The question worth answering first · Prices August 2026, rents September 2026

Renting vs buying in Port St. Lucie

St. Lucie County's single-family median sale price is up 0.6% on the year and Zillow's index of every home in the city down 1.3%, and the county's median rent is down 0.1% on Apartment List's count. Here is the arithmetic, including a seventeen-line tax bill that the homestead exemption makes smaller, the City's assessments that it does not, the two taxes Florida charges on the loan, and the mortgage insurance that stops in the middle of the model, and then the part the arithmetic misses.

Calculator

The short answer

Half the single-family homes sold in St. Lucie County in August 2026 went for more than $402,500 and half for less, up 0.6% on a year earlier, on 444 sales. That is the county MIAMI REALTORS + RWorld reports, not the city alone, though the City is two-thirds of it. A three-bedroom rents for about $2,400. Run those against each other at a 2% appreciation assumption and the answer turns on how long you stay and on the mortgage rate, which was 7.03% on the 24 September survey.

The market is level and the condominiums are not. Zillow's index of every home in the city, at $384,593, is down 1.3%, and its condominium index is down 6.2%. The county had 4.9 months of single-family supply in August. The county's median rent is down 0.1% on Apartment List's count, and Florida law forbids any cap.

The tax bill is long, and the City adds to it. Seventeen levies make 22.3097 mills. A homesteaded owner pays about $8,022 a year on the median house, 1.99% of the price, after the exemption, and the City's solid waste and stormwater assessments, about $656 a year, arrive on the same bill. In the newer west a community development district's lines can add as much again.

Getting in costs more than in Texas, and so does getting out. A buyer pays about $1,771 of tax on the loan on top of the usual closing costs, roughly $4,111 in all before lender fees. Selling costs about 6.7% once the commission, the deed stamp and the title policy are counted, or roughly $26,968 on this house, which is the shape that punishes a short stay.

The calculator below opens with real Port St. Lucie figures and every one of them is editable. Three warnings: the property tax rate is set to 1.99% of the price, the homesteaded rate, not the 22.3097 mills levied before the exemption, so if you will not live in the house, set it to 2.23%; no flood premium and no community development district or City special assessment is included anywhere; and below 20% down the owner is charged private mortgage insurance every month until the balance reaches 78% of the price, at which point it stops. All three are explained in the questions below.

Your situation

Compare like for like: the rent on somewhere you would actually be willing to live, not the cheapest listing in the city. Drop the price to around $300,000 and the rent to a one-bedroom figure to compare apartments instead, and put the condo fee in under Assumptions.

20.0% down. The renter starts with this plus closing costs: $84,611: invested instead.

The single biggest lever. Buying costs a lot to enter and a lot to exit, and only time amortizes that away.

Assumptions: every one of them editable

St. Lucie County's single-family median sale price is up 0.6% year over year, on 444 sales, and Zillow's index for the city is down 1.3%. Zillow's condominium index for the city, at $188,371, is down 6.2%. Try zero, and try a negative number for a condo.

What the renter earns on the down payment they never spent. This is the comparison's hidden lever. A renter who spends it instead of investing it does far worse than this model shows.

Florida forbids its counties and cities from controlling rents at all. The statute allowed a narrow exception (a declared housing emergency, a specific finding, and a referendum) and the legislature closed even that in 2023. There is no cap, no guideline and no prospect of one, so any rent-growth figure you enter here is a forecast rather than a legal ceiling.

Roofs, furnaces, fences, hail. Averaged out it is a real cost even in the years nothing breaks.

Zero for a house with no association. About one Port St. Lucie owner in four pays a homeowners' or condominium association fee, at a Census median of $346 a month, most of it to the master-planned communities' homeowners' associations. A condominium fee carries the building's insurance and reserves: $450 a month is a reasonable middle, and an older building facing its milestone inspection can be more. A community development district's assessment is a separate line on the tax bill, not a fee.

Commission and legal fees, charged against the price you eventually sell at. The owner's net worth below is after this comes off.

Net worth, side by side

The buyer's line is home value minus what is still owed minus the cost of selling, plus anything they invested in months when owning was cheaper. The renter's line is one portfolio: the down payment and closing costs they never spent, plus the monthly difference whenever renting is cheaper.

