Does a Coral Gables Seller Price Against the Sold Median or the Listing Median? Reading Redfin, Realtor.com, Zillow and the Rental Stock

Why do the Coral Gables price sources sit so far apart?

Start with the three levels. Redfin's median sale price is $1,099,674, Realtor.com's median sold price is $1,343,750 and Zillow's home value index for the city is $1,505,751. Realtor.com's sold median is 22.2% above Redfin's, and Zillow's index is 36.9% above Redfin's, both computed here. The Census owner value of $711,800, plus or minus $35,918, is 35.3% below Redfin's median, computed here as well.

Part of the gap is the period. Redfin's figure is a three-month median ending in May, and Realtor.com's is a June figure, and in a market of 127 sales a month the mix changes from month to month. Part is the geography, because the Zillow page covers the city and the others cover the postal area. Part is the measure: Zillow's index estimates the value of all homes, sold or not, and the other two count only sales. The pages do not give enough to say how much each part contributes.

The listing median sits below the sold median on Realtor.com, which is unusual. Its $1,212,500 listing median is 9.8% below its $1,343,750 sold median, computed here. The listing median is up 20.60% in a year, which implies about $1,005,390 a year earlier, and the sold median is up 15.59%, which implies about $1,162,514. Both rose, but the sold homes were of a higher value tier than the homes currently listed. That is an inference from the two medians and not a measured fact.

Per-foot prices do not settle it. Redfin shows $548 per square foot, down 11.6%, which implies about $620 a year earlier. Realtor.com shows $717 per square foot, up 7.21%, which implies about $669. The two pages disagree on the direction as well as the level, and both cannot describe the same set of homes. This brief does not rely on either per-foot figure, and an owner should not either.

The lesson for a seller is to price from closed sales of homes like theirs, in the same street pattern and age, and not from any single published median. A buyer's appraiser will do the same. A published median answers a question about the mix of homes sold, and the owner's question is about one house.

A practical way to use this is to build a short list of closed sales. Take homes of a similar size, built in the same decade and on a similar kind of street, sold in the last several months, and note the price, the days on market and how far the final price fell from the first ask. Five or six such sales tell an owner more than any published median does. If the owner's list is thin, because few homes like theirs have sold, that thinness is itself a reason to expect a wide range of offers and to weigh them with care.

Sources as cited. Ratios and year-earlier values in this section are computed from the published figures and percentages.

How fast are Coral Gables homes selling, and at what discount?

Redfin rates the postal area not very competitive, with a score of 23 out of 100. Multiple offers are rare. The average home sold about 5% below list and went pending in around 94 days, and hot homes sold about 1% below list in around 50 days. On a $1,099,674 sale, 5% is about $54,984, computed here.

The pages disagree on speed. Redfin shows a median of 84 days on market against 73 a year earlier, and Realtor.com shows 62 days, up 3.03%, which implies about 60 a year earlier. Zillow shows around 58 days to pending for the city. The sources agree that a sale takes two to three months, and a house that is slower than the middle will take longer than that.

Sales are fewer. Redfin counted 127 sales in May against 142 a year earlier, a fall of about 10.6%, computed here and shown by Redfin as 10.8%. Active listings on Realtor.com are 61, down 10.16% in a year, which implies about 68, and up 75.64% in three years. Against Redfin's 127 monthly sales, 61 listings are about 0.48 of a month, computed here. The two sources count different periods, so that ratio is an inference. It would mean thin supply, which fits a balanced market and not a slow one.

Few homes sell above the ask. Redfin shows 94.2% sale-to-list, down 0.89 point, with 5.7% of homes selling above list and 28.8% with price drops, down 6.8 points. Realtor.com shows 95%, 5.06% below the ask on average. A seller who lists at the listing median is asking about as much as the typical house, and the typical house sells for several points less.

For a seller, the cost is the time and the discount together. A house that takes three months at a 5% discount costs about $54,984 at the Redfin median and three months of taxes, insurance and upkeep. A buyer who offers a close date, no financing condition and no repair list changes the arithmetic, and the seller can compare it with a listing price less the discount, less fees, less the cost of time.

