Best places to buy house in Florida 2021
The 10 Best Places To Buy A House In Florida For 2021Using science and data, we can tell you which places in Florida have seen home prices rising and people flocking over the past year.
Editor’s note: This is not investment advice and we are not financial advisers. Article updated for 2021.
Article Table Of Contents
10 Best Cities To Buy A Home In Florida
Detailed Top Ten Cities
How We Calculated The Ranking
Ranking Table
There’s a the age old question everyone thinks about when they decide to move to a city in Florida:
Should I buy a place or rent? Well, we aren’t here today to solve that problem for you exactly. We are just assuming you’ll do the right thing and a buy a place. And while we are happy to tell you the best place to live in Florida, this analysis is going to tackle the question of the best place to buy a house as an investor. That is we are going to try and determine the up and coming cities in the Sunshine State.
To do that we are going to look at places in Florida that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average. In every day terms, the “deals”. The best deal in Florida at the moment? That would be Flagler Beach according to our analysis.
Here’s a look at the top ten places to buy a home in Florida for 2021.
The 10 Best Places To Buy A Home In Florida For 2021
- Flagler Beach
- South Pasadena
- LaBelle
- Kenneth City
- Valparaiso
- South Bay
- Starke
- Fellsmere
- Okeechobee
- Surfside
The 10 Best Cities To Buy A House In Florida For 2021
Overall SnackAbility
8.5
/10
Population: 5,002
Median Home Price: $304,600
Population Change: 1.1%
Home Price Change: 16.8%
More on Flagler Beach: Homes For Sale | Data
Overall SnackAbility
6
/10
Population: 5,088
Median Home Price: $175,700
Population Change: 0.3%
Home Price Change: 4.8%
More on South Pasadena: Homes For Sale | Data
Source: Wikipedia User Ebyabe | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility
4
/10
Population: 5,106
Median Home Price: $95,300
Population Change: 0.6%
Home Price Change: 23.0%
More on Labelle: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
Source: Public Domain
Overall SnackAbility
8
/10
Population: 5,127
Median Home Price: $152,800
Population Change: 2.2%
Home Price Change: 5.2%
More on Kenneth City: Homes For Sale | Data
Source: Wikipedia User Skye Marthaler | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility
7
/10
Population: 5,145
Median Home Price: $224,800
Population Change: 2.2%
Home Price Change: 5.5%
More on Valparaiso: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
Source: Wikipedia User Ebyabe | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
3
/10
Population: 5,158
Median Home Price: $83,100
Population Change: 0.8%
Home Price Change: 1.1%
More on South Bay: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
Source: Wikipedia User Michael Rivera | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility
3
/10
Population: 5,393
Median Home Price: $97,900
Population Change: 0.3%
Home Price Change: 13.3%
More on Starke: Homes For Sale | Data
Source: Wikipedia User Ebyabe | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
3
/10
Population: 5,625
Median Home Price: $108,500
Population Change: -0.1%
Home Price Change: 8.4%
More on Fellsmere: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
Source: Wikipedia User No machine-readable autho | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
4
/10
Population: 5,724
Median Home Price: $113,700
Population Change: 1.5%
Home Price Change: 4.1%
More on Okeechobee: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility
9.5
/10
Population: 5,725
Median Home Price: $625,500
Population Change: -1.6%
Home Price Change: 7.5%
More on Surfside: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Florida for 2021?
We were in real estate for almost five years and have been working on this site for another three. Suffice is to say, we’ve put a lot of thought into what goes into finding a good place to buy a home.
So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we’d approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in Florida. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in Florida with undervalued homes relative to pent up demand.
Best Places To Raise A Family In Florida
To do that we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2015-2019 and compared it to the previous vintage (2012-2016). Specifically, we used the following criteria:
- Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
- Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
- Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It’s still kinda cheap)
We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still “cheap” for Florida with the following caveats:
- Home prices had to be within 20% of the state average (Much lower than that and you get to some of the more dangerous places)
- Home prices increased in the last year, and
- Above 5,000 people (Bigger cities have more data points)
So of the 0 cities and towns in Florida, only 220 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.
