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Lake Nona is a newly built market with one of the ten highest household incomes in this series, and its median sale price is lower than it was a year ago. Those two facts are not in conflict. The community is still building, more than a quarter of what sold was brand new, and the resale side is repricing against new inventory released a few streets away. This page is about which of those two markets a buyer is walking into, and what the address actually costs once the Laureate Park headline is set aside.
Lake Nona is a master-planned community inside the City of Orlando, not a city of its own. The listing and sales figures on this page count the communities this site lists under Lake Nona, from Laureate Park and VillageWalk to the Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, and the population, income and commute figures are U.S. Census figures for zip code 32827.
Who Lake Nona Fits, and Who It Doesn't
Strong fit: buyers who want new or nearly new construction with the amenities of a master-planned community and can budget at least the resale median in the table below, since Laureate Park, which is more than half the market, closed at about $815,000 under its main label; anyone working at Medical City, the airport or the Lake Nona employers, for whom the commute shrinks to minutes and the price premium becomes a time trade; buyers with a budget of $2 million or more who want gated estate product, which the Golf and Country Club and Laurel Pointe supply and almost nowhere else in Orange County does at that scale; and townhome buyers, since the 85 townhomes that sold here closed at a median of about $445,000.
Weaker fit: anyone shopping a detached house under $600,000, because outside VillageWalk, Northlake Park and Water's Edge there is very little, and those three together closed more than 60 homes in a year; buyers who want an established, older neighborhood with mature trees and no builder on the next block, which Lake Nona is not and will not be for years; anyone counting on appreciation, because with the developer still releasing lots the resale side competes with new inventory; and buyers who need a short drive to downtown Orlando or the attractions, since the mean commute here is longer than Lake Mary's despite the employers next door.
Still deciding between towns? We pulled the closed sales around a $850,000 budget and put Lake Nona side by side with its neighbors: what $850,000 actually buys in each. Square footage, bedrooms, year built, and how many came with a pool.
Explore Lake Nona
Where Is Lake Nona, and What Makes It Different?
Lake Nona sits in southeast Orlando between the airport and the Osceola County line, along Narcoossee Road and the 417, and it is a master-planned community rather than a municipality: the City of Orlando provides its services and Orange County Public Schools serves it. Medical City, with the UCF College of Medicine, Nemours Children's Hospital and the Orlando VA, is the reason the household income here ranks in the top ten of this series, and the Town Center and the sports and wellness campuses are what the premium buys. The mean commute is 28.5 minutes, longer than Lake Mary's and the same as Winter Garden's, because most residents still work somewhere other than Medical City. The population of zip code 32827 has grown fast since 2019, which is the growth the resale market is now competing with.
Lake Nona Housing Market Snapshot (2026)
Counting the communities this site lists under Lake Nona, 460 homes sold in the last twelve months at a median of $719,450, down 7.2% against the twelve months before. Per square foot, which strips out any change in the size of what sold, it was about flat. In September 2026, 39 homes closed at a median of $754,990 and the typical one went under contract in 42 days. One month is too small a sample to read a direction from, which is why the twelve-month figure leads here. Across those communities, from Laureate Park to VillageWalk, 185 homes were listed for sale on October 23, 2026, at a median asking price of $715,126, or $293 a square foot.
Wondering whether it is a buyer's or seller's market around Lake Nona? We publish that answer for Orange County as a whole, from current MLS data: Is Orange County a buyer's or seller's market?
New Construction and Resale Are Not the Same Market
Every price figure quoted for Lake Nona mixes brand new homes with existing ones. Split apart, the last twelve months looked like this.
| What sold | Median, prior 12 months | Median, last 12 months | Change | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New construction | $903,899 | $856,900 | -5.2% | 133 |
| Existing homes (resale) | $686,000 | $660,000 | -3.8% | 327 |
| All sales combined | $775,000 | $719,450 | -7.2% | 460 |
Read the new-construction row carefully. Its direction comes from the size of the homes that sold, not from prices. The median new-construction home sold in Lake Nona went from 3,172 square feet to 2,758, 13.1% smaller, while the price per square foot moved +5.5%. The median fell because smaller homes sold, while the price per square foot went the other way. The price per square foot is the honest comparison here and the median is not.
Measured per square foot, which is the comparison that holds here, new construction moved +5.5% and resale -2.1%.
Best Neighborhoods in Lake Nona, FL: Communities to Know
Lake Nona is one brand and at least four markets. The community you buy in decides the price far more than the address does.
