You are moving to Florida and you are wondering if Brevard County is right for you? This post will introduce you to, in my humble opinion; the best location in Florida.
Brevard County is located in Central Florida on the east coast. We are an hour east of Orlando. We are 2 ½ hours south of Jacksonville. Just over 3 hours north of Miami. If you ever traveled to Florida for a cruise; you probably sailed from Port Canaveral. If you ever viewed a rocket launch, it probably launched from the Kennedy Space Center and is why we are known as the Space Coast.
There are a lot of people relocating to our area to work at the Space Center (SpaceX, Blue Origin, NASA, Relativity to name a few) They are relocating for either an aerospace or government contractor industry (L3Harris, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Collins Aerospace, etc) They are relocating to work in Health, Wellness, and medical fields (Health First, Rockledge Medical Group, Parrish Medical Center, etc) Patrick Spaceforce Base is also having military and civilian personnel have received their PCS orders and are moving into our area.
Our biggest employers in the county are Brevard County Public Schools, Health First, L3Harris, Walmart, Publix, and Northrop Grumman). Whether you are moving here for any of these companies or jobs, or you are able to work remotely, or you are finally retiring…let me introduce you to Brevard County Florida, the 10th largest county in the state of Florida by population.
Lay of the land. Brevard County is uniquely shaped. Over 72 miles long from end to end and less than 20 miles east to west. The eastern border is the Atlantic Ocean and the western border is the St John’s River. We are literally surrounded by water…especially when you realize that we have the intracoastal running through the county (aka the Indian River) along with the Banana River.
Brevard County is made up of 16 cities and towns. There’s also a handful of “census-designated areas”
We have several major roadways running north to south through Brevard County. A1A is along the beaches (I will refer to all of our Beachside towns and communities in Brevard as being on the A1A corridor) There is US1 that is on the mainland and runs parallel to the Indian River. US 1 does connect Jacksonville to Key West. There is I95 that runs the entire east coast of Florida all the way north to Maine. It’s important to note that we have 19 exits off of I95 giving great access to our interstate no matter where you will be living in Brevard County.
Of course we have some major roadways connecting east and west too. We have 5 super connectors ( term I just made up) that run from the ocean to 95. A few of these also go beyond our Brevard County borders. 192 will connect you to St Cloud & Kissimmee. 520 will connect you to Hwy 50 and the East Orlando area. 528, which becomes A1A by Port Canaveral; will take you to the Orlando Airport and end at I-4 in Orlando.
If you haven’t lived in a coastal community on the East Coast of the US or along the Gulf Coast, you are probably wondering about hurricanes and what to expect. Let’s talk about mandatory evacuations and what this means. If a storm is approaching and threatening the state & the East Coast; they might call for a mandatory evacuation of the barrier islands. This will be for all of our beach cities and towns along the A1A corridor, all of Merritt Island, and if you live on the mainland east of US1. You will be encouraged to leave prior to the storm arriving. It is voluntary. They will not drag you out of your house and force you to leave. Just know that if you decide to stay and something happens where you need to call 911, they might not respond to your call immediately if the storm is hitting the area…it will be when it is safe for the first responders. If this will be your first time living in a hurricane zone, just know you should have ample time to prepare and decide what is right for you. The local news will keep you informed on the path, they will have suggestions on your hurricane supplies, and precautions you should take to protect your property too (I also have resources on the blog & YouTube channel-send me a message)
Since we are discussing hurricanes, its probably a good segway into our overall weather. Hurricane season is from June 1 through November 30th. Our overall weather is warm to hot for most of the year. November through February is more mild. We can have cold spells where the temperature drops in the 40s overnight. We might get the occasional frost warning…maybe even a freeze warning…just not every year. If it does happen, its only for a couple of days (maybe a week) You can expect daytime highs in the high 70s to low 80s and overnight lows in the 60s from November to February. We are in the sub-tropics. March through May expect 80s with an occasional day hitting the 90s. Overnight lows in the 70s. June through October it will be hot…especially July, August, and September. Mid to upper 90s during the day. Overnight it stays in the 80s (occasionally upper 70s) It can be brutal. Fortunately, we have air conditioning to make it comfortable. We also have the swimming pools, the river, and ocean to cool off at.
