Which Davis Islands Median Is the Market? Reading a Sold Median That Jumped in a Month

How can a sold median jump 65 percent in a month?

Take the Realtor.com figures at face value. A sold median of $1,482,500 that is up 64.81% on the month implies a median of about $899,500 in August. A sold median up 41.19% on the year implies about $1,050,000 in September 2025. The listing median of $2,050,000, down 22.27%, implies about $2,637,000 a year earlier. So the sold median rose by 41% over the year while the listing median fell by 22%, and the two are now $567,500 apart. The sold median is 72.3% of the listing median.

The likeliest explanation is that very few homes sold. Redfin counts 31 homes sold in the three months to May, about ten a month. The sales report counts 45 houses in six months, about 7.5 a month. With seven to ten sales in a month, one sale of a $4 million waterfront house and one of a $700,000 townhouse change the median by hundreds of thousands of dollars. A median over so few sales is closer to a list of the sales than to a statistic.

Redfin's figure tells the same story from another side. Its $1.8 million for the three months to May is up 64.4% on the year, almost the same percentage as Realtor.com's monthly jump. Its price per square foot, $567, is down 1.1%. A median price up 64% with a price per foot down 1% means that the homes that sold were larger or newer than the year before. The price per foot is the steadier measure here, and it is not rising.

The Realtor.com price per foot is $618 for listings, down 13.98%. At $618 per foot, the listing median of $2,050,000 is a house of about 3,320 square feet. At Redfin's $567, a sale of $1.8 million is about 3,170 square feet. Both describe a large house. The brokerage report suggests that the middle of the house sales sits in the band of $2.0 million to $2.25 million, which is above both sold medians and closer to the listing median.

Source: Realtor.com, Redfin and a Tampa brokerage report as cited. The $899,500, $1,050,000, $2,637,000, $567,500, 72.3%, 41%, 3,320 and 3,170 square foot, and ten and 7.5 a month figures are this brief's arithmetic from the stated figures. The middle sale band is this brief's count of the report's price bands. The reading of few sales is this brief's inference and is not a statement of any source. Commercial content; not independently verified.

Is a median above every area in its table a median of the same homes?

The Realtor.com table of homes for sale names Harbour Island 53, Park Crest 16, Harbour Place City Homes 9, Island Walk 6, Adalia Bayfront Condominiums 3, and six areas with 1 each: Harbour Homes, Royal Port at Harbour Island, Seddon Cove, St. Tropez at Harbour Island, The Grandview Condominiums and The Homes at Harbour Bay. The sum is 93. The headline count is 79. The table holds 14 more homes than the neighborhood, or 118% of it.

The prices are the larger puzzle. The median listing prices shown in the table are $529,500 for Harbour Island, $507,500 for Park Crest and $400,000 for Harbour Place City Homes. The neighborhood's median is $2,050,000, which is 3.9 times the highest of them. A median cannot be above every part if the parts are the same homes as the whole. The named areas must contain homes that the headline does not count, and the headline must be counting houses that the named areas do not include.

The names show how that could happen. Harbour Island, with 53 of the 93, is named as a place of its own, and its homes, which include condominiums and townhouses, ask a quarter of the Davis Islands median. The single-family houses on the Davis Islands streets, which set the headline price, do not appear in the table as a named area at all. The table is therefore a table of the neighbors, and the headline is a figure for the houses. An owner who reads the table to learn what the neighbors ask will learn the wrong thing.

The waits in the table are also lower than the headline. Harbour Island shows 71 days, Harbour Place City Homes 84 and Park Crest 119, against 85 for the neighborhood. The three differ by 48 days. Park Crest's 119 is 40% above the headline, with 16 homes for sale up 33.33% on the year. The shortest wait belongs to the largest stock of lower-priced homes, as in other neighborhoods.

Source: Realtor.com page as cited. The sum of 93, the 14 homes, 118%, 3.9, 48 day and 40% figures are this brief's arithmetic. Only the first three of eleven named areas are shown. The reading of the table as a table of neighbors is this brief's inference from the area names and prices and is not a statement of Realtor.com. Commercial content; not independently verified.

What do price bands show that a median hides?

The Tampa brokerage report breaks the houses of Davis Islands into price bands, with the number available, the number sold in the last six months and the months of inventory in each. Its totals are 27 houses available and 45 sold, which gives 3.6 months of inventory. The bands show where the sales were. Five houses sold in the band from $2.5 million to $2.75 million against one available, which is 1.2 months of inventory, and five sold from $3.5 million to $4 million against none available.

