Every Living In page on this site is built from the same data and measured the same way, and the market figures are refreshed every month. This page explains where each figure comes from, so the town pages can get straight to what matters about each town.

Homes for sale: listing count and asking price

Listing figures come from Stellar MLS, the multiple listing service for Central Florida, through its data feed. They count residential listings marked active on the date the page shows, limited to listings the MLS allows to be displayed online, and to Orange, Seminole, Lake and Volusia counties. The median asking price and the asking price per square foot are the middle values of those listings. Listings change every day, so these are a snapshot of one date, not a running count.

Which listings belong to a town is decided one of four ways, and each page that does not use the first says so near the top:

  • The MLS town name. Most pages count the listings and sales the MLS files under that town's name. That name follows the mailing address, which does not always match the city limits.
  • A list of communities. Places that are communities rather than cities, such as Lake Nona and Bella Collina, count the MLS subdivisions this site files under them.
  • Zip codes. Dr. Phillips counts zip codes 32819 and 32836, and Montverde counts zip code 34756, because the MLS town name splits them.
  • The city limits. Holly Hill, Daytona Beach Shores, South Daytona and Ponce Inlet share mailing addresses with their neighbors, so their pages count only listings and sales inside the city limits map.

Sales: the twelve-month median

Sales figures are closed residential sales from the same feed, chosen the same way. Each page leads with the last twelve complete months and compares them with the twelve months before. A month counts as complete once it has been over for three weeks, by which time nearly all of its closings have been reported.

  • When either twelve-month period has fewer than 50 sales, the headline figure carries no year-over-year direction. Too few sales move too much on a handful of closings.
  • When the change is within 2%, the page says the price was about the same, rather than calling a rounding difference a rise or a fall.
  • When the share of brand-new homes in the sales moved 20 points or more between the two periods, no year-over-year change is quoted, because the two medians describe different homes. The same applies when the median and the price per square foot move in opposite directions 20 points or more apart, which means the mix of what sold changed more than prices did.
  • Price per square foot is shown alongside the median because it holds up when the size of what sold changes.

Each page also shows the most recent single month. One month is too small a sample to read a direction from, which is why the twelve-month figure leads.

Days to contract

Days to contract run from the day a home went on the market to the day the seller accepted a contract. Days to closing would roughly double the number and mostly measure the loan process, not how fast homes sell.

Population, income and commute

Population, median household income and mean travel time to work come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey five-year estimates. A population change since 2019 is stated only when it passes the Census Bureau's own 90% test, meaning the difference is larger than the survey's combined margin of error. Otherwise the page gives the current population alone. Where a community is not a Census place of its own, its page names the zip code used instead.

Price to income

Each page divides the median asking price by the median household income. That ratio, rather than the sticker price, is the number worth carrying between towns, and it is why a cheaper town is not automatically a more affordable one. A town with lower prices and lower incomes can be a heavier lift than a town with higher prices and higher incomes.

Property tax and the homestead exemption

Florida charges no state income tax, so the property tax line matters more here than it would elsewhere, and a homestead exemption reduces the taxable value of a primary residence. Millage varies by taxing district, so treat any single quoted rate as an estimate until the specific parcel is checked.

Crime

Crime figures are reported offenses from the FBI Crime Data Explorer, for the most recent year an agency reported in a usable form. A rate is per 100,000 residents and is compared with the Florida rate for the same year. Each page falls into one of three cases:

  • A city police department's figures. Where the town's own police agency reports usable figures, the page uses them.
  • The sheriff's figures, labelled as wider-area context. Where the town has no city agency in the FBI data, the page may show the county sheriff's rate and says plainly that it covers more than the town.
  • No figure. Where neither gives an honest town-level number, the page says so instead of borrowing one.

Reporting years differ between agencies, so each town is compared only with the state for the same year, never with another town's page. Rates are measured against resident population, so a town that many people commute into or visit can look worse than a comparable one that few people do. The crime figures are updated when the FBI publishes new data, not every month.

Schools

Each page names the school district. School assignment follows the property's address, not the city name, so confirm the zoned schools for a specific home before buying on a school's reputation.

How the pages stay current

The listing, sales, Census and lead figures are pulled again every month. Every number written into the description of a town is checked against the new data where it can be checked automatically. Anything that moved is rewritten, and anything that cannot be checked automatically carries a date and is re-checked by hand before it goes stale. I review the changes before they are published.

Questions about a specific town or home?

The numbers describe a town. Your budget and your commute decide whether it fits. Call me at 407-616-9019 and I will walk you through what they mean for the homes you are looking at.