Renting stays ahead for the whole 30 yearsTwo lines over 30 years: the owner's net worth and the renter's. The year-by-year figures are in the table below.$0k$660k$1,320k51015202530Years
OwnerRenter
Show the year-by-year figures
Year by year, what the owner and the renter are worth
YearHome valueOwedOwnerRenterDifference
1$410,550$318,748$64,295$105,222−$40,926
2$418,761$315,260$75,444$126,699−$51,255
3$427,136$311,518$87,000$149,085−$62,085
4$435,679$307,505$98,983$172,422−$73,439
5$444,393$303,200$111,418$196,756−$85,338
6$453,280$298,583$124,327$222,133−$97,806
7$462,346$293,631$137,738$248,604−$110,866
8$471,593$288,319$151,677$276,221−$124,543
9$481,025$282,621$166,175$305,038−$138,863
10$490,645$276,510$181,262$335,113−$153,851
11$500,458$269,955$196,973$366,506−$169,534
12$510,467$262,924$213,342$399,282−$185,939
13$520,677$255,382$230,409$433,505−$203,096
14$531,090$247,293$248,214$469,246−$221,032
15$541,712$238,616$266,801$506,579−$239,778
16$552,546$229,309$286,216$545,580−$259,364
17$563,597$219,327$306,509$586,330−$279,821
18$574,869$208,620$327,733$628,913−$301,180
19$586,367$197,135$349,945$673,419−$323,475
20$598,094$184,817$373,205$719,941−$346,737
21$610,056$171,604$397,578$768,578−$370,999
22$622,257$157,432$423,134$819,431−$396,297
23$634,702$142,230$449,947$872,609−$422,662
24$647,396$125,925$478,096$928,225−$450,130
25$660,344$108,436$507,665$986,399−$478,734
26$673,551$89,677$538,746$1,047,256−$508,510
27$687,022$69,556$571,436$1,110,926−$539,491
28$700,762$47,974$605,837$1,177,548−$571,711
29$714,777$24,825$642,063$1,247,266−$605,204
30$729,073$0$680,225$1,320,227−$640,002
After 30 years
Renting stays ahead for the whole 30 years
On these numbers the money invested elsewhere stays ahead of the equity.

Renting stays ahead for the whole 30 years. Owning costs $3,753 a month in the first year against $2,412 to rent.

Owning, month one$3,753
Renting, month one$2,412
Cash needed up front$84,611
Mortgage payment$2,149
Owner net worth, year 30$680,225
Renter net worth, year 30$1,320,227
Owning: money not recovered$1,317,396
Renting: rent paid$1,185,426
  • The rate is fixed for the life of the loan, so there is no renewal to model, but nothing here credits you for refinancing into a lower one either.
  • Neither household is credited with tax on their investments, and the buyer's gain on a principal residence is tax-free while the renter's portfolio may not be.

An estimate from published figures, not a lender quote.

Questions people actually ask

Is it worth buying in Port St. Lucie right now?

It depends more on the house and the street than on the market. The median single-family home in St. Lucie County sold for $402,500 in August 2026, up 0.6% on the year, on 444 sales; that is the county, of which the City is two-thirds, and houses only. Zillow's model of a typical value inside the city, condominiums included, is $384,593, down 1.3%. On rents, Apartment List has the county's median down 0.1% on the year and Zillow's observed rent index for the city up 1.86%. At 7.03% on a 30-year loan, the mortgage on the median house with 20% down is $2,149 a month; add $668 of property tax, $55 of City assessments and $450 of homeowners insurance and the owner's month is about $3,322, before flood cover or any community development district, against a three-bedroom rent of about $2,400. The county had 2,270 single-family homes listed in August against 2,351 a year earlier, 4.9 months of supply.

How long do you have to stay for buying to beat renting in Port St. Lucie?

Getting in costs about $4,111 before lender fees, and $1,771 of that is Florida's tax on the loan itself. Getting out costs about 6.7%: around 5.5% of commission, the seller's 0.7% documentary stamp on the deed and, where the seller buys it, the owner's title policy, $2,088 at this price on the state's promulgated rate. On a $402,500 house that is about $26,968. On the defaults below owning never catches renting at all: the renter is ahead in every one of the 30 years the model runs. The friction alone is a shorter and different answer: at a 2% appreciation assumption those two ends take about 4.0 years to earn back. Zillow's index for the city is down 1.3% on the year, so try zero as well.

Why does this page use 1.99% property tax when Port St. Lucie is charged 22.3097 mills?

