Niceville • Shalimar • Fort Walton Beach
New and Newer Homes Market Report: Know Your Competition
By Jim Whatley, Principal Broker, Uber Realty LLC.
FL License BK3174026.
Updated November 1, 2026. Homes built in 2016 or later.
Includes Valparaiso and Mary Esther within the two MLS search areas.
New and newer homes market report: nearly half the homes for sale have been listed for more than 90 days. That is 39 of 85 active listings. Buyers closed on 52 homes over the last 90 days, with a median reported market time of 43.5 days. If you are selling, compare your price and features with the new homes a buyer can choose today.
Jim’s read
The asking price is only part of your competition. Of 55 active new-construction listings, 24 mention incentives, closing-cost help or a buydown in the public remarks.
Before setting your price, compare the actual alternatives a buyer would tour. Look at size, location, condition, included features, financial help and timing. A finished resale may offer useful extras. Count only the ones your home actually has.
Find your price band
Your price band shows the choices buyers have now.
| Price | Active | New within active | Pending | Sold, 365 days | Active over 90 days | Seller takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $400,000 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 1 | Few choices at this price. |
| $400,000–$499,999 | 22 | 11 | 8 | 52 | 10 | Largest active group; half are new construction. |
| $500,000–$599,999 | 17 | 11 | 9 | 60 | 4 | Nine pending against 17 active. |
| $600,000–$749,999 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 63 | 10 | Ten of 18 active listings exceed 90 days. |
| $750,000–$999,999 | 16 | 11 | 3 | 42 | 7 | Eleven new homes compete with five resales. |
| $1 million and up | 10 | 9 | 4 | 30 | 7 | Seven of ten active listings exceed 90 days. |
Active and pending use asking price; sold uses closing price.
What changed since October 25
- Homes for sale fell from 90 to 85. Pending listings rose from 32 to 36.
- Trailing 30-day sales fell from 18 to 12.
- The 30-day median sale moved from $625,500 to $597,500 as the group of closings changed.
What the listings show
New construction accounts for 55 of 85 homes for sale, about 65%. Of those 55, 26 have more than 90 reported days on market. Newer resales account for 30 active listings; 13 exceed 90 days.
A long market time should prompt a review of competing homes and buyer feedback. For a home still under construction, also check the advertised completion date before treating listing time as time spent waiting for a move-in-ready buyer.
What it costs to sell here
You choose the help that fits your sale. On an illustrative $600,000 sale, a 1% listing fee is $6,000 and a 2% listing fee is $12,000.
| Option | How it fits your sale | Illustrative listing fee |
|---|---|---|
| 1% Listing | Full-service listing and sale representation. | $6,000 |
| 2% Listing, With Hands-On Help | The 1% service plus hands-on, in-person help for sellers who are away or cannot manage the work themselves. | $12,000 |
A Simple Fee choice is also available with the 1% Listing.
Real estate broker compensation is negotiable and is not set by law. Uber Realty listing-side compensation is separate from any seller-authorized buyer-broker compensation, concessions, repairs and other transaction costs. Exact fees, services and terms are controlled by the current written agreement.
The sample offer: compare what you keep
A higher offer can leave you with less money when it asks for more help.
| Illustration | Offer A | Offer B |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | $600,000 | $590,000 |
| Buyer credit | $15,000 | $0 |
| 1% listing fee | $6,000 | $5,900 |
| Illustrative seller-paid buyer-broker compensation at 2% | $12,000 | $11,800 |
| Remaining before other seller costs and payoff | $567,000 | $572,300 |
Hypothetical offers, not actual transactions; the 2% buyer-broker payment is an assumption chosen for this example.
Offer B leaves $5,300 more before the remaining costs. Compare financing, appraisal terms, inspections and closing timing as well as these dollars.
Five seller questions
What counts as a new or newer home?
This report covers detached homes built in 2016 or later in the Niceville and Fort Walton Beach MLS areas. The export includes Niceville, Valparaiso, Fort Walton Beach, Shalimar and Mary Esther. New construction means MLS occupancy marked New or a year built of 2026 or later.
How long are these homes taking to sell?
The 52 sales in the last 90 days had a median reported market time of 43.5 days. Among homes still for sale, 39 of 85 have more than 90 reported days on market.
How should I compete with builder incentives?
Compare the full offer: price, advertised financial help, included features and completion date. Ask for the incentive terms in writing. Then compare what each choice leaves you with.
Does a higher sale price mean a better offer?
Compare the amount you keep after buyer credits, brokerage fees and other seller costs. A higher price with a larger credit can leave you with less money.
Is the $597,500 median what my home is worth?
No. It is the middle sale price among 12 closings in the last 30 days. Price your home against similar nearby homes, including competing new construction, rather than using the combined market median.
