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#5 real estate team in Florida (RealTrends 2026). Top 1% Real Estate Agents Nationally Since 2008. McGreevy and Comisar and their Domain Realty Group team have sold over $2.5 Billion in Real Estate.
New construction on Marco Island does not look like new construction anywhere else in Collier County. There are no model homes, no production builders and no master-planned subdivisions left to open, because the island was platted out in the 1960s and 1970s. What gets built here is a new house on an old lot: a canal or bay homesite where a 1970s ranch comes down and a 4,000 square foot elevated home goes up. This guide is the advice we give buyers before they sign a lot contract, a spec-home contract or a custom build agreement. Start with our Marco Island community guide for the island as a whole, and read the Collier County guide for the county around it.
By McGreevy and Comisar, the Southwest Florida team of Jesse McGreevy and Marc Comisar, brokered by Domain Realty. Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072.
Updated October 2026. Every market figure on this page names its window, its geography and its source beside it.
Jump to any section of this Marco Island new construction guide.
Buying new on Marco Island is a land deal, a construction contract and a flood-code exercise at the same time, and most buyers only see the finished renderings. Jesse McGreevy and Marc Comisar have over 45 years of combined direct real estate experience, and the team is the #5 real estate team in Florida (RealTrends 2026). We read the lot, the permit history, the elevation certificate and the builder agreement before you commit to any of them.
If you’re searching for “the best realtor for new construction in Marco Island, Florida,” McGreevy and Comisar represents new-home buyers at builder sales centers across Southwest Florida, from Babcock Ranch and Punta Gorda to Estero, Bonita Springs, Naples and Fort Myers. Bring us before your first model-home visit, and we read the builder’s contract, the district budget and the warranty book with you, register with the builder so our side is paid by the builder where its policy allows, and negotiate the options, the incentives and the closing date as hard as a resale. On Marco Island, where the “model home” is usually a finished spec house on a canal, that means before your first showing with the builder’s listing agent.
Top 1% Real Estate Agents Nationally Since 2008. McGreevy and Comisar and their Domain Realty Group team have sold over $2.5 Billion in Real Estate, and McGreevy and Comisar alone have over $900 million in Sales. You can compare how we work with other local teams on our page on the best real estate agents in Marco Island.
What that experience buys you on a Marco new build is specific. We check whether the lot sits in Zone AE or Zone VE on the February 8, 2024 flood map, what the lowest floor has to be under City Code section 26-90, whether the seawall is original, and whether the builder’s deposit terms fall inside or outside Florida’s escrow statute. We do that before you sign, because after you sign the only leverage left is the contract you already agreed to.
McGreevy and Comisar lead Domain Realty Group, a full-service Southwest Florida real estate team based at 24031 S Tamiami Trl #101, Bonita Springs, a short drive up Collier Boulevard and US 41 from the Jolley Bridge. Jesse McGreevy and Marc Comisar bring over 45 years of combined direct real estate experience to every Marco Island lot, spec home and custom build we review.
Jesse McGreevy holds Florida license SL3101296 and Marc Comisar holds Florida broker license BK3060671. Both are licensed by the Florida Real Estate Commission, which you can check on the DBPR license lookup. Reach Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072 or Marc at (239) 287-5873.
Inside the City of Marco Island, new construction is almost entirely single-family homes replacing older houses, or filling the last vacant lots, on the canal and bay grid the Deltona Corporation platted as Marco Beach Units 1 to 25. The city boundary, not the mailing address, decides whose permit, flood and fee rules apply to your lot.
Data updated: October 2026 (Collier County Property Appraiser data files dated 2026-08-29 and U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, retrieved 21 Oct 2026).
The City of Marco Island, incorporated in 1997, runs its own building department, floodplain program and fire rescue. A lot inside the city is permitted by City Building Services at 50 Bald Eagle Drive and pays the city’s permit fees under Resolution 26-26. Goodland, Isles of Capri and the Hammock Bay and Marco Shores area are outside the city in unincorporated Collier County, so a “Marco” address there runs on county permits, county floodplain rules and a different impact fee column. Before you price a build, confirm the parcel’s taxing district on the county roll and its city limits status, not the ZIP code.