Let’s talk about all the water in our area. If you love to boat, we have the Indian River and Banana River I already mentioned, there is all the tributaries in our area that include Crane Creek, Turkey Creek, the Eau Gallie River, Horse Creek, and Sykes Creek. There is the Barge Canal connecting the Banana River with the Indian River near 528. You have the St Sebastian River to the south. You have the Haulover canal and Mosquito Lagoon near the Space Center. If fresh water is more your thing, head over to Lake Washington and the St John’s river on the west side of Brevard County. And of course you can access the ocean from either Port Canaveral or the Sebastian Inlet to the south. I am a fan of kayaking and stand up paddle boards and you can explore all the waterways I just mentioned. I personally love kayaking around the mangrove islands on the Banana River and mangrove tunnels in Cocoa Beach.
If you are a surfer or like the idea of learning to surf; we have miles of beaches with nice breaks throughout the county. The south side of the Cocoa Beach Pier. Any of the “south streets” in Cocoa Beach. 2nd light or the hangers at Patrick. RC’s or Roosevelt Ave in Satellite Beach. 5th ave in Indialantic. The Spanish house near Sebastian or at Sebastian inlet.
I like to run and there is a great running community throughout Brevard County. Find a local running group on their website https://spacecoastrunners.org/ There are a lot of bicyclist in our area too. If you like to trail ride, you can explore the Turkey Creek Sanctuary in Palm Bay or the Ulumay Wildlife Sanctuary in Merritt Island.
If you like to see Florida Wildlife, you can see it almost anywhere. Ibis, sandhill cranes, blue herons, pelicans, and seagulls can be seen in many communities and parks throughout Brevard County. You will also see turkey buzzards, ospreys, and hawks throughout the area too. We also have coyotes, foxes, bobcats, black bear, and Florida panthers in our area. You could see dolphin or manatees in the river. You might come across an alligator in the river. If you really want to see a gator in the wild, head out to the Viera Wetlands located at the west end of Wickham Rd past Viera. The ocean, you might see a shark fin. Common sense is important to use if you do come across either a gator or shark. Dont approach them and get out of the water. Just know they don’t want to mess with you either. Something I think is special during the summer months is the sea turtle nesting season. You can see the tracks as you walk the beaches and the occasional marker indicating a nest. You will have to get up before the sunrise if you hope to see a mama turtle or do an after midnight beach stroll. If you are really lucky, you can witness a turtle either laying their eggs or the hatchlings erupting from a nest to start their journey to the ocean.
We also have all the other activities you would expect to see…baseball, softball, basketball, tennis, or soccer. Most of the schools also have a lacrosse. We have skateboard parks throughout the county. There are equestrian areas in North Merritt Island, Melbourne, and south Palm Bay. Is there something I missed you have a question about? Drop a comment of schedule a call Https://www.ericlarkin.com/schedule-a-call
If schools are important to you, from what I have seen; most of the schools in Brevard County get good ratings. Of course, some schools get better ratings than others. There are some great resources available to help you with this research. Here are a few resources to check out:
https://www.greatschools.org/florida/
As you are exploring and trying to decide where to live; two costs in Florida might be different than what you are used to or expect from wherever you are moving from. Property taxes and insurance. Let’s start with property taxes. We are fortunate in Brevard County that our property appraiser’s website is easy to navigate and has great information. I am on this site every day to research something.
https://www.bcpao.us/ Property search allows you to pull up any parcel of land in the county to see who owns it, when they purchased it, and what the boundaries of the property look like (of course you still need a survey). You can see if there is a homestead exemption on the property or not. You can see the TRIM notice (the estimate of what the upcoming year’s taxes will be) the actual property tax bill for the current year or past years, and one of the most used buttons is the tax estimator button. Just so you know, whatever the current owner is paying in property taxes, yours will be different and probably a lot more next year especially if they owned the property for a while and have homestead exemption on the property.
