What are homes in The Highlands selling for as new builds arrive?
Quick answer
More than a year ago for the typical home, and a little less per foot. The typical Highlands home sold for $720,000 over the past twelve months at $467 a square foot, as larger homes, some of them new builds, made up more of the sales.
What we analyzed
- 36 The Highlands homes sold in the twelve months ending October 20, 2026
- 9 The Highlands homes for sale as of October 21, 2026, 3 of them below their original asking price
- 3.0 months of inventory in The Highlands on the twelve-month pace, against 8.5 for Central Austin as a whole
Sources: Unlock MLS, pulled October 21, 2026. The Highlands is the MLS subdivision name, with its recorded spellings counted as one.
Selling above $1M? Part of this market never goes online
The figures on this page describe the public side of this market, the sales that were listed in the MLS. Above $1M in the Austin area, a large share of sales are never listed there and never appear online.
Those sales trade on a broker-to-broker private network, and I am a participating broker. Only the agents and brokers who do most of the business at this price point use it, and a surprising number of agents do not know it exists because they do not sell in this range. It covers homes, lots, ranches and condos priced over $1M, and much of it is waterfront or in the Austin core, West Austin, Westlake and Rollingwood, where prices run past $1.5M.
Sellers and their brokers use it for privacy: no public photos or floor plans, and no showings to buyers who have not been qualified.
Contact me for off-market private luxury listings you will never see online
57 homes sold by Watters International Realty in Central Austin in the MLS. That count is every home we listed and closed in Central Austin, and it doesn’t include a single buyer we’ve represented. Everything on this page comes from the same MLS record we used to price those homes.
Homes I’ve sold in The Highlands: 3.
How Central Austin as a whole is doing is on the Central Austin, TX market report, and the town and ZIP code tables are on the 78751 housing market report.
Last updated October 21, 2026. Sales data covers the twelve months ending October 20, 2026 (Unlock MLS via MLS Grid, the public MLS side only); listing inventory as of October 21, 2026. This page refreshes annually.
Why did the Highlands median rise while price per foot fell?
Bigger homes sold. The typical home that closed this past year had 1,543 square feet, against 1,200 the year before.
New builds were 7 of the 36 sales. Buyers paid $467 a square foot this past year against $482 the year before.
Sales rose to 36 this past year from 19 the year before. Buyers are coming out of the woodwork in The Highlands, and the price of a foot is still easing.
Table 1. The Highlands sales in each period, from the MLS subdivision records for The Highlands in Central Austin. Each row stands on its own. A median is left out when a period has fewer than 5 sales. Figures describe the public (MLS) side only. 9 The Highlands homes were for sale as of October 21, 2026. Source: Unlock MLS.
| Period | Sold | Median sale price | Price per square foot (median) | Median days on market | Share of original asking price | Median living area (square feet) | Median build year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twelve months ending October 20, 2026 | 36 | $720,000 | $467 | 23 days | 96.9% | 1,542 | 1963 |
| Prior twelve months (October 21, 2024 to October 20, 2025) | 19 | $627,760 | $482 | 11 days | 96.3% | 1,200 | 1952 |
How much do Highlands sellers give up on price?
Very little. Homes closed at 96.9% of original asking over the past twelve months, a balanced market for The Highlands as a whole by our rule, and your price point can shift that.
Supply is short, at 3.0 months at this year’s pace. Only 3 of the 9 homes for sale have cut their price.
Some listings still failed to sell. Over the past twelve months 34.5% of Highlands listings that reached an outcome expired or were withdrawn without a sale. That compares with 54.6% for Central Austin and 36.0% for the Austin metro. Above a million dollars these figures cover only the public side.
Which builders are working in The Highlands?
Legacy at 55th leads the builder listings, and Bonnet has one as well.
Table 2. Builders with new homes in The Highlands, as of October 21, 2026: 7 new-build listings for sale. Builder names come from the MLS record and our builder inventory; presence only. Source: Unlock MLS.
| Builder | New homes for sale |
|---|---|
| Legacy At 55th | 4 |
| Bonnet | 1 |
New construction made up 19.4% of this past year’s sales, so a resale owner here is often priced against a brand-new house a few streets away.
Where do Highlands price ranges stand?
Few ranges had enough sales to read. The $700,000s were the busiest, with 8 sales this past year.
Sell now, or wait?
That turns on your house more than the calendar.
- Sell now if your asking price is based on this year’s closed sales, not last year’s.
- Sell now if the home is move-in ready and on the larger side, the kind buyers paid for this year.
- Wait if you need last year’s price per foot; this year’s sales have not matched it.
- Wait if the house needs work that a buyer touring a new build down the street would hold against it.
While the home is coming soon, I offer it to my own buyer network first: 4,000 cash buyers in the black book, not counting buyers using traditional financing. You see every option, and you choose.
Your situation
If you own in The Highlands, the new builds going up on infill lots shape what a buyer expects at your price. How your house compares with them on size, finish and lot is the question that sets your number.
That comparison is specific to your street.
Before You Put Your Home on the Market, See the Homes You’ll Have to Beat
New construction keeps arriving in The Highlands, and the neighborhood numbers can’t say how your house stacks up against it. Request my complimentary Home Competitor Analysis for your address. You get:
- The new and resale Highlands homes a buyer would see alongside yours
- Which of those listings have already cut their price
- What we look at during the walkthrough
No obligation. The report for your part of Central Austin arrives within a minute; the pricing analysis comes after we walk the home. Nothing here promises a price, a timeline, or an outcome. 57 homes sold by Watters International Realty in Central Austin (Unlock MLS, all time).
About Watters International Realty in Central Austin
Watters International Realty is a Texas real estate brokerage, and I am its broker of record. This page is based on Unlock MLS data analyzed on October 21, 2026. 57 homes sold by Watters International Realty in Central Austin (Unlock MLS, all time).
See the homes you’d be competing against
You get the Highlands listings a buyer would compare with yours, which of them have cut, and a walkthrough before we talk price.
Contact me for off-market private luxury listings you will never see online.
No obligation. The report arrives within a minute; the pricing analysis comes after we walk the home. Nothing here promises a price, a timeline, or an outcome.
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- How much room does a Rosedale seller in 78756 have on price?
- Should you sell your Central Austin home now, or wait a year?
- Which homes will your buyer tour before your Central Austin home?
- Why are so many Central Austin listings failing to sell?
- What is your Central Austin home worth beyond the public record?
- What does the public record really show for Hyde Park sellers?
- What decides whether a Ridgetop home sells near its asking price?
- What does the public record show about selling a Rosedale home?
- The Austin seller hub
