Selling a Davie Home You’ve Owned 20 Years (2026)

What should you expect selling a Davie home you’ve owned 20 years?

You have more equity than you think, and more decisions than you expect. A home you bought in Davie around 2006 has ridden two full market cycles and a historic run in prices. The equity is real. The decisions attached to it are where long tenure owners get caught, because the last time you sold a house the rules and the numbers were different.

Three things matter most when you sell after two decades: what you actually owe in taxes on the gain, what happens to the Save Our Homes cap that held your tax bill down all these years, and how quickly the home sells in a market that is not the 2021 market. Take them in order.

How much have Davie home prices changed since 2021?

I pulled six years of closed single family sales for Davie from the MLS, and the trend is hard to argue with. The median single family home in Davie, Florida sold for $800,000 in the first half of 2026, up from $610,000 in 2021, based on my own MLS closed sales pull, an increase of 31.1 percent. Average single family sale price climbed even more, up 42.2 percent over the same window, per my MLS pull. If you bought in the mid 2000s, your gain sits far above those figures, because your purchase price predates this entire table.

| Year | Closed single family sales | Median sale price | Median price per sqft | Median days on market | Source |

|—|—|—|—|—|—|

| 2021 | 834 | $610,000 | $276.85 | 14 | my MLS pull |

| 2022 | 629 | $695,000 | $341.91 | 13 | my MLS pull |

| 2023 | 607 | $745,000 | $352.14 | 26 | my MLS pull |

| 2024 | 533 | $825,000 | $375.09 | 30 | my MLS pull |

| 2025 | 570 | $780,000 | $376.65 | 38 | my MLS pull |

| 2026 (first half) | 291 | $800,000 | $390.22 | 29 | my MLS pull |

Every figure above is Davie single family, closed sales, from my own Matrix pull dated July 29, 2026. The public portals blend condos and townhomes into their Davie number and show something closer to $510,000, so do not be thrown when a Zillow headline looks lower than your neighbor’s actual sale. For the current live figure you can compare against, the median single family sale price in Davie is $893,000 (single-family median, trailing 182 days ending Sep 7, 2026, based on 206 listings, per BeachesMLS).

One more piece of context for a long tenure owner. If you have held onto the home partly because moving means giving up a low mortgage rate, you are not alone. The Federal Housing Finance Agency estimated the rate lock effect removed roughly 1.3 million homes from the national market between mid 2022 and late 2023, per its Working Paper 24-03. That hesitation is understandable. It should not be the only input in a decision this large.

The tax that surprises 20 year owners

Here is the number most long tenure sellers do not see coming. When you sell a primary residence, federal law lets you exclude up to $250,000 of gain if you file single and up to $500,000 if you are married filing jointly, as long as you owned and lived in the home for at least two of the last five years. A 20 year owner clears that ownership and use test with room to spare. You can read the rule straight from the IRS on the sale of your home.

The catch is what counts as gain. Your gain is the sale price minus your original cost basis, which is roughly what you paid plus the capital improvements you made over the years. On a Davie home bought two decades ago, a married couple’s gain can run past the $500,000 exclusion, and the portion above it is taxed at the federal long term capital gains rate of up to 20 percent depending on your income, per the IRS. Florida adds no state income tax on top, which is one reason a Florida sale is friendlier than the same sale up north.

Your exact number depends on your cost basis, the improvements you can document, and your filing status, so this is not something to estimate off a headline. This is the kind of math I build with a seller before we list, not after the closing statement surprises them. If your goal is to defer the tax rather than take the cash, and the property has been a rental, a different path opens up through a 1031 exchange on a Davie investment property. If you want to see the full picture of what lands in your account, start with the Davie seller net sheet.

What happens to your Save Our Homes cap when you sell

For 20 years, the Save Our Homes cap held your assessed value down while market values ran. That protection does not travel with the house. When you sell, the home resets to market value for the next owner, which is why a buyer’s tax bill on your street can look nothing like yours.

The good news for a long tenure owner who is buying again in Florida is portability. You can move up to $500,000 of your accumulated Save Our Homes benefit to your next Florida homestead, which can cut the tax bill on the home you buy next by a meaningful amount. The steps are specific and the deadlines are firm.

