The numbers are in and it’s official. With a total of 471 condo and townhouse units sold, 2025 was the slowest year for condo sales in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral since 2009 when 420 units changed hands. Just four years ago in 2021, 863 units were sold. Inventory during 2025 continued its three year rapid expansion from the low in 2022 and climbed to the highest supply we’ve seen in twelve years. In 2021 and 2022 average inventory ranged between 45 and 55 units and many complexes saw record prices paid. Several units purchased during that time have since been resold at a loss, at least one at less than half the price paid in 2022. Some others who bought then have been trying unsuccessfully to sell at prices substantially below their purchase price. This year we averaged around 300 units for sale at any one time with a brief blip up to just over 400 in April. We are beginning 2026 with just over 300 units for sale at prices between $59,000 and $1,490,000 with a median asking price of $347,000.
Thanks to 21 closings at the brand new luxury building, The Surf, in downtown Cocoa Beach, we had 29 condo sales of a million dollars or more with a penthouse unit at The Surf setting the 2025 record for highest priced condo sale at $3.15 MM. Most of these units were reserved pre-construction between 2020 and 2022 when our existing inventory bottomed. I suspect the number of sales and prices paid would have been very different had those units not been offered until 2025. There are only five units offered this morning in our two cities for over a million.
The median price paid in 2025 was $352,500. Median time on market was 84 days. We saw units at some complexes selling at prices radically lower than two and three years ago. Canaveral Towers, for example, saw average selling prices in 2025 from 25% to 30% below the average prices paid in 2021 to 2023. There were similar value drops at many other large complexes like The Diplomat in Cocoa Beach. Some other smaller complexes where there were no sales during the mania years like Boardwalk in downtown Cocoa Beach appear to have been unaffected with prices paid this year similar to prices paid in 2022 when the last unit was sold. Many others had no sales during the year and have no way of knowing what price the current market might be willing to deliver.
Uncertainty seems to be the overriding force in our condo market as we enter the new year. We can only speculate about what our spring “busy” season will bring but many seller’s fingers are crossed hoping that the trend that persisted through 2025 will reverse. I am seeing nothing yet to support that hope.
Condo fees are at an all-time high having increased rapidly over the last two years. Over 20% of current listings have a monthly fee of $900 a month or higher with a median for the total condo inventory of $700 a month. The median monthly fee of the sold units in 2022 was $475 with only five of them over $900. Higher fees are a large part of the issues fueling the slowdown. Will buyers eventually make peace with high fees? Are the absent buyers waiting on the sidelines for better prices or have they given up on purchasing a beach condo altogether because of higher expenses and general uncertainty? We may never know. It should be an interesting year.
On a positive note, Port Canaveral resumed its position as the world’s busiest cruise port serving 8.5 million passengers in 2025. It is now the home port of eighteen ships among seven major cruise lines. Unfortunately, those passengers don’t appear to be buying condos.
I’ll follow with another report in a few days with a rundown of the single-family home market which had an entirely different 2025 than did the condo market. Cheers and Happy New Year.
“Keep moving. It’s hard for old age to hit a moving target.” _Joan Rivers
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