Wellington goes into the 2026-27 equestrian season with less inventory and a live tax question. Palm Beach County single-family listings fell 23.3% year over year in July 2026, to a 3.7-month supply, and a November 3 ballot measure would cut the assessment cap on non-homestead property from 10% to 5%. The Winter Equestrian Festival opens January 6, 2027.
Supply favors sellers. The tax question cuts the other way for anyone who winters here but homesteads somewhere else, and both get settled before the first horse ships south.
Key Takeaways
- Palm Beach County’s single-family median reached $660,090 in July 2026, up 7.6%, with inventory down 23.3% and 3.7 months of supply (MIAMI REALTORS + RWorld).
- Wellington’s market value growth slowed from 7.3% in tax year 2024 to 2.0% in 2025, even as taxable value kept rising 6.6% (Village of Wellington, August 24, 2026).
- A November 3, 2026 ballot measure would raise the homestead exemption to $250,000 by 2028 and cut the non-homestead assessment cap from 10% to 5%, effective January 1, 2027 if approved.
- Wellington modeled its non-homestead share of taxable value rising from 59.6% to 74.7% under that scenario, with seasonal owners and businesses paying about $1 million more.
- WEF runs January 6 through April 4, 2027, so the negotiating window is September through December.
What does the Palm Beach County market look like heading into the season?
In July 2026, the county’s single-family median sale price was $660,090, up 7.6% from $613,250 a year earlier, on 1,336 closed sales (MIAMI REALTORS + RWorld, Market Snapshots, July 2026). Inventory fell to 4,590 active listings, down 23.3%, and months of supply dropped from 5.5 to 3.7.
Those are seller-leaning numbers. Six months of supply is the usual balance point and the county is well under it. Homes went to contract in a median of 41 days, down from 46, and sellers collected 95.1% of original list price, up from 93.5%.
Cash buyers accounted for 551 of the 1,336 July closings, or 41.2%, up from 37.4% a year earlier. With a 30-year fixed mortgage averaging 6.71% on September 3, 2026 (Freddie Mac), a rising cash share tells you financing is not the binding constraint at the top of this market.
These snapshots are published by county, not by municipality, so they carry no Wellington-only breakout. County figures set direction; for anything Wellington-specific, the tax roll is the better instrument. Our Palm Beach County market update for Q3 2026 covers the same data across all property types.
How much has Wellington property actually appreciated?
Less than you would guess from the headlines. Wellington’s total market value went from $19.69 billion in tax year 2023 to $21.12 billion in 2024, a 7.3% gain, then to $21.55 billion in 2025, a gain of just 2.0% (Village of Wellington, CS/HJR 1-F & SB 4-F Property Tax Reform Impacts, August 24, 2026). Growth did not stop, but it flattened out.
That analysis draws on the county tax roll and the state DR-403F and DR-420 forms, so it covers every parcel in the village: 23,118 parcels across 29,207 acres in tax year 2025, not a sample of listings.
The 2026 roll continues the pattern. Wellington’s preliminary taxable value came in at $13.87 billion, up 4.88%, against a countywide increase of 6.87%, per figures the county property appraiser presented to the Palm Beach County Commission on June 2, 2026 (Town-Crier, June 2026). Wellington trailed the county by about two points. The appraiser’s office later submitted the full preliminary roll to the state, putting the countywide taxable increase at 7.35% across 662,126 parcels (Palm Beach County Property Appraiser, 2026 tax roll preliminaries).
For a buyer, that gap matters less than it sounds, and it is not new. Wellington trailed the county in last year’s preliminary roll as well, rising 7.17% against a countywide 8.18%, which the county attributed to heavier new construction elsewhere (Town-Crier, July 2025). A village that is largely built out adds less new value each year than the parts of the county still building, and that is most of what the spread measures.
Why can your tax bill rise while the market flattens?