Timing carries its own risk in a coastal county. A house that is still unsold when summer storm season arrives meets buyers who worry about insurance, and an owner who must keep a home insured, maintained and ready to show through those months bears the cost and the uncertainty. This brief does not measure that effect. It is a reason to count the months of carrying cost, and not only the percentage off the ask, when comparing a private offer with a public sale.

Sources as cited. Year-earlier values and differences are computed from the published percentages.

What does the large Coral Gables rental stock mean for a seller?

The Census counts 6,841 renter households among 16,166 occupied homes, 42.3%, against 9,325 owner households, 57.7%. Realtor.com lists 155 rental properties in June 2026, up 43.67%, which implies about 108 a year earlier, and a median rent of $3,685, down 0.41%. The Census median rent is $1,890, which is 51.3% of the listing rent, computed here. Asking rents on new listings run far above what sitting tenants pay, which is the usual pattern, and it matters for the next paragraph.

For a seller of an investment property, the tenant is part of the sale. A lease that runs below the asking rent lowers the income a buyer can underwrite, and a lease that ends soon gives the buyer a way to occupy or re-let. A seller who wants to sell vacant can say so, and a seller who wants to sell with a tenant in place has to price that. A private buyer who is an investor will read the rent roll quickly.

Renters turn over often. Of 6,841 renter households, 763 moved in during 2023 or later and 2,138 between 2020 and 2022, so 2,901, or 42.4%, moved in since 2020. Another 3,279, 47.9%, moved in between 2010 and 2019, 520, 7.6%, between 2000 and 2009, 122, 1.8%, in the 1990s and 19, 0.3%, before 1990. In all, 90.3% of renters arrived since 2010.

Rent is a heavy load. Of renter households with a computed figure, 3,716, or 58.7%, spent 30% or more of income on rent, and 1,812, or 28.6%, spent half or more. That tells an owner that many tenants are stretched, and a landlord weighing an increase should expect strain. It also explains part of the demand for ownership, though the price of ownership is high.

Ownership is expensive too. Of 4,703 owners with a mortgage, 1,703, or 36.4% of those with a computed figure, spent 30% or more of income on housing, and 795, or 17.0%, spent half or more. Among the 4,622 owners without a mortgage, 918, or 20.0%, spent 30% or more, and 447, or 9.7%, spent half or more, which reflects taxes and insurance on a home owned outright. Both groups feel the cost of keeping a home.

For an owner who rents out a house or a condominium, the sale has one more step. The tenant's rights, the notice the lease requires and the condition in which the unit will be handed over all need to be settled before a buyer closes. A buyer who wants to occupy the home needs the tenant to leave, and a buyer who wants an income needs the tenant to stay. A seller who knows which of those outcomes they can deliver is able to say yes or no to an offer without delay.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates, tables B25003, B25038, B25064, B25070 and B25091, via Census Reporter; Realtor.com for the rental count. Shares are computed here.

What does the age and mix of Coral Gables homes tell an owner?

The housing is old. Of 18,046 units, 2,497, or 13.8%, were built before 1940, 2,815, or 15.6%, in the 1940s, 3,368, or 18.7%, in the 1950s, 2,256, or 12.5%, in the 1960s and 1,803, or 10.0%, in the 1970s. In all, 12,739 units, 70.6%, were built before 1980, and the median build year is 1962. A second wave came after 2000: 2,100 units, 11.6%, in the 2000s and 1,165, or 6.5%, in the 2010s.

Older homes carry older systems. A house built in the 1940s or 1950s may have its original plumbing, wiring or a flat roof that has been patched, and in a hot, humid and storm-exposed climate a buyer's inspector looks hard at the roof, the windows, the drainage and the termite record. The fifth benefit of a private sale, no inspection repairs, matters most where homes are old. A buyer who takes the home as it stands does not hand the seller a repair list.

The mix is not mostly houses. Of the units, 8,098, or 44.9%, are detached houses, 747, or 4.1%, are attached, 1,931, or 10.7%, are in buildings of two to four units and 7,852, or 43.5%, are in buildings of five or more. Condominiums and apartments are nearly as large a group as houses. A seller of a condominium faces a different buyer pool, with association rules, assessments and financing limits that a house does not have.

