neighborhoods

Currently, the housing market in Cherrywood is gentler than the norm; while recent sales indicate a median price in the mid $400s, there are houses currently available for less than $400,000. Due to the neighborhood’s excellent location and amenities ideal for Austinites with school-aged children, you’ll want to take advantage of the area’s surprising affordability at the moment.

Another gently-priced Austin neighborhood with impressive cache for families is Windsor Park, just east of the UT campus. This single-family home area features reasonable home prices, plenty of greenspace, and quick access to highways. The median sale price currently stands in the high $300s.

Neighborhoods With Lots of New Construction

As Downtown Austin continues to grow its national profile as a major urban center, its housing inventory expands to reflect its rising reputation. Skyscrapers with luxury apartments and condos are currently all the rage in downtown, like Independent Austin, the current tallest building in town with apartments starting at $400,000, and 6X Guadalupe, a building poised to rise even taller than Independent, with apartments soon to hit the market.

The Austin suburbs are also in the process of welcoming plenty of new housing stock, largely in the form of MPCs. Meadows at Clearfork in Lockhart, TX recently burst onto the market, offering three- to six-bedroom single-family homes starting in the low $200s. Leander, another popular Austin “bedroom community,” also has single-family homes available for sale at its MPC called The Cottages at Crystal Falls, which are all designed with affordability in mind.