On the county roll for the city’s ZIP code 34145 we counted 7,700 single-family parcels, 11,451 condominium parcels and 886 parcels coded vacant residential (Collier County Property Appraiser data files dated 2026-08-29). That last number is the whole supply of empty land, and it is why most new homes here start with a demolition permit.
The county roll records a year built for every improved parcel. Counting single-family homes by the roll’s year built, 1,972 carry a year of 2021 through 2025, and 1,299 carry 2023 through 2025. The subdivisions with the most homes carrying a 2021 to 2025 year built are below. These are estimates; read the caution after the table.
| County subdivision | Single-family parcels | Year built 2021 to 2025 on the roll (estimate) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marco Beach Unit 6 | 853 | 261 | 30.6% |
| Marco Beach Unit 7 | 961 | 254 | 26.4% |
| Marco Beach Unit 2 | 623 | 207 | 33.2% |
| Marco Beach Unit 3 | 719 | 173 | 24.1% |
| Marco Beach Unit 1 | 695 | 133 | 19.1% |
| Marco Beach Unit 11 | 454 | 133 | 29.3% |
| Marco Beach Unit 13 | 406 | 129 | 31.8% |
| Marco Beach Unit 8 | 528 | 124 | 23.5% |
| Marco Beach Unit 10 | 424 | 101 | 23.8% |
| Marco Beach Unit 4 | 349 | 88 | 25.2% |
One caution about the roll, and it is a big one. The Property Appraiser’s year built can move forward after a house is substantially rebuilt or renovated, and the county roll shows spikes in 2006 and 2018, the years after Hurricanes Wilma and Irma. After Hurricane Ian it happened again: the roll carries 400, 480 and 419 single-family homes with a year built of 2023, 2024 and 2025, while the Census Building Permits Survey counted 125, 99 and 90 new single-family homes permitted in the city in those years. So the roll counts above include many rebuilt and substantially renovated houses, not only new ones, and every count on this page built on the roll’s year built is an estimate. On Marco Island a substantial rebuild must meet the same flood rules as a new house, so for a buyer the distinction matters less than it sounds.
Marco Island’s lot count was fixed by federal permit decisions in the 1970s and early 1980s. Deltona divided its plan into five Army Corps of Engineers permit areas: Marco River, Roberts Bay, Collier Bay, Barfield Bay and Big Key. The Corps permitted the first three, and the federal courts upheld the denial of Barfield Bay and Big Key, which together held about 20 percent of the original acreage and about 33 percent of the developable lots (Deltona Corp. v. United States, 657 F.2d 1184, Ct. Cl. 1981); the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the judgment for the Corps in Deltona Corp. v. Alexander, 682 F.2d 888 (11th Cir. 1982). No new canal subdivisions have been dug since, so every new home on the island competes for the same finite set of lots.
The City of Marco Island permitted 1,311 new single-family homes from 2016 through 2025, peaking at 257 in 2021 and falling to 90 in 2025, while the average construction value per home rose from $643,515 to $1,563,333. Fewer houses, each one far more expensive: that is the shape of the Marco market.
Data updated: October 2026 (U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, annual place files for Marco Island, Florida, and the August 2026 year-to-date file, retrieved 21 Oct 2026).
| Year | New single-family units permitted | Total construction value | Average value per unit | Units in 2+ unit buildings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 104 | $66,925,555 | $643,515 | 0 |
| 2017 | 116 | $98,006,666 | $844,885 | 0 |
| 2018 | 87 | $68,487,589 | $787,214 | 0 |
| 2019 | 108 | $87,265,180 | $808,011 | 0 |
| 2020 | 129 | $110,009,285 | $852,785 | 0 |
| 2021 | 257 | $239,627,902 | $932,404 | 0 |
| 2022 | 196 | $224,282,771 | $1,144,300 | 0 |
| 2023 | 125 | $176,135,612 | $1,409,085 | 0 |
| 2024 | 99 | $148,639,418 | $1,501,408 | 0 |
| 2025 | 90 | $140,699,946 | $1,563,333 | 0 |
| 2026, January to August | 77 | $134,607,965 | $1,748,155 | 0 |
| 2016 to 2025 total | 1,311 | $1,360,079,924 | $1,037,437 | 0 |
Every year in the table reports all 12 months for Marco Island, so none of the annual figures are imputed. The 2026 row covers January to August only. Average value per unit is our arithmetic: the permit valuation divided by the units. It is the declared construction value on the permit, which excludes the land, the seawall in most cases, and the builder’s margin on a spec home, so it is a floor under what a finished home costs, not a sale price.