Because of Florida's homestead exemption, not because of any assessment lag: a purchase resets the assessment to what you paid. The bill has seventeen lines. St. Lucie County levies 7.4131 mills across its general fund, the jail and courts, transit, mosquito control and the erosion district; the City of Port St. Lucie 4.9750 for operations and voted debt; St. Lucie Public Schools 6.2960; the St. Lucie County Fire District 3.0000; the Children's Services Council 0.3685; the South Florida Water Management District 0.2301 over three lines; and the Florida Inland Navigation District 0.0270, 22.3097 in all for 2025. The school district's lines are charged on the price less $25,000; everything else on the price less a second slice as well. On a homesteaded $402,500 house that comes to about $8,022 a year, 1.99% of the price. Without the exemption, which is what a landlord pays and what a buyer who never files pays, the same house owes about $8,980. The second slice is indexed to inflation: the property appraiser now gives a homestead worth up to $51,411 rather than the $50,000 this page assumes, which takes the bill to about $7,999. The rates proposed for 2026 add to 22.0043. The City's solid waste and stormwater assessments, about $656 a year, come on the same bill and no exemption touches them.

Why is the seller's tax bill so much lower than the figure here?

Save Our Homes, mainly. A homesteaded property's assessed value may rise no more than 3% a year, or the change in the consumer price index if that is lower, for as long as the same owner keeps the exemption, and it resets to market value on the roll after a sale. In a city whose taxable value more than doubled between 2020 and 2025, a neighbor who bought before the boom can be taxed on a fraction of what you will be for the same house. If you are selling a Florida homestead, you can carry up to $500,000 of that accrued benefit to the new one if you establish it within three tax years, on an application due by 1 March. One more thing a 2026 bill can hide: owners who were in their house in 2022 and still live there get a credit of up to $364 from the City's settlement with its former garbage hauler, which a buyer will not.

What are the closing costs, and why do they get bigger if I put less down?

Florida taxes the loan as well as the house. The documentary stamp on the deed, 70 cents per $100, is the seller's by convention. Yours is a second documentary stamp on the promissory note at 35 cents per $100 and a non-recurring intangible tax on the mortgage at 0.2%. On a $322,000 loan that is $1,771, and because it is charged on the borrowing rather than the price it rises as your down payment falls: at 5% down it is $2,103. With a settlement fee around $850, the buyer's title charges, an inspection at about $700 (in Florida that is really three reports, the general one plus wind mitigation and four-point, and the last two are what an insurer asks for) and the clerk's recording, the buyer's side comes to roughly $4,111 before lender fees. The escrow account the lender opens at closing is sized to the tax and the insurance, and in Port St. Lucie the insurance is the larger surprise.

Does this include flood insurance?

No. The $450 a month here is homeowners insurance, which in Florida covers wind, with a separate hurricane deductible of 2%, 5% or 10% of the dwelling limit, and does not cover rising water. Two hurricanes came ashore at the southern end of Hutchinson Island, just east of Stuart, three weeks apart in September 2004: Frances drove a 5.89-foot surge to the St. Lucie Lock, and Jeanne's strongest gust in Florida, 111 knots, was measured at Fort Pierce Inlet. Almost a third of federal flood claims come from outside the high-risk zones. And from 1 January 2027 every Citizens Property Insurance homeowners policy with wind cover must also carry flood, wherever the house is, so for a buyer whose only option is Citizens a flood premium is not optional. Published averages for the homeowners policy alone run from about $4,600 to more than $13,000 a year here, so get a quote on the specific house, with its wind mitigation report and elevation certificate.

What is a community development district, and does it change the answer?

It can change it a great deal, and nothing on this page includes it. None of this includes a community development district or a City special assessment. A CDD is an independent special district under chapter 190 of the Florida Statutes that sells bonds for a subdivision's roads, drainage and amenities and repays them through a non-ad valorem assessment on your tax bill, a lien collected like the tax itself, with a second assessment for running the district. The City maps about forty of them, most in the west: Tradition, Southern Grove, Verano, Veranda and St. Lucie West among them. In Tradition's districts the operations assessment on a house for fiscal 2027 runs from $440 to $968, and a house that carries the Series 2014 bonds pays $716 a year more toward them until 2035. The City levies its own assessments too: the Southwest Annexation district, Southern Grove, bills 2,415 properties for roads, water and sewer through fiscal 2044-45, and an older lot still on a well and septic tank costs $18,821 to connect to City water and sewer, or $151 a month for ten years. None of it is in any millage and no homestead exemption reduces it. The first contract for a lot or house in a CDD has to disclose it in bold, but a resale contract does not, so look for every non-ad valorem line on the seller's last tax bill. If the house you are looking at carries any of these, add the annual lines to the owner's costs above, and remember that a bond assessment runs for decades and does not fall as the mortgage is paid down.

