First Quarter Land Stats in Florida: Q1 2026 Report 

Updated April 2026 · First Quarter Land Stats in Florida

The first quarter of 2026 was the first time in years that Florida’s vacant land market gave landowners a clearer signal: the post-pandemic land surge is over, but the market has not collapsed — it has split. Buildable lots near growth corridors are still moving. Raw, rural, and constrained acreage is taking longer and selling for less. This report breaks down what actually happened in Florida land during Q1 2026, where the data comes from, and what it means if you own a parcel here.

For broader context and ongoing updates, this post lives inside our Florida Land Stats hub, where future quarterly reports will be added.

Executive Summary

Three things defined Florida’s Q1 2026 land market:

1. National land prices softened slightly while Southern markets held up. Realtor.com’s first-ever land report showed U.S. median land prices per acre fell 0.5% year over year in Q1 2026, but the South posted a 1.3% gain — the strongest of any region after the Northeast (Realtor.com Q1 2026 Land Report).
2. Florida produced the #1 metro in the country for long-term land appreciation. Port St. Lucie led every U.S. metro with a 314.0% gain in price per acre since Q1 2019 — a structural signal about Treasure Coast and Florida growth-corridor demand (Realtor.com Q1 2026 Land Report).
3. Florida’s broader housing market normalized, which matters for land. Florida single-family closed sales rose 5.3% year over year in Q1 2026 with a median price of $415,000 and 4.8 months of supply, while cash purchases held above 30% of all transactions (Florida Realtors Q1 2026 Quarterly Market Detail). Steadier housing activity supports steadier demand for buildable lots — but does little to lift demand for constrained land.

In short: Florida’s land market is bifurcating. Buildable, well-located parcels remain liquid. Raw, rural, wetlands-heavy, and problem parcels are increasingly priced and timed differently from the headline numbers most landowners read about.

Key First Quarter Land Stats in Florida Q1 Takeaways

• Statewide vacant residential land medians have leveled off. The 2024–2025 statewide median price per acre for residential vacant land was approximately $74,000, with a slight 0.35% year-over-year decline into 2025 — confirming the multi-year cooldown after the pandemic surge (Florida Department of Revenue)
• Raw land is leading the national pullback. Raw land prices fell 2.4% year over year in Q1 2026 nationally, while build-ready lots dipped only 1.1% and partially developed lots actually rose 0.8% (Realtor.com Q1 2026 Land Report).
• Florida cropland kept appreciating. USDA NASS reported Florida cropland reached $8,150 per acre in 2025, up 3.9% year over year, supported by specialty crop production and development pressure on the urban fringe (USDA NASS 2025 Land Values Summary).
• Florida housing stayed firm. Q1 2026 saw 59,174 closed single-family sales statewide (+5.3% YoY), 30.3% cash share, and 4.8 months of supply (Florida Realtors Q1 2026 Quarterly Market Detail).
• Southwest Florida continued its post-pandemic adjustment. Real median residential prices in SWFL fell 7% year over year in Q4 2025, the most recent quarter reported by FGCU’s Real Estate Research Institute, with affordability improving across Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties (FGCU SWFL Real Estate First Quarter 2026 Report).
• The land inventory shortage is structural, not cyclical. National land listings remain 23.6% below Q1 2019 levels because parcels developed during the 2020–2022 boom were permanently converted into housing (Realtor.com Q1 2026 Land Report).Quotable insight: In Florida, the gap between buildable parcels and constrained land widens fastest when buyers turn selective — and Q1 2026 was the most selective quarter the state has seen since the pandemic land rush ended.

Florida Land Market Trends in Q1

National Backdrop

The headline number from Realtor.com’s first-ever national land analysis: U.S. land prices per acre are 76.6% above pre-pandemic levels but down 0.5% year over year in Q1 2026 (Realtor.com Q1 2026 Land Report). The national median price per acre stood at $62,365 across 426,986 active land listings.

Two structural facts behind that number matter for Florida:

• Inventory hasn’t recovered. Land listings remain 23.6% below Q1 2019 nationally because builders permanently converted huge volumes of parcels into housing during 2020–2022.
• Raw land is leading the softness. Speculative, undeveloped acreage — the category most Florida rural landowners actually own — fell 2.4% year over year, faster than build-ready lots.

How Florida Specifically Performed

Florida sat inside the South region, which posted +1.3% year-over-year price-per-acre growth in Q1 2026 — the second-strongest of any U.S. region behind the Northeast (Realtor.com Q1 2026 Land Report). Florida’s broader housing market reinforced that strength:

Source: Florida Realtors Q1 2026 Quarterly Market Detail – Single-Family Homes

The takeaway for landowners: Florida buyer demand is real, supply is tightening, and roughly one in three buyers is paying cash. That cash share is the number land sellers should pay closest attention to — it is the same buyer pool that purchases vacant land directly.