Two things. First, demand for new homes on the island did not end with the post-storm surge: January to August 2026 produced 77 permits worth $134,607,965, against 62 permits worth $93,348,917 in the same months of 2025. Second, the value per home keeps climbing, from $643,515 in 2016 to $1,748,155 on average in the first eight months of 2026. That reflects bigger, higher and more heavily engineered houses, not only inflation, which matters when you compare a new build with a 1970s resale.
Across 2016 through 2025 and the first eight months of 2026, the Census place file shows no units at all in two-unit, three-to-four-unit or five-plus-unit buildings for Marco Island. Every residential permit was a one-unit building. The county roll agrees: apart from timeshare interval units at Crystal Shores, which carry years built of 2017 and 2018, the newest residential condominium on the roll is Windward of Marco Island Condominium, with 7 units and a year built of 2020. Before that you go back to 2009.
Fewer than you might expect. Of an estimated 238 new-built single-family homes sold in qualified recorded sales in the City of Marco Island from 2021-10-07 to 2026-08-24, 220 (92.4 percent) matched a Southwest Florida MLS closing and 18 (7.6 percent) did not. Unlike the mainland’s production-builder subdivisions, most new homes here do reach the MLS, so the MLS is a fair view of Marco’s new-home resale market, though not of custom homes built on an owner’s own lot.
Data updated: October 2026 (Collier County Property Appraiser recorded sales through 2026-08-24, files dated 2026-08-29; Southwest Florida MLS closed sales 10/07/2021 to 10/07/2026, retrieved 7 Oct 2026).
We started from every qualified, improved single-family sale the Collier County Property Appraiser recorded in the city from 2021-10-07 to 2026-08-24. We treated a sale as a new-construction sale when the parcel’s year built on the roll was the year of the sale or the year before, and counted only the first such sale per parcel. We then matched each one, by address and by a sold date within 90 days, against the Southwest Florida MLS closed sales for ZIP 34145 over the same five years. A recorded new-home sale with no matching MLS closing is one that never reached the MLS. This is an estimate: it relies on the roll’s year built, and it cannot see a house an owner tears down and rebuilds for themselves without selling it.
| Year of recorded sale | Estimated new-built sales | Matched an MLS closing | Not on the MLS | Median recorded price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021, from Oct 7 | 9 | 9 | 0 | $1,185,000 |
| 2022 | 37 | 31 | 6 | $2,525,000 |
| 2023 | 44 | 42 | 2 | $2,462,500 |
| 2024 | 58 | 55 | 3 | $2,117,500 |
| 2025 | 74 | 69 | 5 | $1,742,500 |
| 2026, to Aug 24 | 16 | 14 | 2 | $2,837,500 |
| Total, 2021-10-07 to 2026-08-24 | 238 | 220 | 18 | $2,152,500 |
Source: Collier County Property Appraiser qualified recorded sales (files dated 2026-08-29), matched by us against Southwest Florida MLS closed sales for ZIP 34145, 10/07/2021 to 10/07/2026. “New-built” means the roll’s year built is the sale year or the year before; an estimate.
Marco Island new homes reach a buyer three ways. A spec builder lists a finished house through an agent, and that sale reaches the MLS; on our match that is the large majority of recorded new-home sales. A builder sells a home to a buyer it already knows, before or during construction, and the deed is recorded without a listing: the 18 unmatched sales, with a median recorded price of $2,400,000, are this group. And a buyer contracts with a builder for a custom home on a lot the buyer already owns, which leaves no house sale to record at all, only the earlier lot purchase, so neither the MLS nor the county sales file counts it as a new-home sale. That third path is the part of Marco Island new construction no sales dataset sees, which is why we read the Census permit data beside the sales. The pattern is the opposite of the mainland’s production-builder subdivisions, where builder-direct deeds are a large share of recorded sales.