Homestead Exemption is a benefit we have if the home will be your primary residence (you live there full-time) Once you apply for homestead exemption, it will lower your taxable value up by up to $50,000. It will also put a cap on how much this value can increase in a year. This cap is 3% for homestead properties and 10% for non homestead. The sale triggers a reassessment and any savings the previous owner had is not available for the new owner. If it is their primary residence, and they qualify for the homestead exemption, they need to apply for it prior to March 1st of the next year for it to go into effect. If you are selling a Florida property that is currently your homestead and purchasing another Florida property that will be your homestead, some of the savings you had from your previous property will transfer over to your new property if you apply for it and let them know you are transferring your save your home benefits. I know this is a lot of information on property taxes, let me know if you have questions.
Besides market value on the property appraiser site, you have the millage rate on what your taxes are. If you are living inside city limits, your millage rate will more than likely be higher than someone living outside the city limits or in the county. Dana Blickely and her team do a great job providing you with the information on the millage rates too. Here is a link to see wha the current millage rates are at. https://www.bcpao.us/TaxRoll.aspx?t=3.1
That’s my overview of the property taxes…here’s what you need to know about insurance. As you may know, Florida is surrounded by water and has a high probability of being hit by a hurricane…maybe multiple times during a hurricane season. Tornados could be an issue. Hail storms have caused a lot of damage in Florida in the last few years. Some areas are prone to flooding OR there is one of a kind storm that causes an area to flood. Insurance companies have had to pay out millions of dollars because of the damage caused by these storms. There have been a lot of insurance companies have gone out of business or have stopped writing policies in Florida. Insurance costs are expensive for this reason.
Unless you are buying a brand new home on the mainland, brace yourself. $3,000 to $4,000 a year is a reasonable cost. It depends on where your home is at, the age of your home, the age of the roof, and if you have any hurricane protection (shutters or impact windows). If you are buying a home that is not brand new; you will need to have a 4 point inspection to get a quote or to bind a policy. The 4 points are roof, HVAC, electrical, and plumbing. It is recommended you also have a wind mitigation inspection to see if the home is eligible for any credits to lower your premium costs. The home inspector you use for inspecting your property will be able to complete the wind mit and the 4 point inspections.
What can you expect for home prices? It depends on where you want to live. Most of the sales in Brevard County are single-family homes & are the prices I will be reviewing. There are a lot of factors to consider that have an impact on the prices (size, age, location, waterfront, etc) The map below shows the range of prices for the last 6 months of 2024.
We had 4920 single family homes sales the second half of 2024 in Brevard County. Prices ranged from $23K-$5.05M. Average sales price was $461,222. Median price was $379,990 We had 193 homes sell for $1M+. We had 476 homes sell $250K or less. Average DOM is 57 days. 2159 sold in under 30 days. 1006 sold in 7 days or less (21% of the sales)
Titusville Florida: 341 home sales between $85K-$1.1M. Average price $345K. Homes were built between 1920to new construction
Cocoa Florida (including Port St John, Canaveral Groves, and Sharpes) 329 home sales between $23K-$1.85M. Average price $347K. Homes built between 1925 and new construction
Merritt Island Florida: 251 home sales between $127.5K-$3.7M. Average price $581K. Homes built between 1954-new construction
Rockledge Florida: 256 home sales between $80K-$1.58M. Average price $413K. Homes built between 1901-new construction
Beachside (Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Indialantic, and Melbourne Beach) 323 sales between $185K-$5.05M. Average price $851K. Homes built between 1934 and new construction.
Viera/Suntree: 516 home sales between $182k-$2.625M Average price $653K. Homes built between 1978-new construction
Melbourne Florida: 539 homes sales between $102.5K to $2.617M Average price $452K. Homes built between 1922 to new construction
Palm Bay Florida: 1552 homes sales between $90K to $1.6M Average price $355K. Homes built between 1952 and new construction. 789 of the sales were 2022 or newer homes (almost half)
32940 zip code (Suntree & Part of Viera) had 554 sales
32909 zip code in Palm Bay has the most sales 557 sales.
I hope this overview & introduction to Brevard County helps with your upcoming move. If you have questions about the area or would like to schedule a discovery call, please register 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.
Planning a move or have questions about our area? Eric Larkin with Real Broker, LLC can help! Schedule a call here https://www.ericlarkin.com/schedule-a-call
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