Forgotten Coast Real Estate Market Report Week of May 18 – 24, 2026

Memorial Day weekend has a way of breaking the market loose. People spend a long weekend down here, walk the beach at Cape San Blas, eat a few good meals, and somewhere between the sunset and the drive home the conversation shifts from "wouldn't it be nice" to "let's actually look." This week's numbers reflect exactly that kind of energy. Eighteen homes closed across the Forgotten Coast in a single seven-day stretch, and the pipeline of buyers under contract is holding strong at 22. The coast is open for the season, and the market knows it.

The Week at a Glance

Six hundred residential listings are active from Port St. Joe to St. George Island. Twenty-two are under contract. Eighteen closed this week, ranging from $195,000 to $2,550,000. At the current pace, the market is on track for about 78 residential sales per month, which puts inventory at 7.7 months of supply. That's not a seller's market, but it's also not a stalled one. What it means in practice is that correctly priced homes move, overpriced ones don't, and buyers have room to negotiate without being handed the keys for free.

St. Joe Beach and Mexico Beach: Running the Table

The numbers here are hard to ignore. Ten residential closings in one week across the St. Joe Beach and Mexico Beach corridor. That's more than half the coast's total activity in a single market area, out of 227 active listings. The price range this week ran from $210,000 all the way to $2,550,000, with an average sale of just over $704,000. That high end is doing real work on the average, but even pulling the luxury outlier aside, this stretch of coast is clearly moving.

Seven properties are currently under contract here, so this level of activity is likely to sustain into next week's report. With Memorial Day now in the rearview, expect the incoming data to include some of those holiday-weekend decisions translating into contracts over the next 10 to 14 days.

St. George Island: Low Volume, High Value

Three closings on St. George Island this week, and all three were serious transactions. The range ran from $860,000 to $1,025,000, producing a weekly average of just under $962,000. That's the highest average on the coast this week by a wide margin, and it reflects what the island has always been: a high-conviction buy for people who know exactly what they want. With 124 active listings and 5 under contract, inventory here is competitive relative to activity. Buyers looking at island property aren't browsing. They're deciding.

Port St. Joe: Broad Price Range, Steady Movement

Three closings in Port St. Joe this week, with a range that tells a good story: $195,000 on the low end, $525,000 on the high, and an average just over $411,000. Seven properties are under contract. Out of 99 active listings, that's a healthy pipeline relative to inventory. Port St. Joe remains the most accessible price point on the coast for buyers who want to be part of the community year-round, and the data shows that those buyers are still active.

The town has a character that draws people with fishing docks, the bay, locally owned restaurants, and a main street that actually functions as one. It's not the flashiest market on this report, but it's one of the most consistent.

Cape San Blas: Lighter Week, Solid Foundation

Two closings on the Cape this week, at $320,000 and $374,000, with three properties currently under contract. At 150 active listings, the Cape has the second-largest residential inventory on the coast. Activity was lighter this week relative to the inventory depth, but that's not unusual for a stretch of Gulf-front and near-Gulf property in this price range. These are deliberate purchases. The buyers who come to Cape San Blas aren't impulse shopping. They're comparing water quality, lot orientation, and elevation certificates.

With the holiday weekend just passed, the Cape's contract activity over the next two to three weeks will be worth watching. This is exactly the kind of place that makes people want to own a piece of it once they've spent a few days here.

Market Position: Where Things Stand

Zoom out a bit and the picture is clear. The St. Joe Beach and Mexico Beach corridor holds the most inventory and produced the most closings this week. That combination means active buyers and real selection. St. George Island runs a premium market: less inventory, fewer sales, but the highest average price on the coast. Cape San Blas sits in the middle on price with the second deepest inventory pool. Port St. Joe is the most accessible market, with the tightest inventory-to-activity ratio and a steady pace.

At 7.7 months of supply market wide, buyers have negotiating room. But that number is uneven across areas, and well-priced homes in high demand corridors aren't sitting long. The gap between priced right and optimistic is wider than it's been in a while, and that's something both buyers and sellers need to factor in.

The Land Market

Four land sales closed this week. One lot sold on Cape San Blas at $198,000. One parcel moved in Port St. Joe at $84,000. Two lots closed in the St. Joe Beach and Mexico Beach area at $170,000 and $191,000. St. George Island logged no land closings, with one under contract.

Total vacant land inventory stands at 387 parcels across the coast. The St. Joe Beach and Mexico Beach corridor and Cape San Blas each carry about 140 to 145 active land listings.  Both are locations where buyers are looking, but also where the decision takes time. Land takes patience on both sides. What's notable is that four parcels closed in a single week, which is solid activity for this market and consistent with the kind of Memorial Day momentum that tends to move buyers from "interested" to "committed."

A Memorial Day Note

Memorial Day is a real inflection point on the Forgotten Coast. It's the unofficial start of summer, the first long weekend when traffic doubles on 98, and the moment when a lot of people who've been thinking about buying finally start the conversation. This week's 18 closings are encouraging. The transactions that happen in the next few weeks, particularly contracts written between now and mid-June, will give a better read on whether this year's summer season follows through.

The coast-wide residential and land market covers Port St. Joe, Cape San Blas, St. Joe Beach, Mexico Beach, and St. George Island. This report tracks active listings, closed sales, pricing, and inventory across all five communities every week, providing one of the most consistent market data resources on Florida's Forgotten Coast.

If you're thinking about buying or selling this summer and want a straight read on what the data means for your situation, reach out. No pressure, just a real conversation about the market from someone who lives and works here.

Area-by-Area Breakdown