Living in
UNIVERSITY PLACE

Written by Eric Duran — Founder and Realtor, The Fort Real Estate · Updated November 2, 2026

The short answer: University Place is the closest neighborhood to TCU and one of the slowest to sell. 12 homes closed in the twelve months to November 2026 at a $755,000 median and about $313 a square foot, going under contract in a median 38 days at 94.3% of list. Half a mile from the main campus — an 11-minute walk — and it still takes three times as long to get a contract as Tanglewood, which is two miles further out.

Proximity to campus is not what drives price in 76109. That is the single most useful thing to know before you shop here. University Place is a 2-minute drive from TCU and closes at $755,000; Tanglewood is a 7-minute drive and closes at $993,000 in a median 12 days. If you are paying a premium to be walkable to campus, make sure that is what you actually want, because the market is not paying it.

This is the oldest housing stock in 76109. Among homes sold in the past year the median was built in 1933 and measured 2,605 square feet — four of the twelve closings date to the 1920s and six to the 1930s. These are pre-war two-storeys on small lots, not post-war ranch, and they come with pre-war systems. The median-priced sale of the year was a 1925 six-bedroom on University Drive, 2,580 square feet, which closed at $700,000 after 151 days on the market. Budget for inspection findings and read the mechanical dates before you fall in love with the woodwork.

If you are buying here to rent to students, one city rule decides more than the price does. University Place sits inside the TCU Residential Overlay District, where the occupancy cap is three unrelated persons. A six-bedroom half a mile from campus sounds like an obvious student rental until you count the beds you are allowed to fill. Run the overlay before you run the numbers.

Inventory is the other half of the story. At this pull there were no single-family homes on the market in University Place at all — one condo listed, one house under contract, and nothing else. Twelve closings a year in a neighborhood this small means roughly one sale a month. If you want in, the move is to be ready before something comes up rather than to go looking.

Lily B. Clayton Elementary is the zoned campus, and it is worth knowing that the school building sits in 76110 while the homes it serves here are in 76109. The Texas Education Agency rated it a B, 86 out of 100, in its 2026 accountability ratings — 461 students, 95.6% attendance, 13.9 students per teacher, the smallest class sizes of any elementary on this site. Being in 76109 does not put you in the Overton Park or Tanglewood zone; attendance zones are drawn address by address, Fort Worth ISD is in the middle of a boundary revision running through 2029, and a transfer is never a guarantee. I run that check for every client before they write an offer.

Westcliff is the next neighborhood south, wider in price and slower still. Overton Park and Tanglewood sit further out and cost more.

Moving to Fort Worth for TCU? Living Near TCU puts University Place side by side with the other neighborhoods around campus — drive times, walk times, and the occupancy rules that apply closer to the university.