Find the right home in Celina, at the right price.

Celina had 16,739 residents in the 2020 census and an estimated 64,427 by July 2025, and the Census Bureau's May 2026 release ranked it first in the nation for growth among cities over 20,000 people. Most of that growth is new master-planned communities on former farmland north of Prosper, along Preston Road and the coming Dallas North Tollway extension. The city covers about 48 square miles across Collin and Denton counties, so there is still plenty of land left to build on.

For tax year 2025, a Celina home in Collin County and Celina ISD paid about 2.02% combined (city 0.5764, Celina ISD 1.2089, Collin County 0.1493, Collin College 0.0812 per $100), and the Denton County side ran about 1.97%. On a $512,000 home at 2.02% that is about $10,300 a year, or roughly $860 a month, before exemptions; the $140,000 school homestead exemption brings a typical owner-occupied bill to about $8,500 a year (about $710 a month). Light Farms sits in Collin County MUD No. 1, which added 0.89 per $100 in 2025 (about $4,560 a year more on that same home), and Celina lists 31 PIDs, such as Ten Mile Creek, where a 60-foot lot's 2026-27 installment is $4,796.92. For 2026 the city lowered its rate to 0.571677 and Celina ISD set 1.2088.

Ask for the full tax picture on every Celina home before you write an offer: the school district, whether it is in a MUD (Light Farms adds 0.89 per $100) or one of the city's 31 PIDs, and the HOA dues. A PID installment can run several thousand dollars a year, and it follows the house, so it belongs in your payment math alongside the interest rate. In a market where homes average 72 days to pending, builder rate buydowns and resale seller credits are both worth negotiating.

That supply is the lesson. With builders still adding homes, Zillow's typical Celina value fell about 8.9% over the past year to about $512K (Sept 2026), and homes took a median of 72 days to go pending. Many new neighborhoods also carry a Public Improvement District (PID) assessment or a Municipal Utility District (MUD) tax on top of the normal rate, so two homes at the same price can have very different monthly payments. Compare the full tax bill, not just the list price.

Your biggest competitor in Celina is a builder's quick move-in home with incentives attached, and typical values fell about 8.9% in the year to September 2026 (Zillow). Price against recent resales in your own community, then show buyers what a new build does not include: a finished backyard, fencing, window coverings, drainage that has already proven itself through a few storms. From my construction years, a pre-listing inspection that clears the roof, foundation drainage and HVAC is the cheapest way to beat a new build, because it gives buyers the certainty they would otherwise pay a builder for.