Living in Howey-in-the-Hills, FL: Who It Fits, and Who Should Look Elsewhere

Photo: Magglefuzz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Howey-in-the-Hills is a small lake town in central Lake County, best known for the Mission Inn resort and its golf, and its market has turned toward new construction. A third of the homes sold under its address in the last twelve months were brand new, a larger share than in Tavares or Clermont, and those new houses came in at the lowest price per square foot of the three. The catch is pace: they were also the slowest to sell. Beyond the subdivisions, acreage and homes with no association make up a larger share of sales here than in either rival.

A note on scope: home sales on this page are counted by the Howey-in-the-Hills mailing address, zip 34737, which reaches well beyond the town limits; the population, income and commute figures describe the town itself.

Who Howey-in-the-Hills Fits, and Who It Doesn't

Strong fit: buyers who want a large new house for the money, since a new house here cost less per square foot than one in Tavares and far less than one in Clermont; buyers who can take their time with a builder, since new houses here took about three months to go under contract; buyers who want land or no association, since both are a larger share here than in Tavares or Clermont, with an acre or more closing at about $662,000; and golfers drawn to the Mission Inn.

Weaker fit: anyone who wants a big market with lots of choice, which means Clermont; buyers who want shopping and restaurants in town, since Howey is a small town and most errands mean a drive; buyers who need to resell quickly, since resale homes here were the slowest of the three to go under contract; and buyers who assume a Howey address means the town itself, since most homes with this address sit outside the town limits.

Still deciding between towns? We pulled the closed sales around a $400,000 budget and put Howey-in-the-Hills side by side with its neighbors: what $400,000 actually buys in each. Square footage, bedrooms, year built, and how many came with a pool.

Where Is Howey-in-the-Hills, and What Makes It Different?

Howey-in-the-Hills is a small town in central Lake County on Little Lake Harris, south of Tavares and north of Clermont, home of the Mission Inn resort, with its own police department. The mean commute is 30.2 minutes.

Howey-in-the-Hills Housing Market Snapshot (2026)

Over the last twelve months 118 homes sold in Howey-in-the-Hills at a median of $382,499, about the same as the twelve months before. Per square foot, which strips out any change in the size of what sold, the figure rose 8.4%. In September 2026, 15 homes closed at a median of $370,000 and the typical one went under contract in 85 days. One month is too small a sample to read a direction from, which is why the twelve-month figure leads here. That twelve-month median rests on 118 sales, a small sample for a percentage, so read it as directional rather than precise. There are 58 active residential listings as of October 23, 2026, with a median asking price of $402,495, or $195 per square foot.

Wondering whether it is a buyer's or seller's market around Howey-in-the-Hills? We publish that answer for Lake County as a whole, from current MLS data: Is Lake County a buyer's or seller's market?

New Construction and Resale Are Not the Same Market

Every price figure quoted for Howey-in-the-Hills mixes brand new homes with existing ones. Split apart, the last twelve months looked like this.

Read the new-construction row carefully. It rests on fewer than 50 sales in at least one of the two years. The median new-construction home sold in Howey-in-the-Hills went from 1,758 square feet to 2,105, 19.7% larger, while the price per square foot moved +0.6%. That is too few to say whether the change is a price move or a change in which homes sold.

The new construction row rests on fewer than 50 sales in at least one of the two years, so read that change as noise rather than a trend.

Best Neighborhoods in Howey-in-the-Hills, FL: Communities to Know

Howey-in-the-Hills is a small historic town surrounded by new subdivisions and rural land that share its address.

• Eagletail Landing, the largest new subdivision with a Howey address, where new houses of about 2,200 square feet closed at about $375,000
• Hodges Reserve, another new subdivision, at about $359,000, though its houses typically took more than five months to go under contract
• Las Colinas and Venezia, the established subdivisions built in the 2000s and 2010s, at about $395,000 in Venezia South and about $541,000 in Las Colinas, which sold in about seven weeks
• The old town and the lakes, the original streets near Little Lake Harris, including Howey Emery Heights and Howey Palm Gardens, where the town's older houses stand; across the zip, homes built before 1980 closed at about $280,000, and the few lakefront sales went much higher
• The acreage, rural parcels around town, where an acre or more typically closed at about $662,000

If you want to live inside the town itself rather than in a subdivision that shares its address, check the parcel, because most Howey-address homes are outside the town limits.