What Vacant Land Pricing Looked Like – First Quarter Land Stats in Florida

Putting numbers around Florida vacant land specifically requires layering several sources, because no single statewide First Quarter Land Stats in Florida MLS report exists at the level of detail Florida Realtors publishes for homes. Here is what the credible sources show:

• Statewide residential vacant land median: ~$74,000 per acre based on Florida Department of Revenue records of 2024–2025 sales — essentially flat year over year (-0.35%).
• Florida cropland: $8,150 per acre in 2025, up 3.9% year over year (USDA NASS).
• Saunders 2025 Lay of the Land Florida Report: ranchland in the 50–500 acre range averaged $10,839 per acre in 2025 (up from $8,997 in 2024), with South and Central Florida ranchland generally trading at $12,000–$13,000 per acre (Saunders 2025 Lay of the Land Florida Market Report).

The wide range — from $8,000-range farm acreage to $74,000-range residential vacant land medians — is not a contradiction. It is the entire point. Florida is not one land market. It is dozens of overlapping micro-markets sorted by zoning, access, utilities, wetlands, and proximity to growth.

Regional and County-Level Highlights

A few signals worth flagging from Q1 2026:

Port St. Lucie — #1 Metro in the Country for Land Appreciation Since 2019

Realtor.com identified Port St. Lucie as the single top U.S. metro for price-per-acre appreciation since Q1 2019, at +314.0% (Realtor.com Q1 2026 Land Report). That is a Treasure Coast story driven by population in-migration, builder demand, and constrained developable supply. For landowners in St. Lucie, Martin, and Indian River Counties, the long-term trend is unambiguous — even if any single quarter looks softer.

Southwest Florida — Still Adjusting

FGCU’s Real Estate Research Institute reported that real median residential prices in Southwest Florida fell 7% year over year in Q4 2025, with affordability improving across Charlotte (HAI 1.52), Lee (1.19), and Collier (1.08) (FGCU SWFL Real Estate First Quarter 2026 Report). The implication for SWFL land: buyer competition is more measured than during the 2021–2022 surge, and pricing discipline matters more than ever.

South Florida — Tightening Supply, Selective Buyers

In Palm Beach and Broward counties, Q1 2026 inventory fell 8% and 7% respectively, with new listings down sharply. Days on market lengthened modestly, and certain price segments in Palm Beach — notably $500K–$750K and $1M–$1.5M — moved into seller’s market territory (South Florida Q1 2026 housing market analysis). For owners of buildable lots in these counties, the demand backdrop remains constructive.

Florida Land Prices by County — Order-of-Magnitude Reference

Per-acre residential vacant land medians vary so widely that no statewide average is useful in isolation. Reference ranges from county-level data:

County medians and percentiles compiled from Florida Department of Revenue 2024–2025

These ranges are illustrative, not predictive. Two adjacent parcels in any of these counties can trade at very different prices depending on access, zoning, wetlands, and title condition.

What This Means for Florida Landowners

If you own Florida land, here are the practical implications of Q1 2026:

• The headline “land prices are flat or down” masks the real story. Buildable, well-located parcels are still moving. Raw, rural, and constrained acreage is sitting longer.
• Cash buyers are still active. With 30%+ of Florida home sales paid in cash and Florida’s land buyer pool overlapping that group, cash demand for vacant parcels remains real — particularly for clean lots.
• Inventory is tight by historic standards. That helps sellers of clean parcels but does little for sellers of constrained land, because the buyer pool for the latter is structurally smaller.
• Treasure Coast and growth-corridor counties continue to outperform. If your land is in St. Lucie, Martin, Polk, Pasco, Lake, or Sumter, long-term fundamentals remain strong.
• Carrying costs are rising. Property taxes, mowing, liability, and code enforcement add up. The “wait it out” strategy has gotten more expensive.

For a step-by-step process on actually selling, our Florida Land Selling Guide walks through pricing, paperwork, and closing. If you want broader background reading, the Florida Land Resource Center has the wider library.

Why Problem Land Can Follow a Different Market

This is the part of the Q1 2026 picture that statewide averages won’t tell you.

When buyers tighten — the way they did nationally this quarter, with raw land falling 2.4% year over year — they get more selective. That selectivity hits hardest on parcels with any of the following:

• Title defects, heirship gaps, missing deeds, or old liens
• No legal road access or only easement access
• Heavy wetlands, conservation overlays, or flood zone exposure
• Zoning that doesn’t match the parcel’s likely use
• Back taxes or active tax certificates
• Boundary or survey disputes
• Code violations, open permits, or lingering municipal issues
• Inherited parcels with multiple owners who must agree to sell

When the broader market was hot in 2021–2022, even constrained parcels found buyers. That is no longer reliably true. Problem land effectively trades on its own micro-market — a smaller pool of buyers who specialize in solving these issues, are comfortable with longer due diligence, and price accordingly.