The weak spots are in between. The band from $1.2 million to $1.3 million has three houses available and two sold, which is 9 months of inventory. The band from $4 million to $4.5 million has three available and two sold, also 9 months. Both are the slowest bands in the report's houses table. A seller whose house is in one of these bands is in a buyer's market inside a neighborhood that the report calls balanced.

The top of the range is sparse. One house is listed in the band from $16 million to $17 million and one in the band from $21 million to $22 million, and a single house sold in the band from $13 million to $14 million. These few sales are enough to move an average but not a median. The report's three bands above $13 million cover three houses out of 72, and they cannot be compared with each other.

Townhouses and condominiums tell a different story. The report gives 22 months of inventory for townhouses, on 1 or 2 sales per band, and 7 months for condominiums. The neighborhood's 5.5 months across all types is therefore an average of a house market that clears in about 3.6 months and an attached-home market that takes much longer. An owner should find the line for the property type and the price band, and not read the headline.

Source: Tampa brokerage report as cited. The 72 total, the 1.2, 3.6, 5.5, 7, 9 and 22 month figures and the band counts are the report's own, or this brief's count of the report's bands. The reading of the bands is this brief's reasoning. Commercial content; not independently verified.

What does the Census say about the postal area?

The postal area that includes Davis Islands has 24,570 residents and 11,406 housing units, of which 9,885 are occupied. The 1,521 vacant homes are 13.3% of the stock, and renters hold 56.1% of the occupied homes. The median household income is $120,729 and the owner-estimated median home value is $845,600, with a margin of error of $73,045.

Against these, the Davis Islands figures are far above the area. The Realtor.com listing median of $2,050,000 is 2.4 times the Census value, and the sold median of $1,482,500 is 1.75 times it. The listing median is 17.0 times the median income and the sold median 12.3 times. The island is a premium enclave inside a postal area of lower prices.

The age of the stock is mixed. Homes built since 2000 number 4,404, 38.6%, with 2,267 from the 2010s alone. At the other end, 2,121 homes date from 1939 or earlier. The median year built is 1991. The Census does not separate the island from the rest of the area, so older houses and newer towers and townhouses count in the same total.

Rent shows the same gap. The Census median gross rent is $2,100 and the Realtor.com median rent for Davis Islands is $2,150, only 2.4% higher, on 24 rentals. A rent that low beside prices that high implies that most rentals are condominiums and townhouses, not houses. At $2,150 a month the yearly rent is $25,800, which is 1.7% of the sold median and 1.3% of the listing median.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 and Realtor.com as cited. Multiples, shares and yields are this brief's arithmetic. The remarks on the premium enclave and on rentals are this brief's reasoning and not statements of the Census.

What does the city's water study mean for an owner?

The City of Tampa commissioned a Davis Islands Stormwater Analysis, dated April 10, 2024, under a grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Resilient Florida Program. The memo describes a stormwater outfall analysis related to potential sea level rise and infrastructure vulnerabilities, based on survey data collected on the island's outfalls, and it discusses the cost and feasibility of doing the same survey across the city.

This brief does not summarize the study's findings, because the document is a technical memo about outfalls and survey methods, and it does not value any home. The point for an owner is simpler. A neighborhood that the city studies for drainage and sea level rise is a neighborhood where a buyer will ask about flood zone, drainage, seawall condition and insurance. Those questions can lower an offer or lengthen a sale, and the answers belong in a seller's preparation.

The pages above show the effect in the data. Redfin's average wait of 112 days in the three months to May was 81 days longer than the 31 a year earlier, a rise of 261%. Realtor.com's median of 85 days in September is 20.18% lower than a year earlier, which would be about 106 days. Taken together, the wait in the middle of 2026 was far longer than in 2025 and has eased only a little since.

A seller who expects a wait of three to four months and a sale about 4% under the ask is working from the data. On the listing median of $2,050,000, 4.32% is about $88,600. An owner who can show a recent survey of the seawall, a current flood determination and the insurance quotes in hand removes some of what a buyer would use to negotiate.

Source: City of Tampa memo, Redfin and Realtor.com as cited. The 81 day, 261%, 106 day and $88,600 figures are this brief's arithmetic. The remarks on buyers' questions are this brief's general reasoning and not statements of the city.