The 238 estimated new-built sales recorded from 2021-10-07 to 2026-08-24 had a median recorded price of $2,152,500, from $590,000 to $13,301,500 (Collier County Property Appraiser qualified sales). In the latest 12 months, 2025-08-25 to 2026-08-24, 31 such sales recorded a median of $2,875,000. The 18 that never reached the MLS had a median of $2,400,000, against $2,120,000 for the 220 that did, so the off-market sales were not the cheap end of the market. On the MLS side, over 10/07/2021 to 10/07/2026, the median price per square foot of living area was $856 across 262 single-family closings we matched to a parcel whose year built was the sale year or the year before, and $690 across the other 1,618 single-family closings we matched to a county parcel (Southwest Florida MLS, our match to the county roll; an estimate).
Of an estimated 238 new-built Marco Island homes recorded as sold from October 2021 to August 2026, 220 reached the MLS, which means a listing agent sat on the seller’s side of almost every one; on a spec home that agent works for the builder. Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072 before you tour a finished spec home, walk a lot with a builder or ask for a custom bid. Book a buyer consultation at mcgreevyandcomisar.com/buying or use the consultation form on this page. If you own a home you need to sell first, start with a Marco Island home valuation so the timing of both closings works.
A vacant residential lot inside the City of Marco Island sold for a median of $700,000 in the 12 months to 2026-08-24, across 53 qualified recorded vacant-land sales, with the middle half between $355,000 and $1,500,000 and a full range of $93,000 to $5,500,000. The water, not the dirt, sets the price: frontage, waterway and access to open water.
Data updated: October 2026 (Collier County Property Appraiser qualified vacant-land sales, recorded through 2026-08-24, files dated 2026-08-29).
| Window, qualified sales recorded to 2026-08-24 | Vacant-lot sales | Median price | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 months, from 2025-08-25 | 53 | $700,000 | $93,000 to $5,500,000 |
| 24 months, from 2024-08-25 | 112 | $831,250 | $93,000 to $6,550,000 |
| 36 months, from 2023-08-26 | 175 | $825,000 | $93,000 to $6,550,000 |
| 60 months, from 2021-08-25 | 418 | $785,000 | $93,000 to $6,550,000 |
How we counted: qualified sales the county flagged as vacant land at the time of sale, on parcels the August 2026 roll codes vacant residential or single-family, one parcel per deed. All 53 lots sold in the latest 12 months were still coded vacant on that roll, so none had a finished house on it yet. The roll carries 886 parcels coded vacant residential in the city, the island’s whole stock of empty homesites, which is why most new Marco homes start with a demolition permit instead. A lot with an older house on it sells as an improved sale and is not in these figures.
Of the single-family homes on the roll with a year built of 2021 through 2025, 1,177 last changed hands in a qualified sale with a house already on the lot, 669 last sold as a vacant lot, and 126 have no earlier qualified sale on record (Collier County Property Appraiser recorded sales; an estimate, because the roll’s year built also resets after a substantial rebuild, so some of the 1,177 are rebuilt rather than replaced houses). In plain terms, most new Marco homes were built on a lot that last sold with an older house on it. A teardown lot carries a demolition permit ($226 flat for a single-family home under Resolution 26-26), asbestos and utility disconnect steps, and the question of whether the existing seawall can be reused.
No builder is selling a planned new-home community inside the City of Marco Island. New homes come from local custom and spec builders working lot by lot across the established neighborhoods, plus a small number of approved or proposed commercial projects with a residential flavor. The table compares the ways new construction actually reaches a buyer here.
Data updated: October 2026 (county roll and recorded sales through 2026-08-24; City of Marco Island and press records retrieved 21 Oct 2026).