- Laureate Park, the heart of the community and more than half of everything that sold: about 250 closings across its sections over the last twelve months, about 114 of them brand new, with the main Laureate Park label at a median of about $815,000; townhomes, cottages and large custom homes on the same streets
- VillageWalk of Lake Nona and Northlake Park, the established resale neighborhoods: Northlake Park, the original 2004 neighborhood, where its main label closed 10 at $520,000 within two weeks, and VillageWalk, gated and built around 2010, where 7 houses under its largest label closed at $635,000
- Isles of Lake Nona, Water's Edge and Somerset Park, the newer mid-market: the Isles closed 19 at $685,000 under its main label with a 2021 build year, Water's Edge 7 at $600,000 under its main label in 11 days, and Somerset Park 14 at $590,500 on the 32824 side
- Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, Laurel Pointe and the Enclave, the estate tier: 20 closings at a median of $2,837,500 in the Golf and Country Club's Lake Nona Estates, 6 at $2,037,500 in the new Laurel Pointe and 4 at $2,199,500 under its Laurel Pointe Lake Nona label, and the Enclave at VillageWalk, where too few homes sold to quote a median
- The townhome and 55-plus pockets, Somerset Crossings closed 4 townhomes at $369,500 and Morningside 4 at $366,500, and the Gatherings, the age-restricted condos, closed 5 at $370,000 under its main label, all of them new
Decide the community first and the price will follow. A Lake Nona search without a community filter returns a $370,000 townhome and a $2,800,000 golf estate on the same page, and the median between them describes nobody.
Lake Nona vs. Lake Mary vs. Winter Garden: The Honest Comparison
| Lake Nona | Lake Mary | Winter Garden | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median asking price | $715,126 | $489,000 | $592,495 |
| Median $/sq ft | $293 | $246 | $260 |
| Mean commute | 28.5 minutes | 24.6 minutes | 28.5 minutes |
| Median household income | $112,026 | $116,944 | $106,371 |
| Population | 19,601 | 16,724 | 47,182 |
Lake Mary is the established version of the same buyer: similar household income, a finished suburb rather than one still building, and a shorter commute to the I-4 employers. Winter Garden is the other master-planned growth market, on the west side of Orange County at a lower asking median and with its own builders. Lake Nona has the highest sale price per square foot of the three, and Medical City puts major employers inside the community.
Schools, Commute, and Day-to-Day Life
Orange County Public Schools serves Lake Nona, a planned community inside the City of Orlando rather than a city of its own, and the zoned school follows each home's address, so confirm it for the specific property before you buy on a school reputation.
The mean commute from zip code 32827, the Census area this page uses for Lake Nona, is 28.5 minutes, against 24.6 from Lake Mary.
How Much of Lake Nona Is New Construction?
Lake Nona is policed by the Orlando Police Department, whose reported figures describe the whole city of Orlando and not this community, so there is no honest Lake Nona crime rate to publish here, and a number that cannot be sourced to the place 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 185 active residential listings, the median asking price is $715,126, or $293 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 Lake Nona, FL
Lake Nona's median asking price is $715,126 and the zip code's median household income is $112,026, so a home here runs about 6.38 times household income, and that ratio, not the Laureate Park headline price, is the better guide to how hard Lake Nona is to buy into.
Where every figure on this page comes from, and how property tax, the homestead exemption and the crime figures are measured: How We Measure the Living In Numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lake Nona, FL a good place to live?
It depends on whether your income comes with you. 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 $715,126 is higher than most and the mean commute of 28.5 minutes is near the middle. The median household income here is $112,026, which puts housing at 6.38 times income, a heavier load than in most of those places. For remote workers and retirees who bring their income with them, that matters less. For someone earning a local wage, it is one of the harder places in the group to buy. Who it fits, and who it does not, is laid out at the top of this page.
What is the median home price in Lake Nona, FL?
The median sale price was $754,990 in September 2026 across 39 closed sales. Over the last twelve months 460 homes sold at a median of $719,450, down 7.2% against the twelve months before. The median asking price across 185 active listings is $715,126, or $293 per square foot.
Is Lake Nona cheaper than Lake Mary?
On the asking median, no: $715,126 against $489,000. Measured against household income, Lake Nona is at 6.38 times income and Lake Mary at 4.18, so on that basis Lake Mary is the more affordable of the two. See what $850,000 buys in each town.
What is the cost of living in Lake Nona, FL?
Housing is the deciding line. A median asking price of $715,126 against a median household income of $112,026 puts a home at roughly 6.38 times income, and Florida charges no state income tax, which shifts weight onto the property tax line.
What school district serves Lake Nona, FL?
Orange County Public Schools. Assignment varies by address within the city, so confirm the zoning for the specific property.
Thinking About a Move to Lake Nona?
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 $850,000 buys across Lake Nona and its neighbors, or call me at 407-616-9019.
You can also browse homes for sale in Lake Nona, which updates with current inventory.
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