With the arrival of a new year comes word of steadily rising values and prices for land, homes and buildings throughout Volusia County.

“I think we’re in good shape for 2025,” county Property Appraiser Larry Bartlett told The Beacon.

Property values in the county are at record highs, and the numbers stand to increase in the coming year.

As for Volusia County’s values of real estate as a whole, the just value, meaning the estimated total value of all land and improvements, is $104.6 billion. That 2024 number is almost 7 percent higher than the 2023 figure. The just value, or market value, includes all property, whether it is subject to taxation or not.

Volusia County’s tax base for 2024 amounts to $60.9 billion. That number represents 10.8-percent growth over the 2023 tax roll of $55 billion.

Is there any possible problem or speed bump on the horizon?

“If anything is going to affect the real estate market, it’s the insurance prices,” Bartlett said, referring to the markedly higher premiums for homeowners insurance and coverage for other properties.

Florida was hit by three hurricanes — Debby, Helene and Milton — during the 2024 Atlantic Basin storm season that concluded Nov. 30.

Several property and casualty insurers have left the state, and those that remain defend their requests for higher premiums by pointing to the frequency and destructive force of such storms. The state-created insurance company, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., is the home insurer of last resort, but state officials are trying to move people off the state company’s rolls and onto conventional private insurance companies. At this writing, Citizens has approximately 1.25 million homeowners policies in force.

The Sunshine State’s coverage crisis is such that homeowners sometimes tell of seeing their insurance premiums double or triple because of the threat of storms.

Nevertheless, Bartlett forecasts a solid market for those looking to sell or invest in their own places in the sunshine. The influx of new settlers from the Northern states will continue, he predicts.

“They want to come down here, because they don’t want what they have in New Jersey,” Bartlett said.

Meanwhile, he noted, any changes in the demand for office space or recent retail closings may be temporary and not likely to drag the overall real estate market down.

“There’s always a demand for good commercial space,” Bartlett said.

“It’s never good to see a store not be a success, but other stores are a huge success,” he added. “The economy in Volusia County is strong and certain to get stronger.”

Are there any particular sections of Volusia County that are especially attractive or in higher demand than others?

“It’s all over,” Bartlett said, adding some people in flood-prone neighborhoods are indeed looking to get out.

“There are areas that people want to move out of that flood,” he added.

The News Service of Florida reports that the median home price in Volusia County was $361,986 in November, the most recent month for which figures are available. The statewide median home price was $350,990.