| Where or what | Who builds | Product | Status, dated | District or HOA | Jurisdiction | Recorded new-home sales, 2021-10-07 to 2026-08-24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marco Beach canal and inland grid, outside the named areas below | Local custom and spec builders | Elevated single-family homes on canal and inland lots, mostly teardown replacements | Ongoing, lot by lot; 1,451 of 5,678 homes carry a 2021 to 2025 year built on the roll (estimate) | No CDD; check recorded deed restrictions | City of Marco Island | 185 (15 not on the MLS) |
| The Estates on Marco Island | Local custom and spec builders | Large elevated homes on wide bays | Ongoing, lot by lot; 175 of 602 homes carry a 2021 to 2025 year built on the roll (estimate) | No CDD; check recorded deed restrictions | City of Marco Island | 20 (0 not on the MLS) |
| Tigertail | Local custom and spec builders | Elevated single-family homes near Tigertail Beach | Ongoing, lot by lot; 141 of 607 homes carry a 2021 to 2025 year built on the roll (estimate) | No CDD; check recorded deed restrictions | City of Marco Island | 18 (1 not on the MLS) |
| Caxambas and the South End | Local custom and spec builders | Elevated single-family homes on deep water | Ongoing, lot by lot; 105 of 444 homes carry a 2021 to 2025 year built on the roll (estimate) | No CDD; check recorded deed restrictions | City of Marco Island | 8 (1 not on the MLS) |
| Hideaway Beach | Local custom and spec builders | Gated beachside single-family homes | Ongoing, lot by lot; 48 of 180 homes carry a 2021 to 2025 year built on the roll (estimate) | Hideaway Beach Tax District, 1.6000 mills for tax year 2025, plus the private association | City of Marco Island | 3 (0 not on the MLS) |
| Smokehouse Bay and the Esplanade | Local custom and spec builders | Single-family courts on the Smokehouse Bay shore | Ongoing, lot by lot; 14 of 54 homes carry a 2021 to 2025 year built on the roll (estimate) | No CDD; check recorded deed restrictions | City of Marco Island | 3 (0 not on the MLS) |
| Olde Marco | Local custom and spec builders | Single-family homes in the island’s historic north end | Ongoing, lot by lot; 25 of 95 homes carry a 2021 to 2025 year built on the roll (estimate) | No CDD; check recorded deed restrictions | City of Marco Island | 1 (1 not on the MLS) |
| Key Marco | Local custom and spec builders | Gated single-family homes on Horr’s Island | Ongoing, lot by lot; 13 of 40 homes carry a 2021 to 2025 year built on the roll (estimate) | Key Marco Community Development District ($1,700 a homesite, FY2025-26) plus a private gated association | Inside the City of Marco Island (Collier County City Limits GIS layer); city permits and city millage apply | None recorded in the window |
| Walker’s Cay, 3200 San Marco Road | Private developer | 45-unit condominium hotel, 45-slip marina | Site plan approved by the Planning Board 2026-09-04, 4 to 1 | Condo-hotel association; units barred from residential use | City of Marco Island | None, not built |
| Port Marco site, north Bald Eagle Drive | Out-of-state developer (unnamed in press) | Proposed five-story condominium, hotel, restaurants, marina shop | Proposed; still needed city approvals and permits when reported | Not set | City of Marco Island | None, not built |
| San Marco Road, Live Local Act project | Private developer | 27 rental apartments | Application reported 2026-10-20 | Not applicable, rental | City of Marco Island | None, rental |
| Hilton Marco Island expansion | Hotel owner | Added hotel tower and mixed use | Withdrawn, reported 2026-10-19 | Not applicable | City of Marco Island | None |
Checked and not found selling inside the city on 2026-10-21: Toll Brothers (its “near Marco Island” page lists communities in Naples and Estero, none on the island), and no other national production builder appeared in our search of builder-operated sites for a community in ZIP 34145. The nearest planned new-home communities are in unincorporated Collier County on the mainland, outside the scope of this page; our Collier County guide covers the county around the island.
This is the main event. The original Deltona canal grid runs through Marco Beach Units 1 through 13, and most new houses on the island replace a 1960s or 1970s home on one of those canal lots. Typical new product is a two-story elevated home over parking and storage, with a pool and a new or rebuilt seawall and dock. Builders are local custom and spec firms; none publishes a community price list, so each house is priced on its own lot. For the neighborhoods themselves, see our guides to Olde Marco, Smokehouse Bay and the Esplanade and Tigertail.
The Estates on Marco Island, in Marco Beach Units 9 and 13, is the most concentrated rebuild zone on the island: the county roll shows 708 parcels there, 131 of them with a year built of 2023 or later, and a median year built of 2017. Large lots on wide bays draw the biggest new homes. The south end around Caxambas follows the same pattern on deeper water.
Hideaway Beach and Key Marco are the island’s closest equivalent to a master-planned community: private, gated and governed by their own associations, with their own architectural review on top of the city’s code. Key Marco, on Horr’s Island off San Marco Road, is inside the city: Collier County’s City Limits GIS layer returns the City of Marco Island at every Key Marco address we tested on 2026-10-21, so city permits, the city’s flood rules and the city millage apply there, alongside the association. Hideaway Beach parcels also sit in the Hideaway Beach Tax District, a dependent special district created by City Ordinance 04-05 that levied 1.6000 mills for tax year 2025 to renourish and maintain its beach. That district levy is the only special-district millage of its kind on the island, and it adds $1,600 a year per $1,000,000 of taxable value.