Because assessed value and market value move on different clocks. In tax year 2025, Wellington’s market value rose 2.0% while its assessed value rose 6.2% and its taxable value rose 6.6% (Village of Wellington, August 24, 2026). Assessed value climbed three times faster than the market did.
Florida’s assessment caps limit how fast assessed value can grow, but when market values run ahead of assessments for several years, the assessment keeps catching up even after the market cools. You can see the gap closing in the roll. Wellington’s assessed value equaled 65.3% of market value in tax year 2023 and 67.9% by tax year 2025.
That gap is what catches seasonal owners. A flat year in sale prices does not mean a flat year on the tax bill.
Wellington levies 2.47 mills, and by the village’s own accounting just 19 cents of every property tax dollar goes to Wellington and the Acme Improvement District, while the largest share, 32 cents, goes to schools. When your bill rises, most of the increase is not the village’s.
What would the November 3 ballot measure change for seasonal owners?
A great deal, specifically for people who do not homestead in Florida. CS/HJR 1-F directs a constitutional amendment to the November 3, 2026 general election ballot, effective January 1, 2027 if approved. It would replace the current $50,000 homestead exemption on non-school levies with $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, indexed to inflation from 2029, and cut the annual assessed-value cap on non-homestead property from 10% to 5% (Village of Wellington, August 24, 2026).
Wellington modeled what that does to its own roll. Homestead property carries $5.24 billion of taxable value, 40.4% of the village total. Under the $250,000 exemption with non-homestead values rising to the 5% cap, that falls to $2.74 billion, or 25.3%. Non-homestead property moves the other way, from $7.72 billion and 59.6% to $8.11 billion and 74.7%. The village states the outcome plainly: Wellington taxes paid by year-round residents would drop by about $6.2 million, while businesses and snowbirds contribute $1 million more.
Worth knowing: Wellington has 7,889 non-homestead parcels carrying $7.72 billion in taxable value, against 14,423 homesteaded parcels carrying $5.24 billion. Buyers who winter here and homestead elsewhere land in the first group, whose share of the tax base would rise by roughly 15 percentage points.
The village published that arithmetic from its own tax year 2025 roll, and the vote itself falls nine weeks before WEF 2027 opens. Whether voters approve the amendment is a separate question.
Would the 5% cap protect a farm you buy this fall?
Not in year one. The cap limits how fast an assessment can grow year to year. It does not limit what happens when a property changes hands, because a sale resets the assessed value toward market value.
Wellington’s own numbers show that reset at work. Of the village’s 7,889 non-homestead parcels, 62% saw assessed values rise between 5% and 10% from tax year 2024 to 2025, and 29.2% rose 5% or less. Only 8.8% rose more than 10%, and the village notes that most of those moved because of recent sales, with 93% of them single-family and multi-family residential parcels.
The cap helps once you own the place. It does nothing about the reset the sale itself triggers, so expect the assessment to move toward market value first and the cap to apply in the years after. The village estimates the 5% cap would eliminate up to $470,000 in property taxes based on current-year changes, and about $1 million at maximum.
A second bill matters here too. SB 4-F, signed by the Governor in June 2026, bars local governments from raising millage using an income-growth adjustment and makes the lower rolled-back rate the standard majority-vote maximum. Wellington’s rolled-back rate is 2.359 mills against the current 2.47, so adopting 2.47 now requires a two-thirds vote of the Village Council.
What do carrying costs look like right now?
Insurance moved in the owner’s favor this year. Citizens Property Insurance reduced homeowners multiperil rates by an average of 8.8% statewide and wind-only rates by an average of 5.5%, under rates set by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, effective July 1, 2026 for new policies and at renewal for existing ones (Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, March 4, 2026).
The county detail is sharper. In the recommended filing its board approved on December 10, 2025, Citizens listed 26,036 Palm Beach County multiperil HO-3 policies at a current average premium of $5,056, with a recommended average decrease of 11.9% to $4,457 (Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, 2026 Rate Kit).
