Luxury homes in Franklin, Tennessee

What $1 million buys in Franklin

Zillow's typical home value for the City of Franklin was $925,870 in August 2026, 2.6% higher than a year earlier and 109.5% higher than ten years earlier. It covers every home type, so $1 million sits just above the middle of the market. For detached houses, RealTracs MLS sales data put Franklin's median at $1,060,000 across 1,663 sales in the 12 months to September 28, 2026, with half selling between $790,000 and $1,550,000.

As the budget rises, what changes is mostly size, land and age. In Westhaven, around $1,275,000 bought about 2,732 square feet over the past year, and around $1,670,000 bought about 3,436 square feet. Homes in ZIP 37067 had the largest median size (3,364 square feet) and the lowest price per foot ($306), while 37064, which takes in downtown, the historic district and Westhaven, had the highest at $372 a foot.

New construction carries a premium. New homes made up 14% of Franklin single-family sales at a $1,469,200 median, against $995,000 for resales. Sales at $2 million and above rose from 153 to 240 a year over two years, but the top of the market moves more slowly: about 35% of listings above $3 million failed to sell, compared with about one in eight below $1 million.

See the neighborhoods guide, the Franklin housing market, Franklin ZIP codes and new construction.

Franklin, Leiper's Fork or College Grove

Franklin

Franklin is the city, with most of the planned communities at this price. Westhaven, a Southern Land Company community on Highway 96 West, sold houses at a $1,543,612 median over the past 12 months. Off Sneed Road in 37069, Laurelbrooke sits behind two staffed guard posts (median $2,987,500), and Legends Ridge has homesites of about an acre (median $2,372,500). Of the Franklin neighborhoods Zillow tracks, McLemore had the highest typical value in August 2026, at $1,426,530.

Pre-1950 houses sold at a $1,325,000 median; downtown, most exterior work needs Historic Zoning Commission approval. See historic downtown Franklin and gated communities.

Leiper's Fork

Leiper's Fork is an unincorporated village in Williamson County, about nine miles west of Franklin on the Natchez Trace Parkway, with about 650 residents on roughly 1,100 acres. Most of it shares a ZIP code with Franklin, so mailing addresses read Franklin, TN, but there is no city government and no city property tax. Its 18-acre historic district has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1998.

Land rules shape what you can buy here. The village core is zoned LFV, with a 15,000-square-foot minimum residential lot; the rural districts around it require 5 acres (RD-5 and RP-5) or 15 acres (A). Zillow publishes no Leiper's Fork value; price depends on the tract. Start with the Leiper's Fork guide and land and acreage near Franklin.

College Grove

College Grove is an unincorporated, mostly rural community in Williamson County with the ZIP code 37046, and the most expensive of the three. Zillow's typical home value there was $1,288,183 in August 2026, up 138.37% over ten years. Two private golf communities sit here. The Grove, with a Greg Norman course, recorded closed sales from $1,760,000 to $7,999,900 in the 12 months to August 20, 2026. Troubadour, a Discovery Land Company community with a Tom Fazio course, recorded sales from $3,450,000 to $13,750,000 (RealTracs MLS sales data).

Outside them, village lots start at 15,000 square feet or half an acre and rural land falls under the same 5- and 15-acre minimums. See the College Grove guide and golf course communities.

Costs to plan for beyond the price

Property tax

Tennessee taxes a home on 25% of the Assessor's appraised value, multiplied by the local rate per $100 of that assessed value. The 2026 Williamson County rates are $1.30 per $100 on county-only parcels, which includes most of unincorporated Leiper's Fork and College Grove, $1.566 inside Franklin city limits outside the Franklin Special School District, and $2.2433 inside both the city and the district.

On a home appraised at $1.5 million, that is $4,875 a year county-only, $5,872.50 in Franklin outside the district and $8,412.38 inside it. Bills are due by February 28. The Franklin schools guide links the district lookups, and the Williamson County property tax guide has every rate and the relief programs.

HOA dues and club fees

Dues track what they pay for, not the price of the house. In RealTracs MLS records, Westhaven house dues ran a median $3,188 a year, Legends Ridge $2,796 and Laurelbrooke $5,508, where they pay for the staffed gates. In College Grove, The Grove's dues ran $237 to $400 a month and Troubadour's $596 to $715. Golf and club memberships are separate, and no club here publishes its prices. Some communities also charge a transfer fee at closing (a median $1,885 in Westhaven). Ask the HOA for the current dues, any transfer fee and any planned special assessment, in writing, before your inspection period ends.

Jumbo financing

The 2026 conforming loan limit for a one-unit home in Williamson County is $1,029,250, well above the $832,750 national baseline, because FHFA treats the Nashville metro as a high-cost area. A loan above that limit is a jumbo loan. With 20% down, a price up to about $1,286,562 keeps the loan conforming: a $1.2 million home with 20% down needs a $960,000 loan, which is conforming, while a $1.5 million home with 20% down needs $1,200,000, which is jumbo.

Each lender sets its own jumbo requirements, so ask for their minimums. The jumbo loans guide has the detail, and the jumbo mortgage calculator works out a monthly payment with Franklin's 2026 tax rate built in.

Homeowners insurance

There is no reliable published premium for a $1M+ Franklin home; quotes depend on the house, the land and your history. Get quotes during your inspection period, not after it, and look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center. Tennessee does not tax wages, which helps the overall budget: see Tennessee income tax and the cost of living in Franklin.

The buying process, step by step

1. Sign a written buyer agreement

Since August 17, 2024, under the National Association of Realtors settlement, an agent working with you through an MLS must have a written agreement with you before you tour a home, in person or by live video. It sets out the services and how the agent is paid, and that pay is negotiable.

2. Set the search, including homes that aren't public

Agree on price, area and the deciding details: acreage, sewer or septic, a golf course, a gate, a downtown address. Since 2025, NAR rules let a seller choose an office exclusive listing, which is not marketed publicly, or a delayed marketing listing that stays off the portals for the period the local MLS allows. Neither shows up in portal alerts, so ask how your agent will find them.

3. Tour, and check what the listing leaves out

On rural land, the Williamson County septic rules matter: the plat records how many bedrooms a lot's system supports, every system needs a protected backup area, and slopes over 30% rule out conventional systems. Check the zoning district, water tap or well, easements and greenbelt status. In the historic overlay, most exterior changes need a Certificate of Appropriateness. For schools, run the address through both the Franklin Special School District and Williamson County Schools lookups.

4. Price the offer from recent sales

Comparable sales are thin at this price, so asking prices are a starting point. In Westhaven, only 43 of 161 resale sellers got their first asking price, and the median resale closed at 97.3% of it. Across the Nashville metro, about a third of listings cut their price in July 2026. I can pull recent closed sales near any home you're considering before you write an offer.

5. Inspections, appraisal and loan approval

Use the contract's inspection and financing periods for the inspection, septic and well checks, insurance quotes and HOA documents. With few comparable sales, leave room in case the lender's appraisal comes in low.

6. Closing

Tennessee's realty transfer tax is $0.37 per $100 of the price, and the law makes the buyer liable for it: $5,550 on a $1.5 million home. A borrower also pays Tennessee's mortgage tax of 11.5 cents per $100 of the loan after the first $2,000, or $1,377.70 on a $1.2 million loan. Property tax bills go to whoever owned the home on January 1, so the year's tax is usually prorated in the contract: check yours. The Tennessee closing costs guide lists the rest. Selling instead? The guide to selling a $1M+ home in Franklin covers pricing, disclosures and the private listing options.