The market for single family homes in 2025 was distinctly different from the condo market. It was a busy year for this market segment with a total of 113 homes sold, 98 of them in Cocoa Beach. Thirty four homes sold for at least a million dollars with a highest price paid of $2.58 MM for a 4920 square foot direct ocean home south of downtown Cocoa Beach. Highest price paid for a non-waterfront house was $1.625 MM for a beautiful, brand new 4/5 a half block from the ocean in south Cocoa Beach. Median price paid was $753,000 with a low of $325,000 for a cute but tiny 2/1 in Cape Canaveral four blocks from the beach.
Almost half, 49, of the homes sold for cash and median time on market was 61 days. We entered 2026 with just over sixty houses for sale in a range between $365,000 and $3.5 MM. Median time on the market for the 63 listings active this morning is 87 days. There doesn’t seem to be as many headwinds for our SF home market as the condo market which continues to struggle. Many condo purchases are discretionary being bought as second homes or investments and that market is reactionary to consumer sentiment and the macro economic landscape. The majority of SF home buyers are buying for residence and less likely to have the luxury of postponing their purchase while waiting for more favorable economic conditions. I expect sales of homes in 2026 to follow the healthy trend established in 2025 with a similar sales rate and stable pricing.
The condo market is facing a much different year and I expect slower sales and lower prices for that market in 2026. I’m not sure what it would take to reinvigorate prospective condo buyers considering the already high and rising condo fees other than drastically lower prices. How much lower remains a mystery as the bulk of sellers so far have been unwilling (or unable if they bought in the last few years) to accept that asking prices must compensate higher holding costs if they hope to sell. The reckoning looms.
On that note, beware predictions based on countywide trends. Many real estate sites and salespeople will spin positive forecasts using statistics from Brevard County as a whole while conveniently not mentioning the fact that some market segments behave counter to the whole, our beach condo market being Exhibit A. Treat with suspicion any claim that rhymes with “now is a great time to buy” especially if it’s coming from someone who will profit from your purchase.
I hope the half dozen or so home buyers who closed on their new homes in the long-stalled development in south Cocoa Beach four and five years ago will finally get a chance to move into their new homes this year. I’m not optimistic that will happen. There has been little progress on the homes under construction over the last few years and none have been completed. Have those buyers who closed five years ago been paying property taxes on their unfinished homes? Mortgage payments? What’s going on? Anyone? I would love to know the whole story of what’s going on there.
“There’s a distinct difference in rationalizing and being rational.” unknown