How much do you need for a down payment in Port St. Lucie?

Legally, nothing sets a floor: this is a lender's decision rather than a rule. Conventional loans start at 3% down and FHA at 3.5%. On a $402,500 house, 3% is $12,075 and 20% is $80,500. What the low end costs you on a conventional loan is private mortgage insurance: at 3% down, about $283 a month until the balance reaches 78% of the price, which takes 12.6 years and about $42,700. At 5% down it is $213 a month and $30,300. In Florida a smaller down payment also means more tax on the loan at closing. There is help: Florida Housing's Hometown Heroes program lends up to 5% of the loan, between $10,000 and $35,000, to first-time buyers in teaching, health care, first response, the military and other listed jobs, and the City runs a Homebuyer Assistance Program whose last round, in 2024, offered up to $100,000 to a handful of buyers by lottery. Ask the City's housing office whether a round is open before you sign a contract.

Does Florida have rent control?

No, and Port St. Lucie is not permitted to introduce it. Florida forbids its counties and cities from controlling rents at all. The statute allowed a narrow exception (a declared housing emergency, a specific finding, and a referendum) and the legislature closed even that in 2023. There is no cap, no guideline and no prospect of one, so any rent-growth figure you enter here is a forecast rather than a legal ceiling. Rents here are down 0.1% on one of the two indexes this page cites and up 1.86% on the other, which is a market condition rather than a protection. If you are renting long-term, set the rent-growth input above the 2% default and see what it does to the answer.

Why are the one- and two-bedroom rents so much lower than what I see listed?

Because they are Apartment List's medians for St. Lucie County, which publishes none for the City, and they describe apartments. Much of Port St. Lucie's rental stock is single-family houses, which an apartment index barely sees. Zillow's observed rent index for the city, which counts houses, was $2,396 in August, and the Census Bureau's 2024 survey put the city's median gross rent at $2,133. The calculator opens on a three-bedroom rent of $2,400, which sits among those measures, and you should replace it with the rent on the house you would otherwise lease.

What is the calculator not accounting for?

Federal tax, mainly, and it cuts both ways. Mortgage interest and property tax are deductible if you itemize, and whether itemizing beats the standard deduction depends on the household: first-year interest on the median loan is about $22,500 and property tax about $8,022. A principal residence's gain is excluded up to $250,000 single or $500,000 married under section 121, and the renter's portfolio is not. None of that is modeled, and none of it is advice. Four Port St. Lucie things it also cannot price: the flood policy; a community development district's or the City's special assessment; the cost of connecting an older lot from a well and septic tank to City water and sewer; and the condominium market, where Zillow's city index is down 6.2% on the year and an association fee carries reserves the state no longer lets a board waive.

Which figures here are estimates

The prices, rents, millage, exemptions, assessments and title premiums above come from published sources, each one listed below with the period it describes, and the tax figure is derived from that millage through Florida's own exemption rules. These do not:

  • The three-bedroom rent, at $2,400 a month: Apartment List publishes one- and two-bedroom medians only, and for St. Lucie County rather than the City, and $2,400 sits among the Census Bureau's three-bedroom median gross rent, Apartment List's three-bedroom listings and Zillow's single-family rent index for the metro area
  • The one- and two-bedroom rents, which are Apartment List's St. Lucie County medians and run well below Zillow's observed rent index for the city and the Census Bureau's median gross rent
  • The condominium fee, at $450 a month: the Census Bureau publishes a median association fee of $346 for the 26% of Port St. Lucie owners who pay one, most of them in homeowners' associations rather than condominiums
  • Home insurance at $450 a month, between published Port St. Lucie averages that run from $4,630 to $13,752 a year, with a hurricane deductible of its own and no flood policy in it
  • The settlement fee, the buyer's title charges and the inspection, which are the state's estimates rather than St. Lucie County's own
  • Who buys the owner's title policy, which the contract decides: the cost of selling assumes the seller does, as in most of Florida
  • The utilities and City assessments an owner pays over a renter, at $150 a month
  • Maintenance at 1% of the home's value a year
  • Every forward-looking rate: appreciation, rent growth, cost inflation and the return on the invested difference
  • The private mortgage insurance rate, which is priced per borrower by credit score rather than published as a schedule
  • Any community development district or City special assessment, which is not in the tax rate on this page and is a real annual cost on much of the newer housing in the city

If you want the payment side on its own, with the biweekly plan, prepayments, the month mortgage insurance stops and the two taxes Florida charges on the loan, the mortgage calculator covers it in more detail. To work out where rather than whether, start with the neighborhood guides.

