Did Your Home Gain or Lose Value in 2026? Garden Ridge, Schertz, Cibolo & New Braunfels Home Values

If you own a home in Garden Ridge, Schertz, Cibolo, or New Braunfels, you may have noticed something unusual about the 2026 housing market: two homeowners only a few miles apart can have very different stories to tell.

One may have watched comparable homes sell for less than they did last year. Another may still be seeing solid demand for a certain floor plan, price range, lot size, or neighborhood. A third may open a county appraisal notice showing one number while an online home-value estimate shows another.

That is why the question “Did my home gain or lose value in 2026?” deserves more than a one-number answer.

Through September 2026, housing data shows a market that has generally become more balanced and price-sensitive across Texas and the San Antonio–New Braunfels region. Texas Real Estate Research Center reported that statewide prices had stabilized by August after more than a year of modest annual declines, while San Antonio-area prices were still below year-earlier levels but experiencing less downward pressure.

At the same time, buyers are still dealing with expensive financing. Freddie Mac reported an average 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 7.24% on October 29, 2026, compared with 6.17% a year earlier. Higher borrowing costs reduce purchasing power, which can affect how much buyers are willing—or able—to pay even when they like a home.

So, did your house actually lose value? Maybe. But your city’s median price alone cannot answer that.

What Happened to Home Values in Garden Ridge, Schertz, Cibolo and New Braunfels?

For the clearest apples-to-apples directional comparison, Redfin’s three-month market figures ending in September 2026 provide a useful snapshot:

Redfin states that its figures are calculated from MLS and/or public-record data.

The broad takeaway is not that every Garden Ridge house lost 7%, every Cibolo house gained 0.7%, or every New Braunfels house stayed exactly flat.

The takeaway is that 2026 has not produced one uniform appreciation rate across the Northeast San Antonio–New Braunfels corridor.

Other reputable data reinforces that point while also showing why homeowners should be careful with broad statistics. Realtor.com reported September median sold-price changes of -5.47% in Garden Ridge, -2.84% in Schertz, +3.70% in Cibolo, and -5.49% in New Braunfels.

Why do those numbers differ from Redfin?

Because the sources are not necessarily measuring the identical group of sales over the identical time period with identical methodology. A monthly median can also change because the mix of homes sold changes. If more smaller or lower-priced homes close this September than last September, the median can fall even if the same individual houses did not lose the full percentage shown.

That distinction matters everywhere, but it is especially important in a smaller market such as Garden Ridge, where relatively few transactions can move a monthly or short-term median substantially.

A citywide median tells you what happened to the homes that sold. It does not automatically tell you what happened to your home.

What Does the 2026 Garden Ridge Housing Market Tell Us?

Garden Ridge has shown the clearest downward movement among the four markets in the Redfin comparison. The three-month median sale price through September was approximately $690,000, 7.0% below the comparable year-earlier period. Realtor.com separately reported a September median sold price of $634,224, down 5.47% year over year.

That deserves attention—but not panic.

Garden Ridge is a relatively small city, and its housing inventory includes properties that can differ considerably in lot size, age, renovation level, square footage, outbuildings, pools, and other features. A handful of higher- or lower-priced transactions can therefore affect the median more than they would in a much larger market.

For a Garden Ridge homeowner, the better questions are:

• What have genuinely comparable homes sold for?
• How long did those homes take to sell?
• Were they remodeled or dated?
• How did their lots compare?
• Did sellers make concessions?
• What competing homes were available when they sold?

Comal County data also shows why the city should not be viewed in isolation. Texas Real Estate Research Center reported a September 2026 Comal County median sale price of $444,495, compared with $427,450 in August, with 7.33 months of inventory in September.

That level of inventory signals that buyers have meaningful choices, making accurate pricing and property condition increasingly important.

Are Schertz Home Values Down in 2026?

Schertz looks much closer to flat than Garden Ridge when using Redfin’s three-month measure: its September-period median sale price was $368,819, just 0.32% below the same period a year earlier. Homes took a median 85 days to sell, compared with 65 days a year before.

Realtor.com’s monthly September data paints a somewhat softer picture, with a median sold price of $348,568, down 2.84% year over year, while active listings were up 12.12%.

Those figures point to a market where pricing discipline matters. A seller may still achieve a strong result, but buyers generally have more time and more alternatives than they did during the most competitive years earlier in the decade.

Schertz is also directly affected by major transportation construction along the Northeast I-35 corridor. TxDOT’s I-35 NEX Central project runs through Northeast San Antonio, Live Oak, Selma, and Schertz from I-410 North to FM 3009. Construction began in 2022 and the current estimated completion is late 2027. The broader I-35 NEX program ultimately extends toward FM 1103 in Schertz.

Infrastructure can influence long-term accessibility and development patterns, but homeowners should be cautious about assuming that a road project automatically adds a particular percentage to a home's value. Location relative to construction, traffic patterns, access, noise, and individual buyer preferences can all matter.