Read that carefully before budgeting on it. Those are recommended figures from December 2025, not final approved county rates, and the regulator ultimately set deeper statewide cuts than the board proposed. They cover multiperil policies, the relevant line for inland Wellington; Palm Beach County wind-only HW-2 policies went the other way in the same filing, with a recommended 8.4% increase. Citizens is also the residual market, not the private one, so a farm with a large barn, an arena and outbuildings prices differently again.
On financing, Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed average at 6.71% on September 3, 2026, and the 15-year at 6.04%. A year earlier the 30-year averaged 6.50%.
How does the 2027 show calendar shape your timing?
It compresses everything into the fall. Wellington International has published WEF Premiere Week for January 6 to 10, 2027, followed by twelve competition weeks in Wednesday-to-Sunday blocks: Week 1 opens January 13 and the Rolex Finale, Week 12, runs March 31 to April 4, 2027 (Wellington International, WEF Event Schedule, retrieved September 10, 2026). Premiere Week included, that is thirteen straight weeks of competition on the calendar.
Once Premiere Week starts, the buyer pool fills with people who are already in town for the season and already walking barns. September through December is when you can still tour on a quiet weekday and ask for a real inspection window without a trainer waiting behind you.
The supply of land here is fixed. Wellington’s equestrian community sits on 9,000 acres inside the Equestrian Preserve Area, governed by an Equestrian Overlay Zoning District the Council adopted in 2003. The village reports more than 580 farms and over 100 miles of public bridle trails.
If you are still deciding which pocket of that 9,000 acres fits how you ride, our comparison of Wellington’s equestrian neighborhoods covers parcels, price bands, and zoning side by side, and our guide to buying equestrian property in Wellington covers what to inspect on a working farm.
What should buyers do before January?
Move on diligence now and keep the closing flexible. Five things are worth doing before the end of December:
- Price the tax bill at reset rather than at the seller’s number. Their bill reflects their assessment history. Yours will reflect the sale price.
- Get an insurance quote on the specific parcel, barn, arena and outbuildings included, instead of working from a statewide average.
- Confirm the parcel’s zoning rights with Wellington’s planning department. Horse-keeping rights are parcel-specific inside the Equestrian Preserve Area.
- Decide your homestead position on purpose. If the November amendment passes, the gap between homesteading in Florida and not doing so widens.
- Tour on weekdays in October and November, while access and seller attention are both better.
Buyers weighing Wellington against a coastal purchase may also want our look at buying a second home in Palm Beach County; international buyers should start with the Florida foreign buyer guide.
What should sellers weigh this fall?
Supply is on your side and timing is the variable you control. With county inventory down 23.3% and 3.7 months of supply, a correctly priced Wellington farm is not competing against a wall of alternatives. Sellers countywide took 95.1% of original list price in July, up from 93.5% a year earlier.
The question is whether to list into the pre-season window or wait for the season itself. October or November puts you in front of buyers planning next winter rather than reacting to it, and gives a serious buyer time to work through zoning and insurance diligence. January brings more traffic, though your farm will be one of many the same buyers tour that week.
Start with a current home value estimate for Palm Beach County so the list price is built on comps rather than last season’s asking prices. If income potential is part of your case, our piece on investing across Palm Beach and Martin County frames the seasonal rental argument.
Limits on these numbers
County data is not Wellington data, so the sales figures here describe Palm Beach County as a whole. The tax roll lags: tax year 2025 figures reflect values as of January 1, 2025, and the 2026 preliminary roll reflects January 1, 2026. And the November 3 ballot measure has not been decided, so every projection tied to it here is the village’s modeling of a scenario rather than an outcome. Verify current prices, assessments and insurance quotes on the specific parcel before acting on any of it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Palm Beach County median home price right now?
The single-family median was $660,090 in July 2026, up 7.6% from $613,250 a year earlier, on 1,336 closed sales, per MIAMI REALTORS + RWorld. These are county figures; the monthly snapshots carry no Wellington-only breakout.
