Five Florida metros lead in out-of-area new-home views
Lakeland-Winter Haven ranked first nationally, with more than 83% of its new-home listing views coming from shoppers outside the metro area.
Florida’s new-home markets are capturing attention well beyond their local boundaries. Five Florida metro areas rank among the nation’s top six for the share of new-construction listing views coming from out-of-area shoppers.
The Lakeland-Winter Haven area topped the country during the second quarter of 2026, with 83.1% of its new-construction listing views coming from shoppers outside the metro area, according to a Realtor.com report.
Cape Coral-Fort Myers followed at 82.4%, with Port St. Lucie at 80.9% and North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota at 80.5%. After Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach ranked sixth nationally at 78.5%.
“New construction is increasingly a destination for buyers who are willing to look beyond their current metro,” said Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com.
The Florida markets offered a wide range of prices. The median new-construction listing price was $315,821 in Lakeland-Winter Haven and $357,846 in Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach. It was higher in Cape Coral-Fort Myers at $496,102, North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota at $470,166 and Port St. Lucie at $459,176.
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach was the largest source of outside listing views for all five Florida metros. Orlando and Tampa also provided significant interest, while New York ranked among the three leading sources for Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Port St. Lucie, North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota and Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach.
Nationally, 67.2% of new-construction listing views came from shoppers in another metro, compared with 65.4% of views for existing homes.
Builders also continued to use price reductions more often than existing-home sellers. For the third straight quarter, 20% of new-construction listings received a price reduction, compared with 18.6% of existing-home listings. Berner described builders’ response as “an active, hands-on approach to pricing.”
The national median listing price for a newly built home was $450,256, down 0.1% from a year earlier. The median existing-home listing price fell 2% to $408,317, widening the new-construction price premium from 8.2% to 10.3%.
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