Babson Park, FL Market Update: What the Data Says for Buyers, Sellers and Investors
List prices down 3.5% in 33827, 100 days on market and commercial at too few sales to report per square foot across ZIP code 33827. Every number from the Linton Global Market Map, as of September 2026.
Photo: Babson Park Woman’s Club by Ebyabe, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).
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Michael R. Linton, Florida Broker #BK703722, advises investors, owners, tenants and banks on commercial property, small multifamily, land and distressed assets in Babson Park and across Polk County through Linton Global Solutions.
Babson Park is a softening market right now, and the numbers say pricing matters more than timing. Look at it ZIP code by ZIP code, not as one city average.
The Bottom Line on Babson Park
Babson Park is a small unincorporated community on the shore of Crooked Lake in southeast Polk County, south of Lake Wales along SR 17 and near US 27. It is home to Webber International University, and the area is still largely citrus groves and lakefront homes on the Lake Wales Ridge.
Babson Park is a softening housing market, and its commercial property trades in line with the rest of Polk County, with almost no distress.
- Homes: median list prices of $356,400, down 3.5% in 33827 from a year ago; Polk County is down 3.2%.
- Supply: 21 active listings in 33827 (up 35.5%); 100 days on market.
- Commercial: median too few sales to report per square foot, versus $166 countywide.
- Distress: no commercial distress transfers or bank-held parcels on the 2026 tax roll.
Where Babson Park Is
This report covers one ZIP code: 33827, Babson Park, including the community along SR 17, Crooked Lake, Webber International University and the groves and rural land around it.
Housing Market
| Realtor.com, September 2026 | 33827 | Polk County |
|---|---|---|
| Median list price | $356,400 | $329,000 |
| vs. a year ago | -3.5% | -3.2% |
| Active listings | 21 | 4,801 |
| Active vs. a year ago | +35.5% | +0.7% |
| Median days on market | 100 | 80 |
| Listings with a price cut | 16.4% | 23.4% |
| Home values, 5 years (FHFA) | +83.8% | — |
The highest-priced ZIP code is 33827 at $356,400. Homes are taking longer to sell than the county average. The FHFA House Price Index shows five-year gains of 83.8%; the run-up is behind us, and today is about pricing to the market.
Who Is Buying: Mortgage Data
| HMDA 2025 home purchases | 33827 | Polk County |
|---|---|---|
| Home-purchase loans | 49 | 13,749 |
| Median purchase price | $305,000 | $315,000 |
| Median buyer income | $85,000 | $91,000 |
| FHA / VA / USDA loans | 45.5% | 52.8% |
| Investor purchases | 3.5% | 10.7% |
Investors took the largest share of purchase loans in 33827 (3.5%). Source: the CFPB's HMDA data browser.
Rents
HUD's FY2027 Small Area Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom is $1,670. The strongest renter base is in 33827, where 17% of households rent. Test a deal with our rental analysis and DSCR calculators, or see small multifamily.
Commercial Real Estate
| 2026 tax roll | 33827 | Polk County |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial & industrial parcels | 27 | 16,053 |
| Building area (million SF) | 0.24 | 168.21 |
| Median year built | 1966 | 1982 |
| Arm’s-length sales | 2 | 622 |
| Median sale $/SF | — | $166 |
| Distress transfers / bank-held parcels | 0 / 0 | 48 / 20 |
Babson Park has almost no commercial real estate: a few small service buildings and agricultural property. Commercial sales are too few to report a reliable price per square foot, and most commercial needs are met in Lake Wales and Frostproof.
Babson Park has about 0.2 million square feet of commercial buildings and recorded 2 arm's-length sales at a median too few sales to report per square foot, close to the county's $166. There were no distress transfers or bank-held parcels on the roll.
Babson Park is groves, lakefront and a university, not a commercial market. If you own agricultural or lakefront land here, the value is in the land and the water; price it against Lake Wales and the Ridge, not against storefronts.
Jobs, Permits and the County Economy
| Polk County | Value |
|---|---|
| Population | 790,694 |
| Median household income | $65,978 |
| Unemployment rate (BLS) | 5.6% |
| Private jobs (BLS QCEW) | 264,981 · +1.7% |
| Average annual pay | $57,763 |
| Housing permits, year to date | 4,828 · -21.2% |
Polk County jobs were up 1.7% over the latest year per the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, with unemployment at 5.6%. Housing permits are down 21.2% this year per the Census Building Permits Survey. 33827 grew -20.6% in population over the Census survey period, the 242nd-highest of the ZIP codes in our reports.
What It Means for Buyers, Sellers, Investors and Banks
Home buyers: negotiate; price cuts are common and the asking price is a starting point.
Sellers: price to recent sales in your ZIP code, not to last year's peak.
Commercial investors: pricing is in line with the county; the edge is in the specific building. Trading in? See 1031 exchanges.
Banks and servicers: refresh collateral values before maturities; see our commercial BPO services.
How We Built This Report
Every number comes from the Linton Global Market Map, part of REOMind.ai from Linton Global Technologies, which joins listing, Census, HUD, HMDA, tax roll, BLS, permit and FDIC data for every Florida county and ZIP code and names the source of every figure. See the full Polk County report.
