Park Cities and Preston Hollow Home Sales, Fall 2026: What the NTREIS Numbers Show

Here is the short version, before your coffee gets cold: across Highland Park and University Park, single-family homes that closed between August 14 and November 12, 2026 sold for a lot more than they did over the same 13 weeks a year earlier. In Highland Park, the median closed price was $4,370,000, up from $2,690,000. In University Park, it was $3,782,800, up from $2,497,500. Preston Hollow's $2 million-and-up tier rose too, though less sharply. All of these figures come from closed sales in NTREIS, the North Texas MLS.

The Agency Dallas represents buyers and sellers in Highland Park, University Park and Preston Hollow every week; our Highland Park guide, University Park guide and Preston Hollow guide cover each neighborhood in more detail.

If you only ever skim one market report, the headline is not "prices jumped 60 percent." Nobody's house got 60 percent more valuable over the summer. What happened is more interesting, and it matters a great deal if you are about to buy or sell. The mix of homes that sold shifted hard toward the top of the market. More finished, larger, newer homes traded, and they pulled the median up with them. Below, we walk through what the numbers say, what they do not say, and what we would do with them if this were our house.

What did homes sell for in Highland Park in fall 2026?

Twenty single-family homes in the Town of Highland Park closed between August 14 and November 12, 2026, according to NTREIS. That is up from 17 over the same window in 2025. Small numbers, yes, but Highland Park is a small town with very few homes, and 20 closings in 13 weeks is a healthy pace for it.

• Median closed price: $4,370,000 in fall 2026, versus $2,690,000 in fall 2025.
• Median price per square foot: about $894, versus about $787 a year earlier, a rise of roughly 14 percent.
• Sales at $5 million or more: 6, versus 3.
• Total closed volume: about $92.5 million, versus about $52.9 million.
• Price range of closed sales: $1,425,000 to $11,468,875.

Look at price per square foot first. It is the steadier number because it adjusts for the size of the homes that happened to sell. A 14 percent rise in price per foot is strong, but it is a long way from the 62 percent jump in the median. The gap between those two figures is the mix shift. The median Highland Park home that sold this fall was about 4,400 square feet, and six of the twenty were $5 million-plus estates. Last fall, the sales skewed toward smaller and older houses.

What did homes sell for in University Park in fall 2026?

University Park tells the same story with a twist. Thirty single-family homes in the City of University Park closed between August 14 and November 12, 2026, down from 36 in the same window last year. Fewer sales, but much bigger ones.

• Median closed price: $3,782,800 in fall 2026, versus $2,497,500 in fall 2025.
• Median price per square foot: about $811, versus about $692, a rise of roughly 17 percent.
• Sales at $5 million or more: 10, versus 2.
• Total closed volume: about $112.5 million, versus about $100.1 million.
• Price range of closed sales: $1,095,000 to $8,100,000.

Ten University Park sales at $5 million or more in 13 weeks is the number that jumps out. That tier used to be mostly a Highland Park story. University Park's newer construction on larger lots north of Lovers Lane and around the school campuses has pushed it firmly into the same conversation. Again, the price-per-foot gain, about 17 percent, is the better read on how much the market itself moved. The median moved more because the homes that sold were bigger and newer.

How did Preston Hollow's luxury tier compare?

Preston Hollow does not have its own city limits, so we measured it a specific way: single-family homes inside the City of Dallas in ZIP codes 75220, 75225, 75229 and 75230, priced at $2 million or more, that closed between August 14 and November 12. That captures the estate streets and the newer construction west of the Tollway without mixing in the starter homes that also share those ZIP codes.

• Closed sales: 53 in fall 2026, versus 66 in fall 2025.
• Median closed price: $3,175,000, versus $2,875,000, up about 10 percent.
• Median price per square foot: about $574, versus about $504, up about 14 percent.
• Sales at $5 million or more: 7, versus 6.
• Total closed volume: about $182.4 million, versus about $217.8 million.

Preston Hollow posted the same roughly 14 percent gain in price per foot as Highland Park, on fewer sales. Last fall's window included a $14 million-plus closing that this fall's did not, which explains most of the drop in total volume. Strip that one sale out and the two periods look much closer. Preston Hollow's luxury buyers are paying more per foot, but there were simply fewer of them closing this fall.

Why did the median jump so much more than price per square foot?

This is the single most useful thing to understand in this report, so here it is in plain terms. A median is just the middle sale. If last fall's middle sale was a 1950s cottage on a 50-foot lot and this fall's was a five-year-old 5,000-square-foot house, the median will leap even if neither house gained a dollar in value. Here is what drove the shift.

