New Braunfels, TX — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Texas·New Braunfels

Comal County · San Antonio-New Braunfels · population 116,477

Bargain huntersGrowing fastRenter-friendly
New Braunfels, TX
Image: Wikipedia · New Braunfels, Texas
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47
Cooling
Momentum score · 0–100

Where New Braunfels stands

15% off 5-year peak. population growing 6.5% per year.

Median home $352,129
1-year -2.8%
5-yr CAGR +1.8%
vs 5-yr peak -15.2%
Population +6.5%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2022-07$352k$230k$298k$365k$432k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
35/100
Car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
30/100
Minimal transit
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
93/100
Excellent for remote work
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$1,560/mo$1,321$1,542$1,763202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent109111100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 18.8
Lean buy

At a 18.8 price-to-rent ratio, New Braunfels is in the 'depends on horizon' zone. Buy if you'll be there 5+ years and value flexibility on the home; rent if you might move, want zero maintenance friction, or expect rates to drop.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
36 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
46 · w22%
Distance from peak
30 · w18%
Population growth
90 · w16%
Rent YoY
35 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
51 · w10%
Long thesis

New Braunfels has held up across the cycle: home values at $352,129 with +1.8% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

New Braunfels's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.

About New Braunfels

New Braunfels is a city in Comal County, Texas, with an estimated population of 116,477. It anchors the San Antonio-New Braunfels metro area. The population has grown 6.5% per year on average between 2020 and 2024 — among the faster-growing communities in the state. The median home value in New Braunfels is $352,129 as of 2026-04, down 2.8% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +1.8% annual growth, and the market currently sits about 15% below its 5-year peak. Rents in New Braunfels average $1,560 per month, down 2.0% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 47 of 100 (Cooling). Buyers may find more room to negotiate; sellers should price realistically.

Bull case

People are voting with their feet: population growing 6.5% per year since 2020 — that’s faster than ~80% of US cities.
The data is the data: New Braunfels has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 2-criteria momentum score on this page.

Bear case

Cooling: -2.8% over the trailing year — momentum has stalled.
15% off recent peak — buyers are getting through-the-cycle pricing, not the peak.

About New Braunfels (Wikipedia)

New Braunfels is a city in Comal and Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Comal County. The city covers 44.9 square miles (116 km2) and had a population of 90,403 as of the 2020 Census. A suburb just north of San Antonio, and part of the Greater San Antonio metropolitan area, it was the third-fastest-growing city in the United States from 2010 to 2020. As of 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates its population at 104,707.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

City facts

Area45.57 sq mi
Elevation620 ft
Motto''In Neu Braunfels ist das leben schöne'' (In New Braunfels, life is beautiful)
Density2434.89/sq mi

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Things to see in New Braunfels(Recreation and tourism)

  • New Braunfels Railroad Museum
  • New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
  • Guadalupe
  • Comal
  • Schlitterbahn
  • Buc-ee's
  • Unicorn Stadium
  • Sophienburg Museum and Archives

Extracted from the Wikipedia article. Names linked in the source — open the city’s Wikipedia page for details.

Playbook

Buyer

You have leverage. Negotiate price, ask for closing-cost credits, and don't waive inspection. Walk-away power is real in a Cooling market — use it.

Seller

Price aggressively (at or below recent sold comps) or be prepared to wait. Concessions — rate buydowns, closing costs, repair credits — are how deals close right now.

Investor

Cap rates are more attractive than they were 12 months ago but the appreciation tailwind is gone. Confirm tenant demand, vacancy rates, and exit liquidity before committing capital.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Comal County right now.

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Comal County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Cities like New Braunfels

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
60° / 39°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
95° / 73°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
232
~64% of year
Annual precip
29″ rain
1″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
High
Tornado
Very high
Wildfire
Moderate
Earthquake
Low
Flood
Very high

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the San Antonio-New Braunfels area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current New Braunfels listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
64%
Moderate climate
Median household income
$73,000
Texas state median
Top industries (state-level)
Energy/Oil & GasTech (Austin)Healthcare

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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