[nep321]

According to Zillow data, Walton County now has the second highest house values of any county in Florida. The median home value is now $479K. Walton County is in the panhandle where real estate is supposed to be cheap. I just can't believe homes there are now worth more than in South Florida.

Does anyone know why this is the case? It's crazy!

[beachmouse]

1) it's a relatively lightly populated county
2) I'd estimate the majority of land south of Choctawhatchee bay is state forest land
3) Eglin AFB owns a huge chunk of land north of the bay and west of Freeport

The end result is that there's not that much buildable land close to the coast and a lot of that land ended up being used by 'boutique' developments from the 1980s to present. And the South Walton corridor was well-marketed and got trendy and zoning laws were written for relatively low density. So lots of money chasing relatively few options for buying properties on the small amount of privately held land in a desirable area.

Think of it as the Old South's version of Aspen or Vail and it's not too far off other than the lack of mountains and such.

And since there aren't that many people who live north of the bay where land is more ample and housing costs are cheaper, sometimes a lot cheaper. (search for real estate listings in DeFuniak Springs or Paxton) the overall average price ends up higher.

As for the panhandle in general, it's cheap up by the Alabama border but really not that much different and sometimes more once you start getting into the coastal areas. Latest number I found put median single family home prices in Ft. Walton Beach-Destin as more expensive than metro Tampa or Jacksonville (Ft. Walton Beach also has land scarcity issues because the Department of Defense owns about 97% of the land in Okaloosa County south of I-10, which is where people actually want to live)

[nep321]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

1) it's a relatively lightly populated county
2) I'd estimate the majority of land south of Choctawhatchee bay is state forest land
3) Eglin AFB owns a huge chunk of land north of the bay and west of Freeport

The end result is that there's not that much buildable land close to the coast and a lot of that land ended up being used by 'boutique' developments from the 1980s to present. And the South Walton corridor was well-marketed and got trendy and zoning laws were written for relatively low density. So lots of money chasing relatively few options for buying properties on the small amount of privately held land in a desirable area.

Think of it as the Old South's version of Aspen or Vail and it's not too far off other than the lack of mountains and such.

And since there aren't that many people who live north of the bay where land is more ample and housing costs are cheaper, sometimes a lot cheaper. (search for real estate listings in DeFuniak Springs or Paxton) the overall average price ends up higher.

As for the panhandle in general, it's cheap up by the Alabama border but really not that much different and sometimes more once you start getting into the coastal areas. Latest number I found put median single family home prices in Ft. Walton Beach-Destin as more expensive than metro Tampa or Jacksonville (Ft. Walton Beach also has land scarcity issues because the Department of Defense owns about 97% of the land in Okaloosa County south of I-10, which is where people actually want to live)

Interesting. That makes a lot of sense!

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

1) it's a relatively lightly populated county
2) I'd estimate the majority of land south of Choctawhatchee bay is state forest land
3) Eglin AFB owns a huge chunk of land north of the bay and west of Freeport

The end result is that there's not that much buildable land close to the coast and a lot of that land ended up being used by 'boutique' developments from the 1980s to present. And the South Walton corridor was well-marketed and got trendy and zoning laws were written for relatively low density. So lots of money chasing relatively few options for buying properties on the small amount of privately held land in a desirable area.

Think of it as the Old South's version of Aspen or Vail and it's not too far off other than the lack of mountains and such.

And since there aren't that many people who live north of the bay where land is more ample and housing costs are cheaper, sometimes a lot cheaper. (search for real estate listings in DeFuniak Springs or Paxton) the overall average price ends up higher.

As for the panhandle in general, it's cheap up by the Alabama border but really not that much different and sometimes more once you start getting into the coastal areas. Latest number I found put median single family home prices in Ft. Walton Beach-Destin as more expensive than metro Tampa or Jacksonville (Ft. Walton Beach also has land scarcity issues because the Department of Defense owns about 97% of the land in Okaloosa County south of I-10, which is where people actually want to live)

Higher than Miami Dade, Palm Beach, Broward, Lee, Collier counties????


Also, inland it gets quite a bit colder in the Panhandle close to the AL border as well, hence less desirable. Look at all the palm trees and such on the coast compared to at the border. Looks a lot more temperate in 30 miles distance. Temp could be 42 at Destin and 32 degrees at Crestview. I live in Punta Gorda and wouldn't pay those high prices to live up there in the much colder winter. I'd rather just live back in St. Louis then. Only difference there is you get some snow and ice.