Cape Marco and the high-rises along South Collier Boulevard, covered in our guide to Marco Island gulf-front condos, are where people expect new towers. The record says otherwise: the towers there were built between the 1970s and 2006 (Veracruz in 2005 and Madeira in 2006 on the county roll), and the Census permit data show no multifamily permits in the city in the last decade. A buyer who wants “new” in a tower is buying a renovated unit or a building that has finished its post-2022 structural work, not a new building.
Not for full-time residential ownership, as of October 2026. The only multi-unit project approved in 2026 is Walker’s Cay, a 45-unit condominium hotel where the city has barred residential use, and the other headline projects are a proposal, a withdrawn hotel tower and a 27-unit rental apartment building.
Data updated: October 2026 (Coastal Breeze News, Marco News (marconews.com), Naples Daily News and FOX 4 reports, retrieved 21 Oct 2026; Census Building Permits Survey).
The Marco Island Planning Board approved the Walker’s Cay site development plan on September 4, 2026, by a 4 to 1 vote with 14 conditions, for a seven-story building at 3200 San Marco Road: five floors of hotel units over two levels of parking, a restaurant, bar, salon and a 45-slip marina on a 1.93-acre site. The building reaches the 75-foot maximum height for that site, measured from base flood elevation. Because the city’s Comprehensive Plan allows commercial use on that site but prohibits residential use, the units must stay in a central hotel rental program, owners may not rent them on their own, the units would not qualify for homestead exemption, and the city must approve the condominium documents before a building permit issues (Coastal Breeze News, 10 Sep 2026; Marco News, 13 Sep 2026). If you buy one, you are buying a hotel investment, not a home.
Two state protections apply to a developer sale of a condominium that the single-family escrow statute does not. Under section 718.202, a developer selling a unit before construction is substantially complete must put deposits up to 10 percent of the price in escrow, and payments above 10 percent go to a special escrow account. Under section 718.503, a buyer can cancel a developer contract within 15 days after receiving all the required condominium documents. Read the documents inside that window.
On Marco Island, if the cost of improving or repairing a home in a flood zone reaches 50 percent of the structure’s market value, the whole building must be brought up to current floodplain rules, which usually means elevating it or replacing it. The city counts improvements cumulatively over 12 months from the first permit, so you cannot phase your way under the line.
Data updated: October 2026 (City of Marco Island Floodplain Management page and Code of Ordinances Chapter 26, retrieved 21 Oct 2026).
The city’s floodplain page puts it plainly: every structure on Marco Island gets a floodplain review with its building permit, and any structure in a Special Flood Hazard Area that does not meet current requirements is subject to FEMA’s 50 percent rule. “The 50% rule is based on the structure’s market value, and planned improvements or repair of damage cannot exceed its 50% value” (City of Marco Island). The city’s flood damage prevention ordinance, Chapter 26 as amended by Ordinance 24-04, defines both substantial improvement and substantial damage at 50 percent and runs the improvement test cumulatively over a 12-month period that starts with the first permit.
The base is the structure’s market value, not the land. On a Marco canal lot the land is often most of the price, so an older house can carry a structure value small enough that a kitchen, a roof and new windows together cross the line.
A home that crosses the line must have its lowest floor at the elevation Chapter 26 requires today, with mechanical equipment raised and enclosures below vented. For a slab-on-grade 1970s house that is rarely practical to retrofit, which is why the arithmetic so often ends in demolition. Florida’s wind statute adds another layer: under section 553.844, a permitted project costing $50,000 or more on a house in the wind-borne debris region with an insured or structure value of $750,000 or more must add code-level opening protection.
Take a house whose structure, not land, the appraiser or an independent appraisal puts at $400,000. Fifty percent is $200,000. A $90,000 kitchen and bath remodel in March and a $120,000 roof, window and door package in November total $210,000 inside 12 months, which is $10,000 over the line. The second permit would trigger full compliance for the whole house. Split the same work so the second permit lands more than 12 months after the first, and each job is judged on its own, as long as neither crosses 50 percent by itself. The figures are an illustration of the rule, not a quote; the city decides the market value it will use, and it can accept an independent appraisal.