Did Cibolo Home Values Hold Up Better?

Among these four communities, Cibolo has shown the strongest year-over-year direction in the recent datasets reviewed.

Redfin reported a three-month median sale price of $327,294 through September, up 0.7% year over year. Realtor.com’s September median sold price was $350,000, up 3.70% from a year earlier.

Those numbers do not mean every Cibolo homeowner gained between 0.7% and 3.7%. They suggest that the overall pool of recent sales has held up comparatively well.

There are also signs of a more buyer-friendly environment underneath the headline numbers. Redfin reported that median time on market increased from 64 to 70 days, while Realtor.com showed active listings up 9.57% year over year.

That is a useful reminder: home values can remain relatively stable even as negotiating conditions improve for buyers.

What Is Happening With New Braunfels Home Values?

New Braunfels offers one of the best examples of why homeowners should avoid relying on a single headline statistic.

Redfin’s rolling three-month measure was essentially flat, with a September-period median sale price of $329,843, down only 0.048% from a year earlier. Realtor.com’s September monthly median sold price, however, was $334,408, down 5.49% year over year.

A separate HAR market report listed a September 2026 median transaction price of $347,400 from 191 transactions.

The numbers are different, yet the message is consistent: New Braunfels is a large, varied housing market, and one citywide number should not be treated as the value trend for every subdivision or property type.

New construction also plays an important role in New Braunfels and other growing communities along the corridor. Builder incentives, rate buy-downs, closing-cost assistance, and inventory homes can affect competition for resale sellers even when those concessions are not fully visible in a simple recorded sale-price comparison.

Why Could Your Home Gain Value While the Median Price Falls?

This is one of the most important concepts for homeowners to understand.

Suppose last year’s sales included many large homes selling above $600,000, while this year more homes in the $350,000–$450,000 range happened to close. The city’s median sale price could decline without proving that a particular $500,000 home itself fell by the same percentage.

Your home’s market value depends more directly on recent comparable properties and how buyers perceive your property relative to competing choices.

Factors that can make two homes in the same city perform differently include condition, updates, lot characteristics, floor plan, age, size, energy efficiency, location within the market, competing inventory, seller concessions, and how accurately the property is priced when it reaches the market.

Texas appraisal districts use a similar principle when performing mass appraisal. The Texas Comptroller explains that the sales-comparison approach compares a property with recently sold similar properties and adjusts for relevant differences.

Is Your County Appraisal the Same as Your Home’s Market Value?

Not necessarily.

This distinction causes a great deal of confusion for Texas homeowners.

Under Texas law, appraisal districts generally value taxable property as of January 1. The Texas Comptroller defines market value for property-tax purposes according to statutory standards, and appraisal districts frequently use mass-appraisal methods rather than preparing the same type of individualized market analysis used to price a home for sale.

Comal Appraisal District explains three separate figures homeowners may encounter: market value, appraised value, and taxable value. It defines market value as what the property would sell for as of January 1; appraised value may reflect statutory limitations; and taxable value is the amount remaining after applicable exemptions or special valuations.

Guadalupe Appraisal District also warned homeowners in April 2026 that a homesteaded property's tax liability may increase even when its market value decreases because of the way the prior year's homestead cap can affect taxable value.

So, if your appraisal notice increased while recent neighborhood sale prices softened, those two facts are not automatically contradictory.

Tax value, taxable value, online estimate, and probable resale value are related concepts—but they are not interchangeable.

Why Has the San Antonio–New Braunfels Market Become More Price-Sensitive?

One major reason is affordability.

Texas Real Estate Research Center reported in October that Texas inventory remained elevated and statewide sellers were making meaningful price adjustments. Its August data showed 5.3 months of statewide inventory and a median seller price cut of approximately $14,900, or about 4% of the original asking price. The Center also said San Antonio-area home-price declines were moderating but had not fully disappeared.

The San Antonio–New Braunfels metro had 14,105 active listings in September 2026, according to Realtor.com inventory data published through the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Meanwhile, mortgage rates moved above 7% again in the fall. Freddie Mac’s October 29 average of 7.24% was more than a full percentage point above the same week of 2025.

When buyers have more inventory to choose from and borrowing costs remain high, overpriced homes tend to stand out quickly.

How Can You Tell What Your Specific Home Did in 2026?

Start with comparable sales—not a citywide percentage.

A useful homeowner review should examine recent sales that are genuinely similar to your house, preferably considering:

• location and subdivision;
• property type;
• approximate living area;
• lot size;
• age and construction;
• condition and renovations;
• garage, pool, shop, views, or other meaningful features;
• sale date;
• days on market;
• original and final asking price; and
• known seller concessions when available.

Then compare that evidence with active and pending competition.

Closed sales tell us where the market has been. Active listings show what sellers are asking now. Pending sales, when reliable information is available, can help indicate where buyers are currently willing to engage.

