Lake Wales, FL 33898 housing market
Data through Aug 2026 · Buyer's market · leverage 97
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Home Value
$249,889
−1.7% vs. a year ago
Buyer Leverage Score
97
Sep 2026
Months of Supply
5.8 months
Aug 2026
Days on Market
96 days
Sep 2026
Price Cut %
24%
Sep 2026
Sale-to-List Ratio
95.7%
Aug 2026
Mtg Payment as % of Income
34%
Aug 2026
Rental Rate
$1,673/mo
Aug 2026
Overvalued %
59%
Aug 2026
Expected Disaster Loss
$196
Dec 2025
What this means
- Valuation. Prices are 59% above what local incomes have historically supported (this area's pre-2020 price-to-income ratio).
- Prices. Home values are down 1.7% over the past year (U.S.: +1.2%), 4% below their 2022-23 peak.
- Supply. There are 22% more homes for sale than the 2017-19 norm and rising (+11% vs. a year ago), so buyers have more to choose from than before the pandemic.
- Negotiating. Buyer leverage is high (97/100; U.S.: 54): homes sell for about 4.3% below their final list price; 24% of listings had a price cut (U.S.: 26%).
- Affordability. A mortgage on the typical home takes 34% of the median household income (U.S.: 35%); it takes about $65k a year to keep the payment at 30% of gross pay. That includes about $2,039 a year for home insurance (U.S.: $1,790).
- Buy vs. rent. Owning and renting a typical home cost about the same per month.
- Disaster risk. FEMA expects about $196 a year in natural-disaster damage per $100k of building value (U.S.: $155), mostly from flooding.
- Outlook. No clear direction: likely −9% to +7% over the next 12 months (53% chance of a rise).
Next 12 months
No clear direction
A rise is somewhat more likely than a fall, but not by enough to call. Likely change: −8.9% to +7.4% (80% range; middle estimate +0.3%), chance of a rise 53%, of a 5%+ drop 20%.
HouseVane's model, refit every month on local market signals and national ones, trained only on data known at the time. How accurate it has been.
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