Denton County is not one market. 21 cities recorded 500 or more sales each, across 5,296 subdivision names, and the largest of those is 1.0% of the county. It is the second largest market I measure and the hardest to generalise about.
Denton County runs north and east of Fort Worth. Travel time varies a great deal across a county this size, so the fee reflects where in it the property sits rather than a flat county rate.
Denton County recorded 41,339 closed single-family sales across three years, which makes it the second largest market in this analysis behind Tarrant. What it does not have is a centre.
Twenty-one separate cities recorded 500 sales or more. Their medians run from the low $300,000s to well past $800,000 within the same county and the same appraisal district. A county-wide figure — the median sale here was $451,000 — describes almost none of them accurately.
The subdivision picture is the same problem one level down. 5,296 subdivision names across those sales, and the largest, Pecan Square, is 1.0% of the county. The top five together are 4.7%. Only Arlington is more fragmented among the markets I measure.
Which means the first decision on a Denton County assignment is not which comparables to use. It is which market the property is actually in, and that question has to be answered from the property rather than from the county line.
The median Denton County house that sold was built in 2015, and 50.9% of sales were built in 2015 or later.
| Year built | Sales | Median price | Median $/sf | Median size | Median days to contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1980 | 2,689 | $339,100 | $203 | 1,711 sf | 27 |
| 1980–1999 | 7,700 | $443,000 | $218 | 2,119 sf | 21 |
| 2000–2014 | 9,897 | $499,500 | $204 | 2,591 sf | 35 |
| 2015 and later | 21,053 | $465,000 | $196 | 2,454 sf | 63 |
Two things in that table run against intuition, and both matter to a grid.
The newest houses are the cheapest per foot at $196, below every older cohort and well below the 1980s and 1990s stock at $218. And they sell for less in total than the 2000–2014 houses despite being newer, because they are smaller: 2,454 square feet against 2,591.
They also take three times as long. Sixty-three days to contract against twenty-one for the 1980s and 1990s stock. On a county median of 43 days, essentially the whole of the slowness is the new-construction cohort.
So an age adjustment taken from intuition runs backwards here, and a reasonable exposure time taken from the county median overstates the older stock by half and understates the new by a third. Both figures belong in a report by cohort rather than county-wide.
Only 5.2% of Denton County sales sit on an acre or more, and 0.6% on five acres or more. That scarcity shows up directly in the price.
| Lot size | Sales | Median price | Median $/sf | Median days to contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under a quarter acre | 33,695 | $425,000 | $198 | 44 |
| A quarter acre to an acre | 5,520 | $673,887 | $223 | 31 |
| One to five acres | 1,884 | $800,000 | $266 | 52 |
| Five acres and up | 240 | $1,205,000 | $365 | 74 |
The median five-acre-plus property in Denton County sold for $1,205,000 at $365 per square foot — nearly double the per-foot rate of the small-lot housing that makes up four fifths of the county. On 240 sales in three years.
That combination, a large value differential measured on a thin sample, is the hardest thing to appraise well. It is also where a county-wide per-foot rate does the most damage, and where the shape of the price-per-acre curve has to be worked rather than assumed.
One data caution worth stating. The MLS acreage field is populated with the square-foot figure instead on 7.6% of Denton County records. Every lot size on this page is derived from the square-foot field for that reason.
Across 60,928 resolved listings, 32.2% failed — expired, cancelled or withdrawn. Measured by address rather than listing it is 17.6%, on 1.24 listings per address.
| Price | Closed sales | Median days to contract | Listings that failed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $300,000 | 4,156 | 38 | 25.1% |
| $300,000–450,000 | 16,192 | 43 | 29.0% |
| $450,000–650,000 | 11,308 | 49 | 31.7% |
| $650,000 and up | 9,683 | 39 | 38.0% |
And 55.9% of Denton County sales closed with a seller-paid amount. On a market this weighted toward new construction that is unsurprising, but it means more than half the recorded prices overstate what the seller netted. A grid that treats them as cash-equivalent is carrying a systematic upward bias — the same problem worked through in what the sticker price hides.
If this is an estate or a date-of-death valuation, the first job is establishing which of the county’s twenty-one markets the property belongs to, because a Denton County average describes almost nothing. The reasonable exposure time then follows the build cohort rather than the county: 21 days for the 1980s and 1990s stock, 63 for anything built since 2015.
If this is a divorce, the uniformity of the new-construction housing means the differences between two apparently identical houses come down to lot, elevation, builder options and what was done after closing. None of it is in the record and all of it has to be observed.
If this is a tax protest, mass appraisal works comparatively well on uniform housing, which is most of this county. Where it breaks down is on acreage and on the concession question, and that is what an individually developed opinion isolates.
If you are selling, two numbers are worth knowing before you set a price: new construction here takes a median 63 days, and more than half the comparable sales closed with the seller paying something back. Neither is visible in a list of recent sale prices.
Appraisal client
“His report was so detailed and included additional information on the surrounding comparables and housing trends. I found it to be a very accurate and fair appraisal.”Leigh Frazier · Google review
Yes. Denton County is part of my coverage along with Tarrant, Parker, Johnson, Hood and Ellis. Assignments are one-to-four unit residential and residential land, consistent with a Texas Certified Residential credential. Because the county is large, I quote the fee against where in it the property sits rather than applying a flat county rate.
$451,000 across 41,339 closed single-family sales over three years, with a median 43 days to contract. That county figure is of limited use on its own, because twenty-one separate cities recorded 500 sales or more and their medians range from the low $300,000s to well past $800,000.
Because the current build cycle produced smaller houses than the one before it, and the market prices the total rather than the footage. Houses built since 2015 run a median $196 per square foot against $218 for the 1980s and 1990s stock and $204 for the 2000 to 2014 cohort, and they are smaller at 2,454 square feet against 2,591. An age adjustment taken from intuition runs backwards here.
A median 43 days to contract county-wide, but that figure is almost entirely driven by the new-construction cohort. Houses built between 1980 and 1999 go under contract in a median 21 days; houses built since 2015 take 63. For an estate or a divorce where a reasonable marketing period matters, the figure for the relevant build era is the one that belongs in the report.
It depends heavily on the size of the tract, and acreage is scarce here — only 5.2% of sales sit on an acre or more and 0.6% on five or more. The median property above five acres sold for $1,205,000 at $365 per square foot, against $198 for the small-lot housing that makes up four fifths of the county. A large differential measured on 240 sales in three years is exactly where a county-wide rate does the most damage.
It depends on the property, the assignment and where in the county it sits, since travel time varies considerably across a county this large. I quote a written fee and a firm delivery date before any work begins, usually within one business hour, and the fee is never contingent on the value reported.
Written fee quote, typically within one business hour. Send the address and the reason you need the value — estate, divorce, tax protest, pre-listing — and I will confirm the fee and a delivery date before any work starts.
Would you rather not type it out? Call or text (817) 903-4509.