[nep321]

Originally Posted by MOforthewin

Higher than Miami Dade, Palm Beach, Broward, Lee, Collier counties????


Also, inland it gets quite a bit colder in the Panhandle close to the AL border as well, hence less desirable. Look at all the palm trees and such on the coast compared to at the border. Looks a lot more temperate in 30 miles distance. Temp could be 42 at Destin and 32 degrees at Crestview. I live in Punta Gorda and wouldn't pay those high prices to live up there in the much colder winter. I'd rather just live back in St. Louis then. Only difference there is you get some snow and ice.

Well, value doesn't necessarily mean price. But yes, the median home value in Walton County is considerably higher than any of the counties in South Florida. The only exception is Monroe county, which is the #1 highest home values in Florida.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by nep321

Well, value doesn't necessarily mean price. But yes, the median home value in Walton County is considerably higher than any of the counties in South Florida. The only exception is Monroe county, which is the #1 highest home values in Florida.

I haven’t checked, but make sure you’re looking at price per square foot. Remember, South Florida counties have lots of high rise condos and townhomes that could bring down the median, whereas Walton seems to have mostly single family homes. I’d be willing to bet my next paycheck a 3/2 1500 square foot home in Fort Lauderdale is going to be nearly double the price as the same in Freeport.

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by nep321

Well, value doesn't necessarily mean price. But yes, the median home value in Walton County is considerably higher than any of the counties in South Florida. The only exception is Monroe county, which is the #1 highest home values in Florida.

I guess with places like Miami Dade county, yes some of the properties are some of the most expensive houses in the United States (Like where Jared Kushner is building a house) but due to Dade county being so huge and populated you also have all those slums around Miami as well that bring the median value down.


I would think Collier has to be pretty high up there. Because even your single family 3 and 4 bedroom homes in East Naples will cost 350k in most cases and more.


I guess if you want to live in Florida though BUT want a change of seasons and only a few months of the year where it's unbearable then the Panhandle is the place. Just that in winter going to the beach for a walk most days isn't fun because that cold wind feels cold.


Look at there this weekend. Forecast highs only upper 70s to around 80 and nights in the mid to upper 50s up there! While here in Southwest FL the high is still going to get to 90 after this front. Just the humidity will be lower for a day. Up there you only got about 4 and a half months of oppressive heat and humidity. Ours here in SWFL last over 6 months.

[nep321]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

I haven’t checked, but make sure you’re looking at price per square foot. Remember, South Florida counties have lots of high rise condos and townhomes that could bring down the median, whereas Walton seems to have mostly single family homes. I’d be willing to bet my next paycheck a 3/2 1500 square foot home in Fort Lauderdale is going to be nearly double the price as the same in Freeport.

I'm only talking about single family homes. The median value in Walton County is indeed $479K. Much higher than any county in Southeast Florida. This is according to the latest Zillow data released as of 3/31.

The median value for single family homes in Miami-Dade County is $393K and for Broward and Palm Beach counties is $375K. Much lower than Walton County. PBC ranks #8 highest valued single family homes.

Monroe is #1 at $697K. Then Walton, Collier, Miami-Dade, Martin, St. Johns, Broward then PBC.

Again, these are median values, not median list prices.

[beach43ofus]

This is another reason why we passed on Walton County for retirement. We were also considering Bay County.

I dont know this for sure, but it seems to me that most of the land is owned, and being developed by a very few players, & there's not enough competition.

Is it St. Joe Paper Company that owns so much there? In the 70's, Arvida owned a lot up there. Are they related?

What they charge for stick homes up there is insane....not even cinder block even though its Hurricane prone.

Look at Rosemary Beach to Grayton beach, & you'll see small stick homes for $1M+. I think the developers are vertically integrated and own the building companies too, or own some portion of the builders.

[FeRail]

I heard that the St. Joe Company acquired Arvida around 1997. Arvida was one of the home companies that received plenty of attention following Hurricane Andrew.



If they are still building with plain lumber and not CBS, it's very risky. Walton County dodged a bullet with Hurricane Michael a few years ago, but the county suffered a lot of damage from Opal in 1995.



You would think that the Panhandle would adopt the Miami-Dade building standards, but it looks like not much has changed.