Key Takeaways
- ✓Babson Park list prices are down 3.5% in 33827; Polk County is down 3.2%.
- ✓Homes are taking 100 days to sell.
- ✓Commercial property sold at a median too few sales to report per square foot, against $166 countywide.
- ✓No commercial distress on the 2026 tax roll.
- ✓Every figure comes from the Linton Global Market Map, with sources named, and updates automatically.
About Michael R. Linton
Who is Michael R. Linton? Michael R. Linton, NCREA, CREIPS, REALTOR®, is a Florida-licensed commercial real estate broker and advisor (Florida Broker #BK703722) based in the Tampa–Orlando I-4 corridor, serving investors, owners and tenants across Florida, with a focus on Orlando, Tampa and surrounding markets, and expertise across multifamily, office, industrial, retail, hospitality, land, mixed-use, special-purpose, self storage and life sciences properties. He leads Linton Global Solutions and HireMikeLinton.com, works with a growing team of agents who specialize by asset class, and founded Linton Global Technologies, the company behind REOMind.ai.
Why choose Michael R. Linton for Babson Park? Thirty-nine years in commercial real estate, deep experience with distressed and bank-owned property, and market data published openly so clients can check every number. See the Florida commercial broker profile.
Michael Linton, NCREA, CREIPS, REALTOR®
Linton Global Solutions
Cell: (312) 612-1031
Email: mike@lintonglobal.com
LintonGlobal.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Babson Park, FL real estate market going up or down?+
Softening. As of September 2026, median list prices were down 3.5% in 33827 from a year earlier, against down 3.2% for Polk County. Homes took 100 days to sell, and active listings were up 35.5% from a year ago.
How much do homes cost in Babson Park?+
The median list price was $356,400 in September 2026. In 2025 mortgage (HMDA) data, the median home-purchase price was $305,000 and the median buyer earned $85,000.
How much is commercial real estate selling for in Babson Park?+
Arm’s-length commercial and industrial sales on the 2026 Polk County tax roll had a median of too few sales to report per square foot in Babson Park, versus $166 countywide. There were 2 such sales across 27 commercial parcels.
Is there distressed or bank-owned commercial property in Babson Park?+
Very little. The 2026 tax roll shows no commercial distress transfers or bank-held parcels in Babson Park’s ZIP codes, against 48 distress transfers and 20 bank-held parcels across Polk County.
Is Babson Park a good place to own rental property?+
About 17% of households rent, and HUD’s FY2027 fair market rent for a two-bedroom is $1,670 a month. Investors took 3.5% of 2025 home-purchase loans, against 10.7% countywide. Underwrite to today’s prices, insurance and taxes, not to past appreciation.
Where does this Babson Park market data come from?+
From the Linton Global Market Map, which joins Realtor.com listing data, the Census American Community Survey, HUD fair market rents, the FHFA House Price Index, HMDA mortgage data, Florida Department of Revenue tax roll data, BLS employment data, Census building permits and FDIC bank call reports. The figures on this page update automatically when the Market Map refreshes.
Who can help me buy or sell commercial property in Babson Park?+
Michael R. Linton, Florida Broker #BK703722, leads Linton Global Solutions and advises investors, owners, tenants and banks on commercial property, small multifamily, land, distressed assets and 1031 exchanges across Babson Park and Polk County. Call (312) 612-1031 or email mike@lintonglobal.com.
Works Cited
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and FFIEC. “HMDA Data Browser.” ffiec.cfpb.gov/data-browser. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. “BankFind Suite.” banks.data.fdic.gov. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
- Federal Housing Finance Agency. “House Price Index.” www.fhfa.gov/data/hpi. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “Small Area Fair Market Rents.” HUD User, www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/smallarea. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.” www.bls.gov/cew. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau. “American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates” and “Building Permits Survey.” www.census.gov. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
- Realtor.com Economic Research. “Housing Inventory: ZIP Level Data.” www.realtor.com/research/data. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
- Florida Department of Revenue. “Property Tax Data Files (NAL/SDF).” 2026 final roll, Polk County, via LGData.
- Ebyabe. “Babson Park Woman’s Club.” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Babson_Park_Womans_Club01.jpg. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
Disclosure: This article uses data tools developed by Linton Global Technologies. Michael R. Linton is the founder of Linton Global Technologies and a licensed real estate professional with Linton Global Solutions. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal, or financial advice.
Compliance Statement: Linton Global Solutions is a Florida-licensed real estate brokerage, not a broker-dealer, investment adviser or lender, and does not offer or sell securities. REOMind.ai provides decision support only; people make every final decision. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and consult qualified professionals before making investment decisions.
Distress definitions: distress transfers count transactions the state flags as lender/deed-in-lieu, bankruptcy/receiver or forced/pre-foreclosure (a multi-parcel deed counts once); bank-held parcels are commercial parcels owned by a bank whose use is not a branch, likely REO, though some may be bank operations property.
Data notes: listing data covers single-family and condo listings; commercial figures cover DOR property-use codes 010–049 excluding hotels and motels, with medians from fewer than five sales suppressed; HMDA figures are home-purchase originations.