Homes with more bedrooms belong to owners. Of 9,325 owner households, 101, or 1.1%, live in a studio, 428, or 4.6%, in one bedroom, 2,776, or 29.8%, in two, 4,055, or 43.5%, in three, 1,517, or 16.3%, in four and 448, or 4.8%, in five or more, so 64.6% live in a home with three or more bedrooms. Among renters, 85.8% live in a home with two bedrooms or fewer. The houses with space for a family are mostly owned.

Owners have stayed. Of 9,325 owner households, 107 moved in during 2023 or later and 1,487 between 2020 and 2022, so 17.1% moved in since 2020, 3,324, or 35.6%, between 2010 and 2019, 1,307, or 14.0%, between 2000 and 2009, 1,644, or 17.6%, in the 1990s and 1,456, or 15.6%, before 1990. Nearly a third have been in place since the 1990s or earlier, and they hold a large amount of equity that they can use as they choose.

Put together, a typical owner of a detached house here has lived in it for a decade or more, owns a three-bedroom home built before 1980 and holds substantial equity. The house may need a new roof, new windows or new plumbing, and the owner can see that cost coming. Selling to a buyer who takes the house as it is and closes on the owner's date can be worth weighing against the cost and the delay of preparing the home for a public sale, though only the owner's own numbers can say which is better. Readers comparing markets can also read the Holmes Beach brief and the Summerland Key brief.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates, tables B25024, B25034, B25038 and B25042, via Census Reporter. Shares are computed here.

What should a Coral Gables owner ask, and what does a private sale change?

Five questions are worth asking. Is my price based on closed sales of homes like mine, and not on a median? How much will a buyer take off after the inspection? What is the cost of three months of carrying the house? Who is the buyer, a family, an investor or a second-home owner? What will the fees be?

Fees are simple arithmetic, and no rate is assumed here. Each 1% of a $450,000 sale is $4,500, of a $725,000 sale is $7,250 and of a $1,200,000 sale is $12,000. Three percent is $13,500, $21,750 and $36,000, and five percent is $22,500, $36,250 and $60,000. A seller can put their own quoted costs into those rows. On the Redfin median of $1,099,674, 1% is $10,997, 3% is $32,990 and 5% is $54,984.

A private sale has no showings and no neighbors talking about it, which is the first benefit. In a town with a tight, older community and many long-tenured owners, privacy is not a small matter. A seller who does not want a sign, an open house or a stream of strangers can avoid them. The second benefit is a closing date that fits the seller, which helps an owner who needs time to find the next home.

The third and fourth benefits are no commission costs and no closing costs, and the fifth is no inspection repairs. In a postal area where 70.6% of homes were built before 1980, an inspector will find work, so the fifth is worth pricing. An owner should set an offer beside what the same house would net after the discount seen in the sale-to-list ratio, after fees and after the cost of time.

Maison Off-Market buys luxury homes and estates directly from their owners and speaks only to sellers. It does not say that a private sale always beats a public listing, and in a market where homes sell about 5% below list on average, an owner is right to compare. If you would like a private, no-obligation offer for a home in Coral Gables, call 401-219-4207 or use the contact form on this site.

Sources as cited. Fee illustrations are arithmetic only and assume no commission rate.

Methodology and limitations

Each page's date, title and place were read before use. The Redfin page is for the three months ending May 2026 and is titled as of June. The Realtor.com page is for June 2026. The Zillow page carries no date in the text read and covers the city, so it is used only as a wider yardstick. The Redfin and Realtor.com per-square-foot figures disagree in direction and are reported as printed and not relied on. Only established data publishers and the Census are cited. The Census figures are five-year estimates for the postal area that the sheet lists for Coral Gables, which also reaches into nearby parts of Miami. Percent changes were taken as printed, and ratios, sums, fee figures and year-earlier values are this brief's arithmetic.

Conclusion

The record for Coral Gables is a spread of about $1.1M to $1.5M depending on the source, homes that sell about 5% below list after two to three months, a rental stock that is 42.3% of occupied homes and housing that is 70.6% older than 1980. The useful number for an owner is a closed sale of a comparable home, and a private buyer can price the home in front of them and close on the owner's schedule.