Is Wellington a buyer’s or seller’s market going into 2027?
County indicators lean seller. Single-family months of supply was 3.7 in July 2026, down from 5.5 a year earlier, and inventory fell 23.3% to 4,590 listings, per MIAMI REALTORS + RWorld. Six months is the usual balance point.
When does the Winter Equestrian Festival start in 2027?
Wellington International has published WEF Premiere Week for January 6 to 10, 2027, with Week 1 opening January 13 and the season running through the Rolex Finale, Week 12, on March 31 to April 4, 2027. Check the venue’s schedule for individual week details.
How would the November 2026 tax amendment affect a seasonal Wellington owner?
CS/HJR 1-F would cut the non-homestead assessed value cap from 10% to 5% and raise the homestead exemption to $250,000 by 2028. Wellington modeled its non-homestead share of taxable value rising from 59.6% to 74.7%, with businesses and snowbirds paying about $1 million more.
How much has Wellington property value grown recently?
Wellington’s market value rose 7.3% in tax year 2024 and 2.0% in tax year 2025, reaching $21.55 billion, per the village’s August 2026 staff analysis. Preliminary 2026 taxable value was $13.87 billion, up 4.88%, against a countywide increase of 6.87% in the same June 2026 presentation.
Cibie Cahur leads The Cahur Group at Keller Williams Jupiter, serving Palm Beach County and Martin County, Florida. A Top 1% Keller Williams producer from 2017 through 2024, Cibie heads an eight-agent team and works with buyers and sellers in English, Spanish and French. Reach the team at 561-401-5758 or 4455 Military Trail Suite 100, Jupiter, FL 33458.
Planning a Wellington purchase or sale before the season starts? The fall window is short and the tax picture is in flux this year. Contact The Cahur Group or call 561-401-5758 to walk through the numbers on a specific parcel.
Sources
- MIAMI REALTORS + RWorld, “Market Snapshots, July 2026,” retrieved 2026-09-10, https://rworld.com/market
- Palm Beach County Property Appraiser, “Property Appraiser Provides 2026 Tax Roll Preliminaries to Local Governments,” retrieved 2026-09-10, https://pbcpao.gov/tax-roll-news.htm
- Village of Wellington, “CS/HJR 1-F & SB 4-F Property Tax Reform Impacts,” August 24, 2026, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.wellingtonfl.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6128/CSHJR-1-F–SB-4-F-Property-Tax-Reform-Impacts
- Village of Wellington, “About Equestrian Community,” retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.wellingtonfl.gov/501/About-Equestrian-Community
- Village of Wellington, “FAQ: What is the Equestrian Overlay Zoning District?”, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.wellingtonfl.gov/Faq.aspx?QID=142
- Wellington International, “Winter Equestrian Festival Event Schedule,” retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.wellingtoninternational.com/plan-your-visit/winter-equestrian-festival/event-schedule/
- Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, “Citizens’ 2026 Multiperil Rates to Drop Statewide,” March 4, 2026, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.citizensfla.com/-/20260304-citizens-2026-multiperil-rates-to-drop-statewide
- Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, “2026 Rate Kit,” December 10, 2025, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.citizensfla.com/documents/20702/35182283/2026+Rate+Kit.pdf
- Freddie Mac, “Primary Mortgage Market Survey,” September 3, 2026, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms
- Town-Crier, “Property Values Stay Strong, But Tax Reform A Concern For PBC,” June 2026, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://gotowncrier.com/2026/06/property-values-stay-strong-but-tax-reform-a-concern-for-pbc/
- Town-Crier, “Taxable Value Increases Ease Budgets For Area Municipalities,” July 2025, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://gotowncrier.com/2025/07/taxable-value-increases-ease-budgets-for-area-municipalities/
Figures are reported values from the dates cited and change frequently.
