Fort Meade, FL Market Update: What the Data Says for Buyers, Sellers and Investors
List prices down 21.1% in 33841, 72 days on market and commercial at too few sales to report per square foot across ZIP code 33841. Every number from the Linton Global Market Map, as of September 2026.
Photo: W.D. Turnley House, Fort Meade by Indietop20, Public domain, 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 Fort Meade and across Polk County through Linton Global Solutions.
Fort Meade is a softening market right now, and the numbers say buyers have room to negotiate. Look at it ZIP code by ZIP code, not as one city average.
The Bottom Line on Fort Meade
Fort Meade is the oldest city in Polk County, founded around an Army fort in the 1840s on the Peace River in the southern part of the county. It sits on US 17 and US 98 south of Bartow, surrounded by phosphate mining land, with a small historic downtown and older neighborhoods.
Fort Meade is a softening housing market where sellers are cutting prices to meet buyers, and its commercial property trades in line with the rest of Polk County, with almost no distress.
- Homes: median list prices of $255,500, down 21.1% in 33841 from a year ago; Polk County is down 3.2%.
- Supply: 30 active listings in 33841 (down 23.4%); 72 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 Fort Meade Is
This report covers one ZIP code: 33841, Fort Meade, including the historic downtown, the Peace River, the US 17 and US 98 corridors, and the mining and rural lands around the city.
Housing Market
| Realtor.com, September 2026 | 33841 | Polk County |
|---|---|---|
| Median list price | $255,500 | $329,000 |
| vs. a year ago | -21.1% | -3.2% |
| Active listings | 30 | 4,801 |
| Active vs. a year ago | -23.4% | +0.7% |
| Median days on market | 72 | 80 |
| Listings with a price cut | 29.3% | 23.4% |
| Home values, 5 years (FHFA) | +69.7% | — |
The highest-priced ZIP code is 33841 at $255,500. With a quarter or more of listings showing a price cut in parts of town, the asking price is a starting point. The FHFA House Price Index shows five-year gains of 69.7%; the run-up is behind us, and today is about pricing to the market.
Who Is Buying: Mortgage Data
| HMDA 2025 home purchases | 33841 | Polk County |
|---|---|---|
| Home-purchase loans | 126 | 13,749 |
| Median purchase price | $265,000 | $315,000 |
| Median buyer income | $78,000 | $91,000 |
| FHA / VA / USDA loans | 52.3% | 52.8% |
| Investor purchases | 9.3% | 10.7% |
Investors took the largest share of purchase loans in 33841 (9.3%). Source: the CFPB's HMDA data browser.
Rents
HUD's FY2027 Small Area Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom is $1,350. The strongest renter base is in 33841, where 31% of households rent. Test a deal with our rental analysis and DSCR calculators, or see small multifamily.
Commercial Real Estate
| 2026 tax roll | 33841 | Polk County |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial & industrial parcels | 233 | 16,053 |
| Building area (million SF) | 0.76 | 168.21 |
| Median year built | 1966 | 1982 |
| Arm’s-length sales | 4 | 622 |
| Median sale $/SF | — | $166 |
| Distress transfers / bank-held parcels | 0 / 0 | 48 / 20 |
Fort Meade has a small commercial base: older storefronts downtown, service and retail along US 17 and US 98, and contractor and industrial space serving mining and agriculture. Commercial sales are too few to report a reliable price per square foot, so values are set property by property against Bartow and Lake Wales comps.
Fort Meade has about 0.8 million square feet of commercial buildings and recorded 4 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.
Fort Meade has very few commercial sales, so a value here is an opinion until you prove it. Use Bartow and Lake Wales comps, adjust honestly for the smaller market, and expect most buyers to be local owner-users.
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. 33841 grew -10.7% in population over the Census survey period, the 236th-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
- ✓Fort Meade list prices are down 21.1% in 33841; Polk County is down 3.2%.
- ✓Homes are taking 72 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 Fort Meade? 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 Fort Meade, FL real estate market going up or down?+
Softening. As of September 2026, median list prices were down 21.1% in 33841 from a year earlier, against down 3.2% for Polk County. Homes took 72 days to sell, and active listings were down 23.4% from a year ago.
How much do homes cost in Fort Meade?+
The median list price was $255,500 in September 2026. In 2025 mortgage (HMDA) data, the median home-purchase price was $265,000 and the median buyer earned $78,000.
How much is commercial real estate selling for in Fort Meade?+
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 Fort Meade, versus $166 countywide. There were 4 such sales across 233 commercial parcels.
Is there distressed or bank-owned commercial property in Fort Meade?+
Very little. The 2026 tax roll shows no commercial distress transfers or bank-held parcels in Fort Meade’s ZIP codes, against 48 distress transfers and 20 bank-held parcels across Polk County.
Is Fort Meade a good place to own rental property?+
About 31% of households rent, and HUD’s FY2027 fair market rent for a two-bedroom is $1,350 a month. Investors took 9.3% of 2025 home-purchase loans, against 10.7% countywide. Underwrite to today’s prices, insurance and taxes, not to past appreciation.
Where does this Fort Meade 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 Fort Meade?+
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 Fort Meade 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.
- Indietop20. “W.D. Turnley House, Fort Meade.” Wikimedia Commons, Public domain, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:W.D._Turnley_House,_Fort_Meade,_Florida.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.