Jacksonville Real Estate and Housing Guide

The median owner-occupied Jacksonville home is valued at $293,700 in the Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 estimates, a little below the Duval County median of $303,500.

The Jacksonville figure comes from the five-year home value table for the city (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024), and the Duval County median of $303,500 from the same table for the county (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024). On those estimates a Jacksonville home sits $9,800 below the Duval County median.

Owners hold most Jacksonville homes. Of 394,370 occupied households in the city, 227,054 are owner occupied and 167,316 are rented, about 57.6% owners (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024). The Jacksonville real estate market trends guide follows price direction, and the Jacksonville neighborhoods guide explains how values differ from the Northbank to Ortega and the Southside.

Median gross rent in Jacksonville is $1,465 a month in the ACS 2020-2024 estimates, ten dollars below the Duval County median of $1,475.

Gross rent counts contract rent plus the utilities a tenant pays. The Jacksonville estimate carries a margin of error of $17 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024), and the Duval County figure of $1,475 has the same $17 margin (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024).

Renters make up a large share of Jacksonville: 167,316 households rent, against 227,054 that own (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024). Downtown, the Downtown Investment Authority reported the March 2025 opening of the 340-unit Artea apartments on the Southbank (Downtown Investment Authority); the downtown Jacksonville condos 2026 guide covers the Northbank and LaVilla side of that market, including Downtown Investment Authority incentives.

A Jacksonville owner who owns and lives in the home as a permanent residence on January 1 files for homestead with the Duval County Property Appraiser, and the timely deadline for the 2027 tax roll is March 1, 2027.

Applications can be filed online, or delivered with documents to the Customer Service/Exemptions Division at 231 E. Forsyth Street, Suite 260, Jacksonville 32202; the office answers at 904-255-5900, and late filing is permitted through early September (Duval County Property Appraiser). A practical warning for Jacksonville buyers: the separate exemptions page on the same site still names the March 1, 2025 deadline for the 2025 tax roll (Duval County Property Appraiser, exemptions), so the home page is the one to trust for the current year.

The homestead assessment cap, in the Florida constitution since 1995, holds the yearly rise in a Duval County homestead's assessed value to 3% or the change in the national Consumer Price Index, whichever is less; the Duval County Property Appraiser lists 2.7% for 2026 and 2.9% for 2025 (Duval County Property Appraiser). The cap does not travel with the house. When a capped Jacksonville home is sold, the cap is removed and the assessed value goes to market value unless the buyer has portability, so the seller's tax bill is a poor guide to the buyer's.

Change may be coming. The Property Appraiser's home page flags proposed Property Tax Amendment 3 on the November 3, 2026 ballot, which would alter the rules for homesteaded and non-homesteaded property in Florida, and links an FAQ on it (Duval County Property Appraiser).

Jacksonville-Duval County permitted 2,799 new single-family homes from January through August 2026, after 3,611 in all of 2025, plus thousands of apartments in larger buildings.

In 2025 the Census Bureau counted 3,611 single-family homes valued at about $654.3 million and 69 buildings of five or more units holding 2,253 apartments for Jacksonville-Duval County (U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey). Through August 2026 the count stands at 2,799 single-family homes valued at about $575.8 million and 35 buildings of five or more units holding 1,700 apartments (U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey). The Jacksonville new construction 2026 guide breaks down where those permits land.

Downtown is the densest part of that pipeline. In its March 17, 2025 update, the Downtown Investment Authority reported the grand opening on March 11 of the 340-unit Artea apartments at 944 Broadcast Place on the Southbank, and the March 6 reopening of the Union Terminal Warehouse at 700 E. Union St., a 1913 building turned into a $73 million mixed-use project with mixed-income housing (Downtown Investment Authority). The same update describes Gateway Jax Block N11, a seven-story building at 515 N. Pearl St. planned for 205 apartments, and RiversEdge on the former JEA Southside Generating Station site. Those project dates come from March 2025, so the downtown condos guide is the place to check what has opened since.

Growth outside the urban core, including the Nocatee master-planned community, has its own Nocatee real estate 2026 guide, and suburban permits elsewhere in Jacksonville are tracked in the new construction guide.

A house in a locally designated Jacksonville historic district needs an approved Certificate of Appropriateness before any exterior change, and a proper rehabilitation can earn a ten year city property tax exemption.

Local landmarks and districts are designated by the City Council on the recommendation of the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission. Most Certificate of Appropriateness applications are approved by the Planning and Development Department, while some work goes to the Commission. The Jacksonville Historic Preservation Property Tax Exemption covers 100% of the value of the rehabilitation over ten years, but only for the City of Jacksonville share of the tax bill; other taxing authorities still tax it, and the work must be approved before it starts (Duval County Property Appraiser).

National Register status is different: it is honorary and does not regulate changes, though federal tax credits may apply to income-producing buildings. Boundaries overlap in ways that confuse buyers. The Springfield Historic District is both a National Register and a local district; most of Ortega is a National Register district but not locally designated; and the larger Riverside-Avondale Historic District holds two smaller National Register districts, Riverside and Avondale. The Historic Preservation Office answers at 904-255-7859 (Duval County Property Appraiser). The Jacksonville historic districts guide lists each district, and the Avondale real estate 2026 and San Marco real estate 2026 guides cover those two older riverfront neighborhoods.

Building permits for Jacksonville homes come from the City of Jacksonville Building Inspection Division on the 2nd floor of the Ed Ball Building, 214 North Hogan Street, and are submitted online through JaxEPICS.

The Building Inspection Division keeps office hours Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed most federal holidays, and answers at 904-255-8500; a JaxEPICS account is required to submit a permit, and Certificates of Use go through Zoning at 904-255-8300 (City of Jacksonville Building Inspection Division). The division is led by Chief Charles Gibson. Jacksonville owners planning work on a property along the St. Johns River can read the Jacksonville waterfront properties guide, which covers the river corridor from the Northbank and Southbank outward.

Each Jacksonville real estate question has its own guide in this section, from citywide prices to single neighborhoods.

Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the Duval County Property Appraiser website and the City of Jacksonville website (Duval County Property Appraiser).