Home / Market Data / Neighborhoods / Northwest Hills
Austin Neighborhood Guide
AUSTIN, TX · 78731
Highland Park, Mesa Park: established, quiet, and incredibly well-located. Mature trees, large lots, and the Doss to Murchison to Anderson feeder. 10 minutes to downtown, 15 to the Domain. One of the best-kept-secret family neighborhoods in Austin.
Source: Unlock MLS (ACTRIS). Median of the 12 monthly median close prices, single-family only, Aug 2025 - Jul 2026. Median sold price is not a guarantee of value for any specific property.
Deeper reading in the Relocation Guide: Northwest Hills. The guide's per-neighborhood figures are Q1 2025 and are drawn tighter than a ZIP, so they will not match the median above, which covers the whole ZIP over Aug 2025 - Jul 2026.
$1,220,153 is the median of the twelve monthly medians from August 2025 through July 2026, on 2,971 sales, running $1,000,000 to $1,512,500. The entry point is genuinely a million dollars, which surprises buyers who expect a discount for sitting ten minutes further out than central.
It is car dependent and the terrain is hilly, so walkability is limited and it is thinner on pocket parks and playscapes than some family neighborhoods. Most of the housing went up between the late 1950s and the 1980s, so unless a house has been through a real remodel you are often buying original systems, and the view lots can carry retaining wall and drainage costs.
They think of it as far out. It sits just west of MoPac, roughly seven to ten miles from downtown, which is usually a 15 to 20 minute drive, and Far West Boulevard handles most day to day errands. The bigger thing buyers miss is that the lots are the real asset here: quarter acre and up with mature live oaks, which is why so many original ranch houses have been remodeled rather than torn down. Bull Creek and Bright Leaf Preserve are the green space, not neighborhood playgrounds.
Austin ISD, and this is the strongest feeder in northwest Austin: Doss Elementary or Hill Elementary, then Murchison Middle and Anderson High. Murchison is Austin ISD's only International Baccalaureate middle school, Anderson runs the oldest IB program in Central Texas, and Doss is a National Blue Ribbon school with a Mandarin dual language program. That chain is the quiet reason values hold here. Which elementary you are zoned to depends on the street, so confirm by address.
That depends on the address, and the boundary runs through the neighborhood rather than around it. Both sides feed Murchison Middle and Anderson High, so the elementary is the variable. Confirm zoning by address with Austin ISD rather than assuming, because two houses on one street can differ.
It is what families pick when they want space and a central location and are not willing to trade one for the other. Large lots, quiet streets, and the Murchison and Anderson feeder. What you give up is walkability. This is a neighborhood you drive out of.
No pressure, no pitch. I'll tell you what fits and what doesn't, even when it costs me a sale.
Start the ConversationThe Relocation Guide sorts Austin into seven regions. These are the other North Central neighborhoods with a full guide on this site.
Neighborhood characterizations and any price bands above are Mike Vilece's own market commentary for the 2025–2026 edition, not verified market data. They need confirming for any specific property. This site does not host active listings, reach out and Mike will pull current inventory for you.