1. Buy and establish your next Florida home as your primary residence, with residency in place by January 1.

2. File Form DR-501, the homestead application, and Form DR-501T, the transfer of your assessment difference, with your county property appraiser.

3. File that transfer within three tax years of January 1 of the year your prior homestead exemption last applied. Miss the window and the benefit is gone.

Filing is free through the Broward County Property Appraiser. For a full walk through of how the transfer math works when the new home is worth more or less than the old one, read the guide on Save Our Homes portability for Davie sellers.

Will your Davie home still sell quickly in 2026

The honest answer is that it sells, but not the way it sold in 2021. Back then Davie single family homes moved at a median of 14 days on market, per my MLS pull. In the first half of 2026 the median was 29 days, per my MLS pull, which is actually faster than the 38 day median in 2025. The market tightened again after the 2024 slowdown, but it rewards correct pricing far more than it did when everything sold in two weeks. For the current pace you can check, homes are selling in about 56 days days.

Pricing a home you have owned for 20 years is its own challenge, because your sense of value is anchored to a different decade and your emotional attachment is real. The right list price comes from current closed comps on your street and your neighborhood, not from a portal estimate or what a neighbor “heard” a house went for. This is exactly the work I do before recommending a number, and it is where the difference between a fast clean sale and a stale listing gets decided. If timing is part of your question, the guide on the best time to sell a house in Davie breaks down the seasonal pattern.

Two more costs to plan into your net. Florida charges a documentary stamp tax on the deed, which the seller customarily pays in Broward, at the rate published by Broward County. Add your agent commission and your mortgage payoff if any remains, and the difference between your sale price and your walk away number becomes clear. If you are weighing Davie against a move a few exits west, the data comparison in Davie versus Weston home prices since 2021 is a useful second read.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I pay capital gains tax when I sell a Davie home I’ve owned 20 years?

Maybe, on the portion of your gain above the exclusion. Federal law lets a married couple filing jointly exclude up to $500,000 of gain and a single filer up to $250,000, and a 20 year owner easily meets the two of five year ownership and use test. Any gain above your exclusion is taxed federally at up to 20 percent, per the IRS. Florida charges no state income tax on the sale.

What happens to my Save Our Homes cap when I sell?

Your Save Our Homes cap does not transfer to the buyer. The home resets to market value for the next owner. If you buy another Florida home, you can port up to $500,000 of your accumulated Save Our Homes benefit to the new homestead, as long as you file Form DR-501T with the county property appraiser within three tax years.

How much have Davie home prices gone up since 2021?

Davie single family homes rose from a median sale price of $610,000 in 2021 to $800,000 in the first half of 2026, an increase of 31.1 percent, based on my own MLS closed sales pull. Average single family sale price rose even more, up 42.2 percent over the same period, per my MLS pull. A home bought two decades ago has appreciated well beyond those figures.

Will my Davie home still sell fast?

It sells, but slower than the 2021 peak. Davie single family homes had a median of 29 days on market in the first half of 2026, compared with 14 days in 2021 and 38 days in 2025, based on my MLS pull. The market rewards correct pricing from current comps far more than it did a few years ago.

How much of my sale price do I actually keep?

Your net is your sale price minus your mortgage payoff, agent commission, the Florida documentary stamp tax on the deed, and a handful of closing line items. On a long held Davie home the equity is usually large, but the capital gains question and the payoff determine your final number. Building a net sheet before you list is the only way to know it.

Talk to a Davie Real Estate Expert

Anthony Spitaleri is a Broker Associate with Coldwell Banker and a Davie native who tracks median sale prices, days on market, and sale to list ratios at the community level. Selling a home you have owned for 20 years brings a gain, a tax question, and a Save Our Homes decision that most sellers only see once, so it is worth mapping your specific numbers before you list rather than after. Schedule a free 15-minute strategy call and walk into your sale with your equity, your tax exposure, and your net all known.

Anthony Spitaleri

Living in Davie Florida

954-235-5783

Davie, Florida

livingindavieflorida.com

Written by Anthony Spitaleri, Broker Associate with Coldwell Banker and a Davie native. More about Anthony