The 15 communities in Howey-in-the-Hills where the most homes have sold over the last twelve months, each with its own page:

• Eagletail Landing
• Las Colinas
• Hodges Reserve
• Venezia South
• Howey Emery Heights
• Bella Vista
• Howey Palm Gardens
• Blue Spring Reserve
• Howey Griffin Village
• Howey Lake Shore Heights
• Parkdale
• Blue Springs Reserve Townhomes
• Howey Largo Vista Manor
• Talichet at Venezia North
• Venezia

Another 11 Howey-in-the-Hills communities have their own page too. You can also browse every Howey-in-the-Hills listing in one place.

Howey-in-the-Hills vs. Tavares vs. Clermont: The Honest Comparison

Tavares is the county seat next door, with more choice, a downtown on Lake Dora and slightly smaller new houses that sell faster. Clermont is the large market to the south, with the most new construction by volume, the quickest sales and the highest price per square foot. Howey-in-the-Hills is the small town with the largest share of new homes and of acreage, and the lowest price per square foot for a new house of the three, if you can wait for the right one.

Schools, Commute, and Day-to-Day Life

Lake County Schools serves the city, and assignment varies by address rather than by city name, so confirm the zoning for the specific property before you buy on a school reputation.

Mean travel time to work is 30.2 minutes, against 26.0 from Tavares.

How Much of Howey-in-the-Hills Is New Construction?

Howey-in-the-Hills has its own police department, but the FBI's crime data holds no usable annual figure for it in the years checked, so there is no honest town-level crime comparison to publish here, and a number that cannot be sourced is worse than none. What can be measured is the age and type of what is for sale, which is the other question relocation buyers ask.

Across 58 active residential listings, the median asking price is $402,495, or $195 per square foot. Where a town is still building, the per square foot figure runs closer to replacement cost; where it is built out, it reflects land and location instead.

Cost of Living in Howey-in-the-Hills, FL

Housing is the line that moves a Central Florida budget. Howey-in-the-Hills' median asking price is $402,495 against a median household income of $93,403, which puts a home at about 4.31 times household income here. 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.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Howey-in-the-Hills, FL a good place to live?

Start with the numbers. Against the 60 places this site tracks across Orange, Seminole, Lake and Volusia counties, with that group's middle last measured on October 9, 2026, the median asking price of $402,495 is near the middle and the mean commute of 30.2 minutes is longer than most. The median household income here is $93,403, which puts housing at 4.31 times income, a lighter load than in most of those places. On local incomes, that makes buying here easier than in most of the group. Who it fits, and who it does not, is laid out at the top of this page.

What is the median home price in Howey-in-the-Hills, FL?

The median sale price was $370,000 in September 2026 across 15 closed sales. Over the last twelve months 118 homes sold at a median of $382,499, about the same as the twelve months before. The median asking price across 58 active listings is $402,495, or $195 per square foot.

Is Howey-in-the-Hills cheaper than Tavares?

On the asking median, no: $402,495 against $329,949. Measured against household income, Howey-in-the-Hills is at 4.31 times income and Tavares at 5.72, so on that basis Howey-in-the-Hills is the more affordable of the two. See what $400,000 buys in each town.

What is the cost of living in Howey-in-the-Hills, FL?

Housing is the deciding line. A median asking price of $402,495 against a median household income of $93,403 puts a home at roughly 4.31 times income, and Florida charges no state income tax, which shifts weight onto the property tax line.

What school district serves Howey-in-the-Hills, FL?

Lake County Schools. Assignment varies by address within the city, so confirm the zoning for the specific property.

Thinking About a Move to Howey-in-the-Hills?

I work these four counties every week and I will tell you when a town is wrong for you. If you want the numbers for your budget before you tour anything, start with what $400,000 buys across Howey-in-the-Hills and its neighbors, or call me at 407-616-9019.

You can also browse homes for sale in Howey-in-the-Hills, which updates with current inventory.