What does the Tampa series add, and what should an owner ask?

The median days on market in the Tampa area rose from 67 in May 2026 to 76 in September, an increase of nine days or 13.4%. Davis Islands' 85 days is nine days, or 11.8%, above the September regional figure. Active listings were 18,292 in July and 17,965 in September (Realtor.com, active listings), a drop of 1.8%.

New listings fell from 6,148 in April to 5,534 in July (Realtor.com, new listings), a drop of 10.0%. Homes with a price cut rose from 7,004 in January to 7,938 in March (Realtor.com, price reduced listings), a rise of 13.3%. The regional median listing price was $397,450 in July (Realtor.com, median listing price), so the Davis Islands listing median is 5.2 times it.

An owner can test any offer, public or private, with plain questions. What is the price, and is any part of it conditional on an inspection, a loan or the sale of another home? What will I take home after every charge? When will the sale close, and can that date move? Who pays for the repairs a buyer asks for after an inspection?

For a waterfront house there are more. What is the condition of the seawall and the dock, and what does a surveyor say? What flood zone is the lot in, and what do flood and wind insurance cost? Is the house on the island's own streets or on a nearby island, since buyers treat them differently? If the sale takes four months, what does an owner pay in taxes, insurance and upkeep before it closes? Readers comparing markets can also read the Hyde Park brief and the Biscayne Park brief.

Source: Realtor.com series published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis as cited. The nine day, 13.4%, 11.8%, 1.8%, 10.0%, 13.3% and 5.2 figures are this brief's arithmetic. The questions are this brief's general reasoning and not statements of any source.

What does a private sale change?

Maison Off-Market buys homes directly from their owners. It does not list a home, hold showings or put a home on a public listing. For a Davis Islands owner, the five benefits are plain. There are no showings and no neighbors talking about the sale. The closing date can be flexible, which gives time to find a new home. There are no commission costs and no closing costs for the seller, and there are no inspections and repairs.

A little arithmetic shows what that is worth. Each 1% of a $1,482,500 sale is $14,825. A seller who gives up 3% gives up $44,475, and one who gives up 5% gives up $74,125. At the Realtor.com listing median of $2,050,000, each 1% is $20,500. This brief does not claim that those are the costs of any sale, since the real figures depend on the agreement the seller signs. It shows how quickly a percentage becomes a sum.

On a waterfront house, the last benefit may matter most. A buyer's inspection of a seawall, a dock, a roof and the mechanical systems of a large house leads to a repair list and a round of negotiation, and that list is part of why sales sit for months. A seller who sells as is, with a closing date that suits the seller, avoids it. The trade is that a direct offer may differ from what a public sale could bring, and each owner can weigh the two.

Maison Off-Market speaks only to sellers. An owner who wants to know what a direct offer would look like can use the contact form below, or call 401-219-4207, and ask for a figure with no showings, no listing and no obligation.

Source: Maison Off-Market. The fee figures are this brief's arithmetic and not claims about any sale.

Methodology and limitations

Prices, price per square foot, days on market, listing and rental counts and the neighborhood tables come from a national listing site page as of September 2026. Sale prices and competition ratings come from a second brokerage page for the three months to May 2026. Price bands, houses available and sold, and months of inventory come from a Tampa brokerage report for September 2026. They cover different months and different homes and are not independently verified.

Age, tenure, vacancy, income, rent and owner-estimated value come from the American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates for the postal-code area that includes Davis Islands. Shares are calculated from published counts, and owner-estimated value carries a margin of error.

Days on market, active and new listings, median listing price and price reduced counts are Realtor.com series published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis for the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area. They describe the region and not the neighborhood. The brief makes no forecast and values no home.

Conclusion

The Davis Islands record shows three medians from $1.48 million to $2.05 million, a sold median that moved 65% in a month on a handful of sales, and a neighborhood table of 93 homes beside a headline of 79 whose prices are a quarter of the headline median. It describes a thin market of large houses, in which the band, the property type and the water matter more than the median.

It does not fix a price for any one home. The choice between a public listing and a private sale comes down to whether an owner would rather wait a quarter or more for a bid, with inspections and a seawall survey, or take privacy, a flexible closing date, no commission, no closing costs and no inspections or repairs. To see what a direct offer would look like for your home, use the contact form below or call 401-219-4207.