1. More top-tier sales. Across both Park Cities towns, sales at $5 million or more went from 5 last fall to 16 this fall.
2. Bigger homes. The median closed home in University Park this fall was close to 4,900 square feet. In Highland Park it was about 4,400.
3. Fewer lot-value sales. Teardown-priced sales still happen, but they were a smaller share of the closings this fall.
4. Real appreciation underneath it all. Price per square foot rose about 14 percent in Highland Park, 17 percent in University Park and 14 percent in Preston Hollow's $2 million-plus tier. That part is genuine.

So if a neighbor tells you Park Cities prices went up 60 percent, smile politely. The honest number for what a typical house gained is closer to the price-per-foot change, and even that depends heavily on the specific house, street and lot.

What does this mean if you are selling in the Park Cities?

Strong buyer appetite at the top is good news for sellers, but it does not lift every house equally. Here is how we would think about it.

• Finished, updated homes are the clear winners. The $5 million-plus sales were overwhelmingly newer or substantially renovated homes. Buyers at that level are paying for move-in condition.
• Lot value still sets the floor. In Highland Park especially, the land is a large share of the price. If your house needs major work, the buyer may be a builder, and the math is very different. Our post on renovating versus tearing down an older Park Cities home walks through how that decision usually plays out.
• Price per foot comparisons need care. A $900-per-foot figure means little without matching lot size, age, finish level and street. Two houses a block apart can be hundreds of dollars per foot apart.
• Timing matters less than preparation. Homes that were priced right and presented well sold this fall regardless of the season.

What does this mean if you are buying?

Buyers face the mirror image. The finished, large homes are where the competition is. A few practical points:

• Expect to pay for condition. If you want a home that needs nothing, budget for the price-per-foot levels above, and possibly more on the best streets.
• The value play is in the middle. Solid homes that need cosmetic updates, not a full rebuild, often trade at a meaningful discount per foot to finished product.
• University Park offers more inventory. With 30 closings versus Highland Park's 20 over the same window, University Park simply has more homes changing hands. That can mean more choice.
• Preston Hollow gives you more house per dollar. At about $574 per foot in the $2 million-plus tier, Preston Hollow buyers are paying roughly a third less per foot than in Highland Park, usually on larger lots.

How do Highland Park, University Park and Preston Hollow compare side by side?

Putting the fall 2026 numbers next to each other makes the differences easy to see.

• Highland Park: 20 sales, median $4,370,000, about $894 per square foot, 6 sales at $5 million or more.
• University Park: 30 sales, median $3,782,800, about $811 per square foot, 10 sales at $5 million or more.
• Preston Hollow, $2 million and up: 53 sales, median $3,175,000, about $574 per square foot, 7 sales at $5 million or more.

The Park Cities command a large price-per-foot premium because of the two towns' own schools, services and very limited land. Preston Hollow trades that for larger lots, more privacy and a wider range of home styles. Neither is the right answer for everyone. If you are weighing the two, our comparison of Preston Hollow and Highland Park goes deeper.

What should you watch heading into 2027?

• Interest rates. Many top-tier buyers pay cash or borrow against other assets, but rates still shape the move-up market below them.
• Corporate relocations. New headquarters and finance offices moving to Dallas keep bringing high-income buyers into the market, and the Park Cities and Preston Hollow are usually near the top of their lists.
• New construction supply. Builders keep replacing older homes in all three areas. That adds finished inventory at the top and removes older homes from the lower end.
• Preston Hollow zoning and density. Recent votes on projects like the Preston Royal high-rise will shape how parts of Preston Hollow feel over the next decade.

For the broader Dallas picture, our October 2026 Dallas luxury market report covers the wider metro.

How we measured these numbers

All figures are single-family residential closings recorded in NTREIS (North Texas Real Estate Information Systems) with closing dates from August 14 through November 12, 2026, compared with August 14 through November 12, 2025. Highland Park and University Park figures cover homes inside each town's city limits. The Preston Hollow figures cover single-family homes in the City of Dallas within ZIP codes 75220, 75225, 75229 and 75230 priced at $2 million or more. Price per square foot uses the living area reported in NTREIS. Medians are rounded. Because these are small samples, a handful of large sales can move any one figure, so read them as a snapshot, not a forecast. Figures include sales by all brokerages, not only The Agency Dallas.

If you are weighing a sale, The Agency Dallas can prepare a home valuation for your address, or you can reach our team through our contact page.

Frequently asked questions