We then ranked each place from 1 to 220 for the criteria mentioned above with 1 being the best for that criteria. We averaged the rankings to create a “best place to buy” index with the place having the lowest index being the best. You can download the data here.
Turns out that Flagler Beach is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Sunshine State.
Read on for more on these places.
There You Have It – The Best Places To Purchase A House In Florida for 2021
There’s our analysis of the best places to buy a house in Florida. And, to be clear, we aren’t necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.
In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 0 places in the state.
So if we’d could rent or buy in these cities, we’d definitely buy.
For more Florida reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Best Places To Buy A Home In Florida
| City | Rank | Median Home Price | Population Change | Home Price Increase |
| Flagler Beach | 1 | $304,600 | 1.1% | 16.8% |
| South Pasadena | 2 | $175,700 | 0.3% | 4.8% |
| Labelle | 3 | $95,300 | 0.6% | 23.0% |
| Kenneth City | 4 | $152,800 | 2.2% | 5.2% |
| Valparaiso | 5 | $224,800 | 2.2% | 5.5% |
| South Bay | 6 | $83,100 | 0.8% | 1.1% |
| Starke | 7 | $97,900 | 0.3% | 13.3% |
| Fellsmere | 8 | $108,500 | -0.1% | 8.4% |
| Okeechobee | 9 | $113,700 | 1.5% | 4.1% |
| Surfside | 10 | $625,500 | -1.6% | 7.5% |
| Mascotte | 11 | $157,700 | 3.4% | 26.9% |
| Lake Alfred | 12 | $142,700 | 4.0% | 22.1% |
| Bay Harbor Islands | 13 | $362,300 | -1.3% | -7.1% |
| Newberry | 14 | $175,600 | 2.7% | 6.6% |
| High Springs | 15 | $167,800 | 1.8% | 8.4% |
| Tequesta | 16 | $381,100 | 1.0% | 6.1% |
| Fort Meade | 17 | $77,900 | 1.5% | 4.1% |
| Pahokee | 18 | $97,000 | 1.7% | 7.3% |
| Defuniak Springs | 19 | $121,700 | 3.5% | -6.9% |
| Gulf Breeze | 20 | $371,600 | 2.6% | 9.3% |
| Macclenny | 21 | $140,600 | 1.7% | 14.5% |
| Lauderdale-By-The-Sea | 22 | $441,000 | 0.5% | -0.5% |
| Pembroke Park | 23 | $84,400 | 0.8% | -0.1% |
| Wildwood | 24 | $169,100 | 4.3% | 56.4% |
| Treasure Island | 25 | $382,200 | 0.2% | 0.6% |
| Live Oak | 26 | $110,600 | 0.0% | 24.7% |
| Perry | 27 | $90,800 | -0.4% | 7.3% |
| Marianna | 28 | $88,200 | -4.7% | -1.3% |
| St. Augustine Beach | 29 | $415,400 | 0.7% | 6.5% |
| Belle Isle | 30 | $321,700 | 2.1% | 2.8% |
| Fort Myers Beach | 31 | $448,100 | 1.2% | 12.8% |
| Neptune Beach | 32 | $401,000 | 0.3% | 5.1% |
| Dade City | 33 | $106,300 | 2.2% | 11.8% |
| Inverness | 34 | $99,200 | 0.9% | 3.7% |
| Longboat Key | 35 | $740,500 | 0.7% | 2.7% |
| Sanibel | 36 | $721,200 | 1.3% | 0.1% |
| Quincy | 37 | $77,100 | -2.4% | -16.1% |
| Clewiston | 38 | $112,600 | 1.5% | 2.5% |
| West Miami | 39 | $335,800 | 5.6% | 10.5% |
| Fruitland Park | 40 | $228,200 | 18.9% | 27.6% |