Sources

  1. St. Lucie County median home prices rise (August 2026 market report) · MIAMI REALTORS + RWorld · retrieved
    Supports: A median price of single-family homes in St. Lucie County of $402,500 in August 2026, against $400,000 in August 2025, up 0.63%, Single-family sales of 444 in August 2026 against 475 a year earlier, and a condominium median of $320,000 against $298,450 on 80 sales, Single-family active listings of 2,270 against 2,351 a year earlier, and 4.9 months' supply of single-family homes, Statistics released by MIAMI REALTORS + RWorld, the MIAMI MLS and BeachesMLS, by county, with no City of Port St. Lucie figure
  2. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places and counties, 2020 to 2025 · United States Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program · retrieved
    Supports: A population of 268,062 for Port St. Lucie city on 1 July 2025, against 258,931 a year earlier and an April 2020 estimates base of 204,826, all of it in St. Lucie County, A population of 402,449 for St. Lucie County and 51,737 for Fort Pierce city on 1 July 2025, Port St. Lucie's growth of 3.5% in 2024-25 and 30.9% since the 2020 base, the fastest of any US city of 250,000 or more on either measure
  3. 2025 Gazetteer files: places, Florida · United States Census Bureau · retrieved
    Supports: A land area of 119.216 square miles and a water area of 1.609 square miles for Port St. Lucie city
  4. Taxing authority rates and hearing information · St. Lucie County Property Appraiser · retrieved
    Supports: 2025 final millage of 4.6607 for the City of Port St. Lucie and 0.3143 for Port St. Lucie voted debt, against 2026 proposed rates of 4.6107 and 0.2643, 2025 final millage of 4.1985 for the county general fund (2026 proposed 4.0441), 2.7294 for fine and forfeiture (jail), 0.2500 for the county transit MSTU, 0.1352 for mosquito control and 0.1000 for Erosion District E, 2025 final school millage of 3.0480 by state law (2026 proposed 2.9970), 1.5000 capital outlay, 0.7480 discretionary and 1.0000 voter referendum, 2025 final millage of 3.0000 for the Fire District, 0.3685 for the Children's Services Council, 0.0948 for the SFWMD, 0.1026 for the SFWMD Okeechobee basin, 0.0327 for the Everglades Construction Project and 0.0270 for FIND, The law enforcement MSTU at 0.8403, community development MSTU at 0.5000, county stormwater management at 0.4731 and South Hutchinson Island erosion control at 0.5200, City of Fort Pierce at 6.9000 and the Village of St. Lucie at 2.0000
  5. Taxes · Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County · retrieved
    Supports: Total millage of 22.3097 for the City of Port St. Lucie, 24.2347 for the City of Fort Pierce and 19.1481 for the unincorporated county, from the St. Lucie County Property Appraiser's 2025 rates, For Port St. Lucie: county general fund 4.1985, law enforcement and jail 2.7294, erosion and stormwater 0.1000, parks and public transit 0.2500, school system and Children's Services Council 6.6645, fire district 3.0000, water management and mosquito control 0.3653, Florida Inland Navigation 0.0270 and municipality-specific 4.975, Totals excluding special district charges and other non-ad valorem assessments
  6. Port St. Lucie property taxes rising despite lower millage rate as taxable property values more than double · WFLX · retrieved
    Supports: The City lowering its millage rate for the tenth consecutive year, to a proposed 4.97 mills for fiscal 2026, Taxable value in Port St. Lucie of $11,795,767,510 in 2020 and $25,657,621,359 in 2025, according to the property appraiser
  7. Additional homestead exemption adjustment, revised January 2025 · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved
    Supports: Section 196.031(1)(b), Florida Statutes, requiring the additional homestead exemption to be adjusted annually by the Consumer Price Index from the 2025 tax year, A CPI change of 2.9% and a maximum additional exemption of $25,722 for 2025, against the $25,000 base year of 2024
  8. Property tax information for homestead exemption, PT-113, R. 08/25 · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved
    Supports: A $25,000 exemption against all taxes and an additional exemption of up to $25,000, adjusted annually for inflation, on assessed value over $50,000 for non-school taxes only, Applications on Form DR-501 to the county property appraiser by 1 March
  9. Learn about exemptions · St. Lucie County Property Appraiser · retrieved
    Supports: A homestead exemption that reduces the taxable value of a property by up to $51,411, A filing deadline of 1 March of the tax year for which the owner is applying
  10. Homestead portability · St. Lucie County Property Appraiser · retrieved
