Moving to the Space Coast of Brevard County Florida & you are considering Merritt Island? Here is a breakdown of the city to help you find the right location on Merritt Island for you and your family. Merritt Island isn’t the largest in population here in Brevard County, but it is the longest city in the county. To help you get your orientation, here is a breakdown of Merritt Island as we see it in our local MLS.
Brevard County has Merritt Island divided into zip codes, 32952 and 32953; basically north and south Merritt Island. Through the Space Coast Realtors, we divide Merritt Island into 6 sections via the MLS. North Merritt Island, central Merritt Island, south Merritt Island, North Banana River Drive, Newfound Harbor Drive, and Merritt Island south of Pineda. Most of the residences on Merritt Island are single family homes, you can also find condos, townhouses, half duplex, manufactured homes, and even a co-op. Sales prices the last 12 months ranged from $22K for a manufactured home home to $3.36M for an estate home with over 19K Square Feet on 9+ acres of land that is river to river (Banana River to the Indian River). Here is a breakdown of the 6 sections of Merritt Island by the number of residential sales starting with the largest amount of sales.
Central Merritt Island
Central Merritt Island has a lot going on. Most of the retail, shopping and restaurants are located in Merritt Island is here along the 520 corridor and along Courtney Parkway (aka SR3). Central Merritt Island is where you will find 5 of the 8 schools too. Merritt Island High is here along with Edgewood Jr/Sr High School, Mila Elementary, Gardendale Elementary, and Lewis Carroll Elementary. Merritt Island Little League has baseball fields on the corner of Courtenay Pkwy and Merritt Ave.
Most home sales happen in Central Merritt Island compared to the other sections of Merritt Island. The last 12 months, 290 of the 880 properties that sold happened here. Prices ranged from $46K for a one bedroom condo in Colonial Arms complex to $1.45M for a 5125 SqFt home built in 2007 that is on an acre lot on the Indian River. There is also a good range for the age of a home from the 1950’s to 2017 that sold the last 12 months. If you want a waterfront home, Central Merritt Island has homes that are on the Indian River, Sykes Creek, or a canal that will lead you to the Sykes Creek.
The most popular communities for the home sales occurred in either the Catalina Isles subdivision, Diana Shores, or Hampton homes. All three of the subdivisions offer homes that are on a dry lot, on a canal leading to Sykes Creek or on Sykes Creek. Most of the condo sales occurred in the Harbor Del Rio complex or in the Island Pointe condos. More condo sales occur in Central Merritt Island than the other 5 sections of the Island.
South Merritt Island
South Merritt Island also has a lot going on too. They are part of the 520 corridor that has a lot of retail, shopping, and restaurants on Merritt Island. South Merritt Island also has a light industrial area that is located along Cone Road that make up part of the border to the Merritt Island airport. The Merritt Island airport is part of the TICO airport authority and is the closest general aviation airport to Cocoa Beach and Port Canaveral. It’s an ideal airport featuring aircraft charter services, bi-plane rides, banner towing, flight training, aircraft avionics services and aircraft maintenance & sales. http://www.ticoairportauthority.com/merritt-island-airport–coi-.html.
South Merritt Island also has 2 of the 8 schools located on the Island. Tropical Elementary and Thomas Jefferson Middle School. South Merritt Island has two parks. Osteen Park along South Tropical Trail on the Indian River and Rotary Park just south of the 2 schools.
South Merritt Island offers a diverse price range of property. There were 217 homes and condos to sell the last 12 months from $81K for a 1 bedroom condo at Sunset Bay to a $3.36M river to river estate on 9+ acres with over 19000 square feet of living space. There is also a large range in the age of homes available in South Merritt Island from the early 1900’s to 2021. Most of the homes are on dry lots and the waterfront homes are either on the Banana River, on the Indian River, or some of the estates offer river to river home sites.
Most of the home sales in South Merritt Island are in the Merritt Ridge subdivision, the Belaire subdivision, or the Island Beach subdivision. 15 of the home sales in South Merritt Island were over $1M with 3 of the sales over $3M.
North Merritt Island
North Merritt Island is the gateway to Space with the Kennedy Space Center located at the north end of Merritt Island. The Barge Canal, which is the southern border, connects the intercoastal river to Port Canaveral. In between are orange groves, pasture lands, and a diverse selection of residential homes. There are also commercial properties along SR3, some retail, some light industrial, storage facilities, and a restaurant or two. I consider North Merritt Island to be less built up and congested compared to the rest of Merritt Island.
There aren’t any schools in North Merritt Island, but they do have several amazing parks. Mitchell Ellington Park is a 100+ acre facility that offers baseball, football, soccer, tennis & basketball courts along with pavilions, a playground and trails to walk & explore. Manatee Cove Park offers wildlife to enjoy, a place to launch your canoe, kayak or paddleboard onto the Indian River, and a pavilion/picnic area. Pine Island Conservation area that has 7 miles of trails that attracts hikers & birdwatchers to this marshland preserve with kayak access.
Just like the rest of Merritt Island, North Merritt Island is mostly single family homes. They also have condos, townhomes, ½ duplex’s, and manufactured homes. There were 173 sales in the last 12 months ranging from $22K for a single wide trailer on a ¼ acre of land to a $1.255M 3+ acre estate on the Indian River that offered over 4800SqFt of living space. There are some older homes that were built in the early 1900’s, but most of the homes are 1980 and newer with brand new communities being built. Most of the homes in North Merritt Island are on larger lots (⅓ acre or more) There are equestrian friendly communities in North Merritt Island near Chase Hammock Road. If you are looking for a waterfront home, there are some options along the Indian River. If you love golf, North Merritt Island also has the Savannahs golf course and community.