| Southwest Ranches | 41 | $641,800 | 0.5% | 2.2% |
| Green Cove Springs | 42 | $189,500 | 3.7% | 19.1% |
| Arcadia | 43 | $105,900 | 1.6% | 21.2% |
| North Bay Village | 44 | $331,500 | -0.5% | 13.0% |
| Brooksville | 45 | $61,600 | 2.0% | 25.7% |
| Indian Harbour Beach | 46 | $296,600 | 0.8% | 9.9% |
| Lake Park | 47 | $201,400 | 0.0% | 16.3% |
| Marathon | 48 | $425,200 | -0.4% | 9.2% |
| Palm Beach | 49 | $1,177,100 | 0.6% | 2.4% |
| Orange Park | 50 | $180,800 | 0.6% | 8.4% |
| Springfield | 51 | $111,700 | -1.6% | 3.1% |
| St. Pete Beach | 52 | $462,500 | 0.2% | 11.2% |
| Alachua | 53 | $179,500 | 0.7% | 7.6% |
| Milton | 54 | $129,000 | 2.3% | -1.5% |
| Palatka | 55 | $75,200 | 0.4% | -3.7% |
| Cape Canaveral | 56 | $244,900 | 1.0% | 8.2% |
| Sebring | 57 | $96,600 | -2.4% | 13.8% |
| Miami Shores | 58 | $558,700 | -2.0% | 9.1% |
| Avon Park | 59 | $70,300 | 0.7% | 2.8% |
| Satellite Beach | 60 | $300,200 | 1.4% | 10.2% |
| Lighthouse Point | 61 | $538,700 | 0.8% | 2.0% |
| Minneola | 62 | $219,200 | 4.5% | 16.0% |
| Cocoa Beach | 63 | $318,000 | 0.7% | 3.9% |
| Lantana | 64 | $225,600 | 2.5% | 15.3% |
| Florida City | 65 | $153,100 | -1.4% | 6.8% |
| Orange City | 66 | $116,600 | 4.7% | 16.3% |
| South Miami | 67 | $569,300 | -1.3% | 7.7% |
| Lake City | 68 | $106,800 | 0.7% | -3.3% |
| Holly Hill | 69 | $105,600 | 0.9% | 9.1% |
| Gulfport | 70 | $185,600 | 0.4% | 10.7% |
| Fernandina Beach | 71 | $333,900 | 2.5% | 5.5% |
| Wilton Manors | 72 | $326,600 | 0.8% | 2.4% |
| Panama City Beach | 73 | $243,300 | 0.5% | 6.1% |
| South Daytona | 74 | $146,800 | 1.1% | 18.1% |
| Key Biscayne | 75 | $1,211,000 | -1.1% | -0.6% |
| North Palm Beach | 76 | $328,100 | 1.0% | 10.6% |
| Atlantic Beach | 77 | $362,300 | 1.3% | 2.5% |
| Palmetto | 78 | $156,700 | 0.9% | 27.8% |
| Groveland | 79 | $199,100 | 9.7% | 13.7% |
| Destin | 80 | $332,000 | 1.7% | 4.7% |
| Mount Dora | 81 | $244,100 | 2.0% | 0.5% |
| Miami Springs | 82 | $410,400 | -1.6% | 6.0% |
| St. Augustine | 83 | $271,000 | 2.1% | 3.9% |
| Oldsmar | 84 | $228,400 | 1.5% | 17.4% |
| Longwood | 85 | $213,600 | 2.3% | 14.0% |
| Callaway | 86 | $148,400 | -1.5% | 0.7% |
| West Park | 87 | $174,800 | 0.6% | 7.4% |
| Niceville | 88 | $238,800 | 2.2% | 10.1% |
| Lady Lake | 89 | $146,300 | 2.0% | 5.8% |
| Zephyrhills | 90 | $98,800 | 4.9% | 4.2% |
| Auburndale | 91 | $180,800 | 3.0% | 13.1% |
| Lake Wales | 92 | $167,400 | 1.9% | 14.0% |
| Opa-Locka | 93 | $154,300 | -1.7% | 35.0% |
| Stuart | 94 | $185,700 | 0.4% | 10.3% |
| New Port Richey | 95 | $87,500 | 1.7% | 13.8% |
| Lake Mary | 96 | $320,100 | 2.1% | 8.1% |
| Tavares | 97 | $144,900 | 3.4% | 13.8% |
| Vero Beach | 98 | $259,800 | 1.8% | 1.4% |
| Maitland | 99 | $372,500 | 0.8% | 8.0% |
| Safety Harbor | 100 | $268,800 | 0.8% | 8.8% |