Full data
| Window | Sales | Median sold | Median $/sq ft | Median DOM | Sold/final-list dollars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 days | 1 | $780,000 | $316 | 0 | 100.0% |
| 30 days | 12 | $597,500 | $275 | 25 | 99.9% |
| 90 days | 52 | $615,000 | $273 | 43.5 | 101.4% |
| 180 days | 134 | $615,000 | $269 | 43 | 100.1% |
| 365 days | 272 | $599,000 | $268 | 44.5 | 99.5% |
| 2026 to date | 229 | $599,999 | $269 | 42 | 99.7% |
Sold/final-list is total sold dollars divided by total final asking dollars.
New construction and newer resale
| Type | Active | Pending | Active over 90 days | Sold, 365 days | Median sold | Median $/sq ft | Median DOM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New construction | 55 | 22 | 26 | 131 | $625,109 | $270 | 61 |
| Newer resale | 30 | 14 | 13 | 141 | $559,000 | $261 | 41 |
Reported days on market
| Reported DOM | Active now | Sold, 365 days |
|---|---|---|
| 0–15 | 5 | 88 |
| 16–30 | 9 | 28 |
| 31–60 | 19 | 35 |
| 61–90 | 13 | 33 |
| 91–180 | 24 | 52 |
| 181+ | 15 | 36 |
2026 monthly sales
| Month | Sales | Median sold | Median $/sq ft | Median DOM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19 | $559,000 | $269 | 63 |
| February | 15 | $545,000 | $257 | 56 |
| March | 28 | $625,000 | $273 | 26 |
| April | 25 | $601,000 | $269 | 19 |
| May | 28 | $588,900 | $263 | 78.5 |
| June | 32 | $604,950 | $268 | 44 |
| July | 28 | $620,055 | $267 | 30.5 |
| August | 22 | $597,500 | $270 | 63.5 |
| September | 18 | $630,000 | $282 | 30.5 |
| October | 14 | $625,500 | $275 | 37 |
How national portals fit this report
Use citywide portal information for broad context. Use matching homes to price your sale.
| Source checked November 1 | Local pages | What to compare |
|---|---|---|
| Zillow | Niceville · Shalimar · Fort Walton Beach | City home-value estimates cover a wider mix than this newer-home report. |
| Realtor.com | Niceville · Shalimar · Fort Walton Beach | Check each metric, reporting date and property mix before comparing. |
| Homes.com | Niceville · Shalimar · Fort Walton Beach | Browse competing listings; city inventory is broader than this age-filtered MLS search. |
These city pages do not reproduce the combined MLS-area and year-built filters used here.
How this was measured
Source: ECARMLS through Flexmls. CMA prepared November 1, 2026 at 11:34 AM, cross-checked against the matching CSV. The search contains 511 listing records: 85 active, 36 pending, 294 sold, 17 expired, 75 cancelled, one coming soon and three temporarily off market. Every status count matches.
Scope: detached single-family homes built in 2016 or later in the Niceville and Fort Walton Beach MLS areas. City fields include Niceville, Valparaiso, Fort Walton Beach, Shalimar and Mary Esther. MLS areas and mailing-city fields are not municipal boundaries. The newest year-built entry is 2027 and may describe planned construction.
Windows end November 1, 2026. Each trailing window includes sold dates after the date that many days earlier, through the report date. YTD begins January 1. The 365-day window contains 272 of the 294 sold records. The monthly table shows completed months through October; no November sale appears in the export. Weekly differences compare the published October 25 snapshot with this snapshot; they are net changes, not a count of new listings or contracts.
Median means the middle observation. Price per square foot is sold price divided by reported heated/cooled area, with the median taken across sales. Prices are rounded to whole dollars. The sold/final-list ratio uses aggregate dollars, not the median of individual ratios. New-construction options or price changes can produce ratios over 100%; this does not measure seller proceeds after concessions.
New construction means occupancy marked New or year built 2026 or later. Other records are grouped as newer resale. That rule is a classification from the export, not an independent confirmation of occupancy or completion. Advertised incentive counts search public remarks for incentive, closing-cost and buydown wording. They do not measure incentives received at closing or their dollar value.
DOM uses the reported Days on Market field, not cumulative marketing time. No missing or negative DOM values were found. Listing records can include relistings; historical status totals are not counts of unique houses. Mixed locations, sizes, construction stages and features affect the medians. The small seven-day sample contains one sale.
Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. © 2026 ECARMLS and FBS. Source files contain sold dates from September 29, 2025 through October 30, 2026. This report publishes aggregate analysis rather than individual MLS records.
Compare the homes your buyer will compare
Ask for the competing new and newer homes around your property, plus a seller net estimate. Start with the choices a buyer has and what each offer leaves you with.
Jim Whatley, Principal Broker, Uber Realty LLC.
FL License BK3174026. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Last updated November 1, 2026.