Housing in Waco
Waco's housing market has two real, distinct layers: an affordable citywide baseline ($275,000 median), and a smaller, higher-demand layer near downtown and Baylor shaped by the Magnolia/Silo District tourism boom and its documented short-term-rental effect.
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Learn moreCitywide median price -- affordable by national standards, appreciating modestly
Waco's citywide median sale price ran $275,000 as of the Redfin-reported period ending November 2025, up 3.1% year over year at $165 per square foot -- a modest, non-overheated appreciation pace. Luxury-tier homes sell far above this figure (one source cited an $861,940 luxury-tier median), so the citywide number understates what higher-end Waco properties actually cost.
A documented short-term-rental and investor-purchase effect near downtown and Baylor
Magnolia Market at the Silos' sustained tourism draw (over 2 million visitors a year since 2015-2016) has produced a real, widely reported trend of short-term-rental conversions and investor property purchases concentrated in the historic neighborhoods closest to downtown and the Baylor campus. Buyers targeting those specific neighborhoods should expect meaningfully more competition and higher per-square-foot pricing than the citywide median suggests.
Baylor-adjacent rental demand is a distinct, structural market segment
With 20,626 students, Baylor generates real, ongoing off-campus rental demand concentrated in neighborhoods within walking or short-drive distance of campus -- a distinct segment from both the citywide owner-occupied market and the downtown short-term-rental segment described above.
Key takeaways
- Citywide median sale price is $275,000 (Redfin, late 2025, up 3.1% YoY) -- affordable by national standards and appreciating at a modest, non-overheated pace.
- The Magnolia/Silo District tourism boom has driven a real, documented short-term-rental and investor-purchase trend concentrated near downtown and Baylor -- expect higher competition and pricing in those specific neighborhoods than the citywide figure suggests.
- Baylor's 20,626 students generate a distinct, ongoing off-campus rental-demand segment near campus, separate from both the citywide and downtown-tourism housing dynamics.
- Luxury-tier Waco homes sell far above the citywide median (one source cited an $861,940 luxury-tier figure) -- the median understates the top of the local market.
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