    Supports: The transfer of some or all of the Save Our Homes benefit on a previous homestead to a new one, to a maximum of $500,000, A new homestead established on or before 1 January within three tax years of abandoning the previous one, with applications filed by 1 March
  11. SLC School Board sends property tax renewal referendum to commissioners for approval · WQCS · retrieved
    Supports: The St. Lucie County School Board placing on the 8 November 2022 ballot the continuation of its 1-mill operating levy for another four years, The mill generating about $25 million a year for the school system
  12. Stormwater · City of Port St. Lucie, Public Works · retrieved
    Supports: An annual stormwater assessment of $189, a $6 increase from the previous assessment of $183, billed on the property tax bill, A cap of $219, above which any further increase must be approved by the City Council at a public hearing, Five projects funded by the increase, among them the Oak Hammock watershed, the Elkcam basin and the E-8 canal, and accelerated swale and culvert replacement
  13. Port St. Lucie approves solid waste rate increase starting in October · WQCS · retrieved
    Supports: A solid waste assessment of $467.33 a year, $38.94 a month, from October 2025, an increase of $20.89, 168 curbside stops a year: 52 garbage, 52 recycling, 52 yard waste and 12 bulk
  14. Port St. Lucie approves increase in annual trash assessment · WQCS · retrieved
    Supports: An annual solid waste assessment of $482.16 a dwelling unit for the fiscal year beginning 1 October 2026, an increase of $14.83, on the tax bill, Property tax credits of up to $364 on the 2026 bill, from the City's $24 million Waste Pro settlement, for residential owners who owned in 2022 and still live in the house
  15. Special assessment districts: summary information · City of Port St. Lucie, Finance · retrieved
    Supports: Sixteen City special assessment districts for water, sewer, roads and stormwater, from SAD 1 Phase 1 (1994 to 2013) to Southwest Annex District PSS1-2 (2010 to 2044), Billing complete or debt paid on the early water and sewer districts; City Center running to 2034, and St. Lucie Land Holdings and Peacock to 2026
  16. Resolution 24-R67: Southwest Annexation Special Assessment District No. 1, revised and updated assessment roll · City of Port St. Lucie, City Council (Legistar file 2024-874) · retrieved
    Supports: Special assessments for stormwater, roadway, water and wastewater improvements in the district, also known as Southern Grove, established by Resolution 10-R64 over thirty years and extended five years by Ordinance 16-41, An annual assessment for fiscal 2024-25 of $7,181,980.75 on 2,415 benefitted properties, collected through the non-ad valorem portion of the November 2024 tax bill, A final debt service payment due in fiscal 2044-45
  17. Community development districts · City of Port St. Lucie, GIS (ArcGIS feature service) · retrieved
    Supports: Forty-two mapped district polygons with forty-one distinct names across the city, Among them Tradition #1 to #10, Southern Grove #1 to #6, Verano #1 to #5 and Verano Center, Veranda #1 and #2, St Lucie West, Reserve #1, Tesoro, River Place and Portofino Isles
  18. Tradition Community Development Districts 1 to 11: regular board meeting and public hearing book, 2 September 2026, fiscal 2027 final budget · Tradition Community Development Districts · retrieved
    Supports: Fiscal 2027 operations and maintenance assessments per single-family unit of $560.85 in CDDs 1 and 2, $439.51 in CDDs 3 to 6 and $967.80 in CDDs 7 to 11, against $562.50, $455.16 and $969.46 for fiscal 2026, Series 2014 bonds of $53,170,000 maturing May 2035, assessed at $715.89 per single-family unit grossed up per the methodology, Series 2021 bonds maturing May 2052 and Series 2025 bonds maturing May 2056
  19. Section 190.021, Florida Statutes: taxes; non-ad valorem assessments · The Florida Legislature · retrieved
    Supports: A community development district's benefit special assessments for bonds, levied annually, a lien on the property enforceable in like manner as county taxes
  20. Section 190.048, Florida Statutes: sale of real estate within a district; required disclosure to purchaser · The Florida Legislature · retrieved
    Supports: A boldfaced disclosure, in each contract for the initial sale of a parcel or residential unit in a district, that the district may impose taxes or assessments in addition to county and other local taxes
  21. Utility customer service guide: residential rates effective 1 October 2025 (Ordinance 25-51) · City of Port St. Lucie, Utility Systems Department · retrieved
