DeLand, FL Market Update: A College Town With a Growth Edge

Michael R. Linton, Florida Broker #BK703722, advises buyers, sellers and banks on retail, industrial, REO and land in DeLand, Deltona and the I-4 corridor through Linton Global Solutions.

East DeLand has the strongest home price gain of any mainland ZIP code in our Volusia reports, and the city has two engines: a historic college-town downtown and a fast-growing east side. They behave like two different towns, so price them separately.

The Bottom Line on DeLand

DeLand is Volusia County's county seat and the home of Stetson University, a historic downtown on Woodland Boulevard surrounded by fast-growing neighborhoods to the east and north. It is one of the few places in the county where home prices are still rising. On the commercial side, downtown's buildings are among the oldest in the county, and DeLand is second only to Daytona Beach for commercial distress.

• Homes: median list prices $367,750 to $388,625, +0.8% to +8.1% from a year ago, while the county is -3.4%.
• Growth: east and north DeLand (32724) grew 22.1% in population.
• Commercial: $152 to $185 per square foot; downtown's median building dates from 1960.
• Distress: 4 bank REO sales and 3 distress transfers, about a quarter of the county's commercial distress.

DeLand's Two ZIP Codes

• 32720 · Downtown & west: Historic downtown, Stetson University’s neighborhoods and west DeLand toward the St. Johns River.
• 32724 · East & north: East and north DeLand: the State Road 44 and U.S. 17-92 corridors, the airport industrial area and the newer master-planned neighborhoods.

Two other DeLand ZIP codes have no area data: 32721 is a P.O. box code, and 32723 is Stetson University's campus.

Housing Market: Still Rising

East and north DeLand (32724) shows the strongest home price gain of any mainland ZIP code in our Volusia reports: +8.1% in a year, with inventory flat and homes selling in about 65 days. Downtown and west DeLand (32720) is holding steady at +0.8%, with listings down 12.9%. About a quarter of sellers in both ZIP codes have cut price, so the gains are real but not runaway. Five-year gains per the FHFA House Price Index are +56.3% to +57.9%.

Two Towns in One: Downtown and the East Side

Downtown and west DeLand (32720) is the college town: Stetson University, the county courthouse and the historic Woodland Boulevard storefronts. 30.5% of households rent, and its commercial stock dates from a median of 1960, the oldest in our Volusia reports.

East and north DeLand (32724) is the growth edge: population up 22.1% in recent Census estimates, the second-fastest growth in our Volusia reports after the LPGA area of Daytona Beach. It is more owner-occupied (77.8%), more college-educated (31.9% with a bachelor's degree) and more likely to work from home (18.1%). It also holds most of DeLand's commercial space (6.91 million square feet) and its industrial base (24.7% of commercial parcels).

Downtown DeLand has some of the oldest commercial buildings in the county, and four of the county’s ten bank REO sales. That’s where an investor who can underwrite an older building, and the repairs it needs, will find motivated sellers.

Who Is Buying: Mortgage Data

DeLand buyers are overwhelmingly owner-occupants: investors took only 4.8% to 6.7% of 2025 purchase loans, below the county's 8.7%. Downtown and west DeLand leans on government-backed loans (54.4%), and its 6.06% average rate was the lowest in our Volusia reports. Source: the CFPB's HMDA data browser.

Rents: Tighter Math

HUD's FY2027 Small Area Fair Market Rents put a two-bedroom at $1,480 in 32720 and $1,530 in 32724, low against median list prices near $367,750 to $388,625. That makes the rental math tighter than in our Deltona or Daytona Beach reports. Stetson and county government support steady rental demand near downtown, so the best rental buys here are the ones bought at a price today's rents support. Test them with our rental analysis and DSCR calculators.

Commercial Real Estate: Historic Downtown, Industrial East

DeLand has about 11.5 million square feet of commercial and industrial buildings on 2,042 parcels, with 52 arm's-length sales on the 2026 roll. Downtown (32720) sold for a median $185 per square foot, right at the county median, despite buildings dating from 1960: Woodland Boulevard's storefronts carry a location premium, much like New Smyrna's Canal Street. The east side (32724) sold for $152, reflecting its larger industrial share around the airport and the U.S. 17-92 corridor. See retail, industrial and mixed-use.

Distress: Second Only to Daytona

Downtown and west DeLand (32720) recorded 4 commercial bank REO sales and 2 distress transfers on the 2026 tax roll, and the east side added 1 more. That is 4 of the county's 10 bank REO sales, and it makes DeLand the second-largest source of commercial distress in our Volusia reports after Daytona Beach. The county's 2 locally headquartered banks held about $2.6 million of bank-owned real estate on June 30, 2026, per FDIC call reports.

The pattern fits the building stock: older downtown buildings with deferred maintenance are where owners and lenders run out of runway. Every distressed asset we evaluate runs through Linton Global Technologies' CREDDS Framework: CREDDS (Commercial Real Estate Distress & Disposition Score), an Asset Disposition Brief that scores financial health, operational stability and undervaluation signal. See our distressed commercial real estate hub, REO deal flow and bank services.

Jobs, Permits and the County Economy

County job growth was flat in 2025 per the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, but DeLand has steadier anchors than most of the county: county government, the courts, Stetson University and the hospital. Housing permits countywide are down 34.3% this year per the Census Building Permits Survey, which should help support prices in growing areas like east DeLand.

What It Means for Buyers, Sellers, Investors and Banks

Buyers: prices are rising on the east side; negotiate where sellers have already cut, which is about a quarter of listings.

Sellers: DeLand is one of the better places in the county to sell right now. Price to the market and you should sell in about two months.

Commercial investors: downtown storefronts trade on location; the REO and distress activity is your opening if you can underwrite an older building. Trading up? See 1031 exchanges.

Banks and servicers: older DeLand collateral needs fresh values. See our commercial BPO services.

How We Built This Report

This report joins our Volusia series with Deltona, Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, Port Orange and New Smyrna Beach. 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 Volusia County report. Heading south on I-4? See our Lake Mary market update.

Key Takeaways

• ✓DeLand home prices are still rising (+0.8% to +8.1%) while Volusia County is -3.4%.
• ✓East and north DeLand (32724) grew 22.1% in population and holds most of the city’s commercial and industrial space.
• ✓Downtown commercial buildings date from a median of 1960, yet sell at the county median ($185/SF) on location.
• ✓DeLand had 4 of Volusia’s 10 commercial bank REO sales: the county’s second-largest source of distress after Daytona.
• ✓Rents are low relative to prices, so buy rentals at a price today’s rents support.
• ✓Every figure comes from the Linton Global Market Map, with sources named.

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 DeLand? Thirty-nine years in commercial real estate, deep experience with bank-owned and distressed property, and market data published openly so clients can check every number. See the Florida commercial broker profile.

Frequently Asked Questions

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. “Building Permits Survey.” www.census.gov/construction/bps. 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, Volusia County, via LGData.
• Williams, Connor J. “Downtown DeLand, Woodland Boulevard, DeLand, Florida.” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Downtown_deland_woodland_boulevard_deland_florida.jpg. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.