For homeowners who are not selling soon, that exercise can still be useful for understanding equity and making decisions about renovations, refinancing, estate planning, insurance conversations, or future moves. It should not, however, be substituted for advice from a lender, appraiser, tax professional, attorney, or financial adviser when those specialties are involved.

When Should You Request a Home Value Review?

There is no need to wait until you are ready to place a sign in the yard.

A professional market review can be useful when you are considering selling within the next year, deciding whether a major renovation makes financial sense, evaluating a relocation, reviewing an inherited property, comparing a county appraisal with recent market activity, or simply trying to understand how much equity you may have.

The most useful question is not, “What did the average house do?”

It is:

“What are buyers paying right now for homes that compete with mine?”

That question gets much closer to the information a homeowner actually needs.

How Correa Realty Group Can Help

Online housing statistics are useful for understanding the direction of a market. They are much less reliable for answering what one particular property is worth.

Correa Realty Group can help homeowners review recent comparable sales, current competition, property-specific features, pricing trends, and the conditions buyers are responding to today. For someone considering a sale, that can also include a conversation about timing, preparation, positioning, and where improvements are—or are not—likely to make sense.

We serve Garden Ridge, San Antonio, New Braunfels, Schertz, Cibolo, and surrounding communities across Northeast San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country. Our goal is not to push homeowners toward a transaction. It is to provide enough local context to make the next decision with confidence.

Serving people, honoring stories means recognizing that a home is more than a statistic on a market report.

If you would like to know how your home specifically compares with the 2026 market, contact Correa Realty Group for a local, property-by-property review.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did home values go up or down in the San Antonio area in 2026?

San Antonio-area home prices remained under modest downward pressure during parts of 2026, although that pressure was easing by late summer. Texas Real Estate Research Center reported that San Antonio prices were still below year-earlier levels in August but that the pace of decline had moderated. Conditions vary substantially by city, subdivision, price range, and property type, so a metro-level trend should not be applied directly to an individual home.

Did Garden Ridge home values fall in 2026?

Recent market data indicates that Garden Ridge sale prices softened in 2026 through September. Redfin reported a three-month median of approximately $689,672, down 7.0% year over year, while Realtor.com reported a September median sold price of $634,224, down 5.47%. Because Garden Ridge is a relatively small market and its homes vary substantially, homeowners should use comparable individual sales rather than assuming their property declined by the citywide percentage.

Are Cibolo home values still increasing?

Cibolo showed modest positive year-over-year sale-price movement in the September 2026 datasets reviewed. Redfin reported a 0.7% increase using its rolling three-month median, while Realtor.com reported the September median sold price up 3.70%. At the same time, inventory was higher and homes were taking somewhat longer to sell, showing that buyers may have more negotiating room even while recent prices remain relatively resilient.

How much is my Schertz home worth in 2026?

Your Schertz home's value cannot be determined accurately from the city median alone. Redfin's three-month median through September was $368,819, only 0.32% below the prior year, while Realtor.com reported a September median sold price of $348,568, down 2.84%. A useful valuation should compare your home with recent sales similar in location, size, age, condition, lot, upgrades, and property type.

Are New Braunfels home prices falling?

Some 2026 New Braunfels datasets show price declines, while others indicate the recent market was close to flat. Redfin's rolling three-month median through September was down only 0.048%, while Realtor.com's September monthly median sold price was down 5.49%. The difference illustrates why one month's median—or one website—cannot establish the appreciation rate of a specific New Braunfels home.

Does a lower median sale price mean my house lost value?

No. A lower citywide median does not prove that your individual home lost the same percentage of value. Median prices can change because the mix of homes sold changes from one period to another. If more lower-priced properties sell this year, the median can decline even when comparable individual properties remain relatively stable. A property-specific analysis should focus on similar recent sales and current competing listings.

Is my county appraisal the same as what my house would sell for?

No. A county appraisal and probable resale price are not automatically the same number. Texas appraisal districts generally value taxable property as of January 1 using statutory appraisal rules and mass-appraisal techniques. Comal Appraisal District also distinguishes among market value, appraised value, and taxable value, which can differ because of exemptions and statutory limitations.

Can my property taxes rise even if my home's market value falls?

Yes, under some circumstances a Texas homeowner's tax liability can increase even when the appraisal district's market value declines. Guadalupe Appraisal District specifically warned homeowners of this possibility in its 2026 appraisal notice guidance because prior-year homestead-cap effects can influence appraised and taxable values. Tax bills also depend on exemptions and tax rates adopted by local taxing units.

When should I ask a REALTOR® for a home-value analysis?

Consider requesting a market analysis several months before a possible sale or whenever a major housing decision depends on understanding your equity. A local REALTOR® can compare recent closed sales with active competition and evaluate characteristics that broad online estimates may miss. Professional real estate guidance can be particularly helpful in smaller or highly varied markets such as Garden Ridge, where a limited number of sales can make citywide statistics less representative of an individual property.