If your parcel falls into any of these categories, the resource on selling land with issues in Florida covers what each issue typically does to value and timeline. For title-specific problems, our breakdown on selling land with title problems in Florida goes deeper. If your situation has any unusual constraint — environmental, legal, access, or otherwise — it is worth reading the issue-specific guides before pricing or listing.

Methodology and Data Notes

This Q1 2026 report synthesizes several primary sources, each cited inline:

• Realtor.com Q1 2026 Land Report (April 21, 2026) — national and metro-level land listing data, June 2016 through March 2026.
• Florida Realtors Q1 2026 Quarterly Market Detail (April 17, 2026) — single-family housing data from MLS feeds across Florida.
• FGCU Real Estate Research Institute SWFL First Quarter 2026 Report (March 4, 2026) — Charlotte, Collier, Lee, Glades, and Hendry county detail.
• USDA NASS 2025 Land Values Summary (August 2025) — Florida cropland, pastureland, and farm real estate values.
• Saunders 2025 Lay of the Land Florida Market Report — ranchland and timberland transaction data.
• Florida Department of Revenue 2024–2025 vacant residential land sales (compiled by SellTheLandNow) — county-level vacant residential medians and percentiles.

A few honest limitations:

• No single source publishes statewide quarterly vacant-land MLS data at the granularity Florida Realtors publishes for homes. This report layers complementary sources to get directional clarity.
• Reporting periods vary. Realtor.com data is Q1 2026 specifically. Florida DOR vacant land data covers 2024–2025. USDA NASS and Saunders data are 2025 annuals. FGCU’s “First Quarter 2026 Report” reports on Q4 2025 transactions.
• Statewide medians mask county and parcel-level variation. Florida is too geographically and regulatorily diverse to be summarized accurately in a single number.

This article is for educational and market-awareness purposes only. It is not legal, tax, surveying, zoning, valuation, or investment advice. Verify any specific parcel question with appropriate licensed professionals.

Related Florida Land Resources

• Florida Land Stats hub — the permanent home for all quarterly Florida land reports.
• Florida Land Resource Center — guides, articles, and educational content for landowners.
• Florida Land Selling Guide — the full process, end to end.
• Selling Land With Issues in Florida — how each common land problem affects value and timeline.
• Selling Land With Title Problems in Florida — title defects, heirship, liens, and how they get resolved.

Final CTA — If You Want to Sell

If you own Florida land that you don’t need, don’t want, or can’t easily sell on the open market — including parcels with any of the issues mentioned above — you don’t have to wait for the right buyer to come along. We are direct cash land buyers in Florida, purchasing parcels in all 67 counties, including the ones traditional buyers usually pass on.

There is no listing, no commission, no cleanup, and no obligation. Request a cash offer when you are ready. The rest of the time, this hub is here to keep you informed.

Frequently Asked Questions – First Quarter Land Stats in Florida

What were the first quarter land stats in Florida for 2026?

In Q1 2026, the U.S. land market saw a slight 0.5% year-over-year price decline overall, but the South — including Florida — posted a 1.3% gain. Port St. Lucie, FL led every U.S. metro in long-term land appreciation since 2019 at +314%. Florida’s broader housing market saw 59,174 single-family closed sales in Q1 2026 (up 5.3% year over year) with 4.8 months of supply (Realtor.com; Florida Realtors).

Are Florida land prices going up or down in 2026?

The answer depends on land type. Florida cropland appreciated 3.9% in 2025 to $8,150 per acre. Statewide residential vacant land medians were essentially flat year over year. Raw, rural acreage softened modestly, while buildable lots in growth corridors held firm or appreciated.

What’s the average price per acre of land in Florida?

There is no single useful average. Statewide residential vacant land median is roughly $74,000 per acre based on 2024–2025 sales, but per-acre values range from under $5,000 in the Panhandle to over $1 million per acre in parts of South Florida. Cropland averaged $8,150 per acre statewide in 2025 per USDA NASS.

Which Florida counties are seeing the strongest land demand?

Port St. Lucie (St. Lucie County) leads the entire United States for price-per-acre appreciation since 2019. Treasure Coast, I-4 Corridor, and growth-corridor counties (Polk, Pasco, Lake, Sumter, Osceola) generally show the strongest fundamentals. Southwest Florida is in a measured post-pandemic adjustment.

Is now a good time to sell vacant land in Florida?

For clean, buildable, well-located parcels, demand and pricing remain solid. For raw, rural, wetlands-heavy, or problem parcels, the market has gotten more selective and timelines have lengthened. The right answer depends on the specific parcel.

Where can I find the next Florida land market report?

All future quarterly Florida land reports will be published on the Florida Land Stats hub.

Do land issues like title problems or no access really change the value that much?

Yes. In a tightening buyer market, parcels with unresolved title, access, wetlands, or zoning issues sell to a much smaller buyer pool — typically specialists who price for the work required to resolve those issues. The value gap between a clean parcel and a problem parcel widens when buyers turn selective.