    Supports: An average residential water and wastewater bill of $96.31 a month for two people using 5,000 gallons, and $126.47 for three using 7,000, Conversion from a well and septic tank to City water and low-pressure sewer outside the SAD and USA areas at $18,821 paid in full, or 120 interest-free monthly payments of $150.72, Grants for income-qualified households toward the cost of connecting to City sewer, and a recorded capital charge installment payment agreement for the financing
  22. Zillow Home Value Index, all homes, middle tier, smoothed and seasonally adjusted, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved
    Supports: A typical home value of $384,593 for the city of Port St. Lucie (region 33501, St. Lucie County) in August 2026, against $389,480 in August 2025, down 1.25%
  23. Zillow Home Value Index, single-family and condominium series, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved
    Supports: A typical single-family value of $390,325 in the city of Port St. Lucie in August 2026, against $395,301 a year earlier, down 1.26%, A typical condominium value of $188,371 in the same month, against $200,740, down 6.16%, from the condominium file at https://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public_csvs/zhvi/City_zhvi_uc_condo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv
  24. Zillow Observed Rent Index, all homes plus multifamily, smoothed, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved
    Supports: An observed rent index of $2,396 for the city of Port St. Lucie in August 2026, against $2,353 a year earlier, up 1.86%
  25. Zillow Observed Rent Index, single-family homes, smoothed, by metro · Zillow Research · retrieved
    Supports: A single-family observed rent index of $2,681 for the Port St. Lucie metro area (region 394995) in August 2026, against $2,608 a year earlier
  26. Rent estimates summary, September 2026 · Apartment List · retrieved
    Supports: For St. Lucie County, September 2026: $1,393 overall, $1,097 for one bedroom and $1,271 for two, with rents up 0.36% on the month and down 0.10% on the year, For the Port St. Lucie metro area: $1,396 overall, $1,102 and $1,322, down 0.22% on the year, No row for the City of Port St. Lucie among the file's cities
  27. Apartments for rent in Port St. Lucie, FL: average rent · Apartment List · retrieved
    Supports: Average listed rents of $1,635 and up for a studio, $1,772 and up for one bedroom, $2,145 and up for two, and $2,505 and up for three or more
  28. Median household income, median home value, median gross rent and tenure, tables B19013, B25077, B25064 and B25003, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates · United States Census Bureau, via the Census Reporter API · retrieved
    Supports: A median household income of $86,241 in Port St. Lucie city, against $73,811 in St. Lucie County and $77,735 for Florida, A median owner-occupied home value of $420,600 in Port St. Lucie city, against $396,900 for Florida, 77,663 of Port St. Lucie's 94,324 occupied homes owner-occupied, and a median gross rent of $2,133 against $1,812 for Florida
  29. Median gross rent by bedrooms, table B25031, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Port St. Lucie city · United States Census Bureau, via the Census Reporter API · retrieved
    Supports: A median gross rent of $1,637 for one bedroom, $1,872 for two, $2,247 for three and $2,645 for four
  30. Monthly homeowners' association and condominium fee, tables B25142 and B25143, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Port St. Lucie city · United States Census Bureau, via the Census Reporter API · retrieved
    Supports: 19,945 of 77,663 owner-occupied units, or 26%, paying a homeowners' association or condominium fee, A median monthly fee of $346 among them, and 3,570 paying $500 or more a month
  31. Primary Mortgage Market Survey, 24 September 2026 · Freddie Mac · retrieved
    Supports: A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 7.03%, up from 6.95% the week before and 6.30% a year earlier
  32. Documentary stamp tax · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved
    Supports: 70 cents on each $100 of consideration on a deed in every county except Miami-Dade, 35 cents per $100 on a promissory note, capped at $2,450, All parties to a document liable for the tax regardless of which party agrees to pay it
  33. Rule 69O-186.003, Florida Administrative Code: title insurance rates · Florida Department of State, Florida Administrative Code · retrieved
    Supports: An owner's title insurance premium of $5.75 per $1,000 of liability to $100,000 and $5.00 per $1,000 from $100,000 to $1 million
  34. Florida homeowners insurance · NerdWallet · retrieved
