If a new prediction is accurate, the median home price in Dallas-Fort Worth would reach at least $316,000 in 2021, and home sales growth would surpass that of Texas’ three other major metro areas.

Realtor.com predicts DFW will see combined sales and price growth of 15.7 percent next year in the housing market compared with 2020. That figure puts it at No. 22 in Realtor.com’s ranking of the top 100 major metro areas; it’s the highest ranking among the state’s four major metros. DFW’s 15.7 percent number breaks down to 11.3 percent for sales growth and 4.4 percent for price growth.

If Realtor.com is correct, the 4.4 percent growth rate for home prices could push the median home price in DFW to more than $316,800 in 2021 from $303,500 in October. That growth rate would be welcome news, though. From October 2019 to October 2020, the median price of a home in DFW jumped 12.4 percent, according to the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

Meanwhile, projected sales growth of 11.3 percent would make for a busy 2021 for DFW homebuyers and home sellers. Spurred by historically low mortgage interest rates, a record-setting 12,829 homes were sold in DFW in July, the Texas A&M center says.

“We expect a healthy level of growth across Texas metros in 2021, with prices expected to rise 4 to 5 percent in each of the major metros and sales expected to grow between 5 and 11 percent over 2020,” says Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “An improving economy that drives strong job growth is a big contributing factor in these metros, in addition to above-average household growth.”

“Younger buyers are already doing well in most of these markets,” Hale adds, “and because they make up an above-average portion of the population in these metros, we expect them to contribute to healthy sales growth.”

Elsewhere in Texas:

Austin could be the state’s most challenging market in 2021 for younger homebuyers, Hale says. That’s because Austin is a competitive market where the median home price surged 19.7 percent from November 2019 to November 2020, she says, and because hefty down payments “are a big hurdle for first-time buyers.”

Among the state’s four major metros, Austin ranks second in the Realtor.com forecast. Its national ranking sits at No. 37, with year-over-year sales growth pegged at 8.6 percent and year-over-year price growth projected to be 4.6 percent for a combined total of 13 percent.

At No. 47 nationally is San Antonio. There, the sales growth rate in 2021 is expected to be 7.2 percent and the price growth rate is predicted to be 4.3 percent for a combined total of 11.5 percent.

Houston lands at No. 61 on the Realtor.com list. The website envisions 5.3 percent growth for sales and 4.6 percent growth for prices for a combined total of 9.9 percent.

At No. 16, El Paso is the top-ranked Texas market in the Realtor.com forecast. The combined 17 percent growth rate envisioned for 2021 comprises 10.6 percent growth in sales and 6.4 percent growth in prices.

Here are the top five metro markets in Realtor.com’s outlook:

1. Sacramento, California, 24.6 percent overall growth rate
2. San Jose, California, 21.6 percent overall growth rate
3. Charlotte, North Carolina, 19 percent overall growth rate
4. Boise, Idaho, 18.9 percent overall growth rate
5. Seattle, 18.4 percent overall growth rate