Most of the home sales were in Sunset Lakes or the new community of Egrets Landing. Cape Crossing, another new community, had the most condo and townhome sales in the last 12 months. 40 of the home sales had at least 1 acre of land. If you are looking for space, North Merritt Island has some options for you.
North Banana River Drive
North Banana River Drive area features 3 amazing parks. Kelly Park East is on the Banana River has boat ramps, pavilions and is a great place to launch your kayak or go kite surfing. Kelly Park West is a 40 acre community park offers multi-use fields with concession facility, a boardwalk and small fishing pier on a 2.48-acre brackish lake, and paved walkway around the park perimeter. The playground, basketball court, restrooms, drinking fountain, pavilion and 3 grills add convenience for organized youth athletics at this park. https://www.brevardfl.gov/ParksRecreation/ParksByCity/ParksInMerrittIsland/KellyWest
There is Ulumay Wildlife Sanctuary that is a 600-acre conservation area is a very popular birding destination located on Merritt Island off of Sykes Creek Parkway. Activities include hiking, kayaking, and non-motorized mountain biking. An elevated observation deck along the hiking trail provides wonderful views of the conservation area, and surrounding Merritt Island. https://www.brevardfl.gov/EELProgram/Sanctuaries/UlumaySanctuary
Kiwanis Island is almost 16 acres that offers tennis, racquetball, baseball fields, pavilions, a boat ramp and multiple spots to launch your kayak, canoe or paddle boards. (technically not off N Banana River Dr but is in the “mapped area” of our MLS.
Except for a small section along 520 where there is a WalMart, a car dealership, & strip malls, near Triangle Road, and the Chevron near 528; this is all residential and almost all single family homes along North Banana River Drive. 127 properties sold in the last 12 months ranging from a $35K Co-Op (yes, there are a few of those in Brevard County) to a new single family home on a .43 acre lot along the bay of Milfrod Point that leads to the Banana River.
The North Banana River Drive homes range in age from the 1960’s to 2020. You have homes that are on dry lots. You have canal front homes that lead to Sykes Creek and homes on Sykes Creek. You have homes that are on canals that lead directly to the Banana River and homes that are directly on the Banana River too.
Most of the home sales happened in the Surfside Estates, Vetter Isles, and Holiday Cove Subdivisions. These all offer dry lots and canal homes that lead to either the Banana River or Sykes Creek.
Newfound Harbor Dr
Newfound Harbor Dr area is the peninsula south of 520 and also includes South Banana River Drive. This area has some commercial areas near 520, a large mobile home community on the Banana River off S Banana River Drive and a new marina located at Marker 24.
Just like the rest of Merritt Island, this area is almost all single family homes with some condos and manufactured homes. The price range of sales in the Newfound Harbor Drive area is $76K for a single wide trailer in the Piney Woods community to $1.599M for a brand new home in the Marker 24 riverfront community that is 5 bedrooms 4 baths and has 3400 SqFt of living space. The condo sales were all in the Marina Village condos which is a riverfront complex on the Banana River that was built in the early 2000’s.
Homes in this area of Newfound Harbor Dr were built from the 1960’s to new construction that is happening now. The home sites are either dry lots or direct waterfront either on the Banana River or on Sykes Creek.
Merritt Island south of Pineda Causeway
The very southern end of Merritt Island is all residential and I think a very unique part of Brevard County. South Tropical Trail becomes a much narrower road than what you see north of the Pineda Causeway and the speed limit is 25 mph. The homes seem larger and a little more exclusive on Merritt Island’s southern tip. Having a home that is on both the Indian River and Banana River is common & not difficult when there are sections of land that are less than 100’ wide. The very southern tip of this section of Merritt Island, where the Banana River and Indian River merge is Dragon Point. At one time there was a 65’ long dragon sculpture at the southern tip named Annie. Unfortunately storms, vandalism and neglect caused the demise of Annie and only ruble remains at the site. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_Island_Dragon . Just before Dragon Point, southern Merritt Island is connected to Satellite Beach by Mathers Bridge, a swing bridge that allows the larger boats through.
Since this is an exclusive part of Merritt Island, it does make sense only a handful of homes sell here every year. The last 12 months, there were 7 home sales ranging in price from $620K for a 2 bedroom home built in 1958 with 122’ of water frontage on the Indian River to a $1.748M for a 3720 SqFt home that was built in 2001 that is on a river to river 3.4 acre estate.
If you are planning a move and you are considering Merritt Island, you have an unlimited selection of property to consider home…from 1 bedroom condos to massive estates I am confident that there is a property for you in Merritt Island. If this is an area you are interested in, let me know how I can help you with your move. You can call, text or email me with your questions or to schedule an appointment. 321.795.1854 is my cell & Eric@EricLarkin.com is my email. You can see what is for sale in Merritt Island in this link https://www.ericlarkin.com/merritt-island or you can simply comment below.
Eric Larkin is a Broker Associate with Real Broker, LLC. He lives, works, and plays in the Cocoa Beach area. If you have questions about moving or relocating to Cocoa Beach and the Space Coast, let me know! I get calls, texts, direct messages & comments on my posts every day about the real estate market and things that are happening in Cocoa Beach and the Space Coast that I love answering. Ask me your questions on moving, relocating here, or anything about the community. I am here to help. I have been helping buyers and sellers with their real estate needs since becoming a real estate agent in 2003. My focus is always on helping, answering your questions, and doing everything possible to make certain you have a smooth transaction from beginning to end.
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