    Supports: An average Port St. Lucie premium of $4,630 a year, $386 a month, against $3,765 in Orlando, $4,160 in West Palm Beach and $8,345 in Miami, A Florida average of $3,390 a year, on a sample policy with $500,000 of dwelling cover and $300,000 of liability, updated 20 February 2026
  35. Homeowners insurance in Port St. Lucie, FL · insurance.com · retrieved
    Supports: An average Port St. Lucie premium of $7,901 a year for $300,000 of dwelling cover, $100,000 of liability and a $1,000 deductible, last updated 24 March 2026, The cheapest insurer in Port St. Lucie at an average of $3,194
  36. Best home insurance in Florida (2026) · Insurify · retrieved
    Supports: An estimated average annual premium of $13,752 in Port Saint Lucie for $300,000 of dwelling cover, against $4,032 in Jacksonville and $15,396 in Miami, updated 27 September 2026
  37. Renters insurance in Florida · NerdWallet · retrieved
    Supports: An average Port St. Lucie renters premium of $147 a year, $12 a month
  38. Section 627.701, Florida Statutes: liability of insureds; hurricane deductibles · The Florida Legislature · retrieved
    Supports: An insurer offering hurricane deductibles of $500, 2%, 5% and 10% of the policy dwelling limits, with the $500 option not required at $250,000 of dwelling limits or more
  39. Flood: Citizens' flood insurance requirements · Citizens Property Insurance Corporation · retrieved
    Supports: Under section 627.715, Florida Statutes, most new and renewing Citizens personal residential policies with wind coverage required to carry flood insurance by 1 January 2027, Homes in a FEMA special flood hazard area required already; outside it, dwelling values of $600,000 or more from 2024, $500,000 from 2025, $400,000 from 2026 and all policies from 2027, Condominium unit-owner, tenant and wind-excluded policies exempt
  40. FloodSmart · Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Flood Insurance Program · retrieved
    Supports: Most homeowners insurance not covering flood damage, Almost one-third of National Flood Insurance Program claims, 29%, coming from outside high-risk flood areas
  41. Tropical cyclone report: Hurricane Frances, 25 August to 8 September 2004 · National Hurricane Center · retrieved
    Supports: Landfall over the southern end of Hutchinson Island near 0430 UTC on 5 September 2004 as a Category 2 hurricane, The highest measured storm surge, 5.89 feet above mean sea level, on the Florida east coast at the St. Lucie Lock
  42. Tropical cyclone report: Hurricane Jeanne, 13 to 28 September 2004 · National Hurricane Center · retrieved
    Supports: Landfall with the center of its eye crossing the coast at the southern end of Hutchinson Island just east of Stuart at 0400 UTC on 26 September 2004, The highest wind gust reported from Florida, 111 knots, at Fort Pierce Inlet
  43. SB 4-D (2022): Building Safety, chapter 2022-269, Laws of Florida · The Florida Senate · retrieved
    Supports: Milestone inspections required of condominium and cooperative associations, and a prohibition on waiving or reducing reserves for certain items after a specified date
  44. Housing programs · City of Port St. Lucie, Neighborhood Services · retrieved
    Supports: A Homebuyer Assistance Program, funded with what remains of the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, and the State Housing Initiatives Partnership program listed as current programs, Contact by email to Housing@cityofpsl.com or by telephone at 772-344-4084
  45. Program offering up to $100K in assistance for first-time homebuyers in Port St. Lucie · WPTV · retrieved
    Supports: The City's revamped Homebuyer Assistance Program with the Community Land Trust of Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, May 2024, offering up to $100,000 in federal funds to four to six first-time buyers by lottery, Buyers living or working in the city, with household income of at least $70,000 and no more than 120% of the area median, a 620 credit score and a 1% contribution
  46. Florida Hometown Heroes Housing Program · Florida Housing Finance Corporation · retrieved
    Supports: Down payment and closing cost assistance for first-time, income-qualified buyers in eligible occupations: health care, school staff, first responders, public safety and court employees, child care workers, service members and veterans employed full time by a Florida-based employer, Up to 5% of the first mortgage, a maximum of $35,000 and a minimum of $10,000, as a 0%, non-amortizing, 30-year deferred second mortgage that is not forgivable, An HTH 2026 program

These are estimates built from published figures, not a lender quote, a pre-approval or financial advice. Rates, premiums and state and federal rules change; confirm anything you plan to act on with a mortgage professional and read the sourcing methodology.