Here’s How Home Prices Have Changed in Houston

Home prices are going up across the country, and Houston, Texas, is no exception. Home values in Houston have more than doubled in the last 20 years, and there’s no indication they’re coming back down anytime soon.

Not every Houston neighborhood has seen the same rate of increase, though. Some neighborhoods—like the Clinton Park Tri-Community neighborhood—have seen much narrower increases to their home values compared to their prices in the year 2000.

That said, Houston’s home prices are still going up at an alarming rate, especially since we’ve found that the city’s median income isn’t increasing as quickly. This is a huge problem for first-time homebuyers who don’t yet have equity built up to put toward mortgages for new homes.

Whether you’re a prospective homeowner looking to put down roots in Houston, a general contractor surveying the city for future development, or a realtor researching Houston’s housing market, keep reading. We’ve broken the data down by neighborhood to help you find Houston’s most and least affordable areas.

• In January 2000, Houston’s average home value sat at $125,344. In December 2021, it was $278,685.
• Between the years 2000 and 2019, Houston’s population went from 1,974,324 to 2,320,268, an increase of 345,944 people.
• The median household income in Houston increased by only 56.2% between 2000 and 2019, and it actually decreased in several neighborhoods.
• Out of the 88 Houston neighborhoods we looked into, only Westwood had home values below Houston’s overall average from 2000. Homes in Westwood are currently going for about $61,475.
• The average home price in the Afton Oaks‐River Oaks Area—Houston’s most expensive neighborhood—is $1,303,275.
• Over the last three years, Houston’s available home inventory has fluctuated a lot. The city’s December 2021 inventory of 25,486 available homes is the lowest it’s been since January 2018.

We ranked Houston’s neighborhoods based on their 2021 home values. While we looked at historical data as well, we didn’t factor past home values or value increases over time into our rankings. We used Zillow’s Home Value Index to gather our data about Houston’s current and historical home prices and Houston’s housing inventory.^[1]

For additional context, we also researched Houston’s population, demographic data, and median household income over the last 21 years. For population data, we used the United States Census Bureau’s estimates.^[2],[3]

We gathered demographic data and median household income data from the City of Houston’s website and the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.^[4],[5],[6]

1. Zillow, “Housing Data.” Accessed February 1, 2022.
2. United States Census Bureau, “City and Town Intercensal Datasets: 2000–2010.” Accessed February 1, 2022.
3. United States Census Bureau, “City and Town Intercensal Datasets: 2010–2019.” Accessed February 1, 2022.
4. City of Houston, “2011–2015 Demographic Information.” Accessed February 1, 2022.
5. City of Houston, “2019 Demographic Information.” Accessed February 1, 2022.
6. United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Houston.” Accessed February 1, 2022.