Substantial damage works the same way: if repairing storm damage would cost 50 percent or more of the pre-storm market value, the rebuild must meet current flood rules. The City Code’s post-disaster redevelopment provisions (Chapter 6, Article VI, section 6-177) govern damage determinations and buildback. The city’s 2023 floodplain progress report counted 46 repetitive-loss structures on the island, 45 of them from Hurricane Ian. If you are buying an older home after a storm year, ask for the permit history and any substantial damage letter before you go under contract.
A new home on Marco Island must put its lowest floor at the highest of four tests, the base flood elevation plus one foot being the usual one, must be no taller than 35 feet measured from the base flood elevation in the single-family district, and on most lots must sit behind a seawall that meets the city’s technical standard.
Data updated: October 2026 (City of Marco Island Code of Ordinances, Supplement 26, codified through Ordinance 26-03; City Floodplain Management page; retrieved 21 Oct 2026).
Every property on Marco Island is in, on or near a Special Flood Hazard Area, and the zones on the island are AE and VE. The current Flood Insurance Rate Map is effective February 8, 2024, with city enforcement from January 1, 2024; the island’s first flood maps date to September 14, 1979. Under City Code section 26-90 the lowest floor must be at the highest of: base flood elevation plus 1 foot, 18 inches above the crown of the road, 24 inches above an ungraded road, or the Florida Building Code level. In Zone X the lowest floor is 18 inches above the road crown. An elevation certificate goes in with the permit application, another is required once the lowest floor is set and before vertical construction continues, and a final one is required before the certificate of occupancy.
In the RSF single-family districts the height limit is 35 feet measured from base flood elevation, not from the ground, which is how an elevated two-story home with parking underneath fits. A new home needs at least 1,500 square feet of living area and two off-street parking spaces, and a guesthouse may not be rented. Setbacks are in the Land Development Code tables for each RSF district.
Most canal lots on the island have a saltwater seawall, and the city regulates them. A failed seawall needs a permit application within 60 days of the city’s notice (section 6-83). Under section 6-85 a new wall goes at the plat or bulkhead line, and a new wall built in front of an old one may sit at most 18 inches seaward of it. Docks are limited by waterway width: on waterways 100 feet or wider, dock plus moored vessel may protrude at most 30 feet and at most 25 percent of the platted width; under 100 feet, at most 20 percent (section 54-111). Side setbacks are 15 percent of the seawall length, between 7.5 and 15 feet. New boathouses are not allowed (section 54-116). Seawall permits cost $4.50 per linear foot with a $189 minimum, docks $0.25 a square foot with a $134 minimum, and boat lifts $94 each (Resolution 26-26).
On beachfront lots from Cape Marco to Hideaway Beach, the city’s sea turtle rules bar construction, fill and grading within 100 feet of the nesting zone from May 1 to October 31 (section 54-153), and exterior lighting must be shielded and long-wavelength. Gulf-front parcels also need to be checked against the state’s Coastal Construction Control Line, which brings a separate Florida Department of Environmental Protection permit.
The city’s single-family permit application requires windows and doors designed for 170 mile-per-hour wind loads with the appropriate exposure category, structural plans signed and sealed by a Florida design professional, and a Florida Product Approval or Miami-Dade NOA index sheet (City of Marco Island single-family application, 2023 form). Impact-rated glazing or shutters on a new Marco home are a code baseline, not an upgrade.
Before a shovel moves, a new single-family home inside the city pays county impact fees of $22,384.00 under 4,000 square feet of living area or $24,897.88 at 4,000 and above, plus city building, trade and plan review fees that run about $8,000 to $9,000 on a 4,000 square foot house, plus city water and sewer fees, seawall, pool and demolition permits.
Data updated: October 2026 (Collier County residential impact fee schedule effective May 1, 2026; City of Marco Island Resolution 26-26 effective June 1, 2026; retrieved 21 Oct 2026).
Collier County’s schedule says it plainly: in the City of Naples and the City of Marco Island, “Collier County Community Parks, Law Enforcement, Fire, Water and Sewer are not assessed. Check with the City for their impact fees” (Collier County residential schedule, May 1, 2026). What remains for a single-family detached home:
| County impact fee | Under 4,000 sq ft living | 4,000 sq ft and up |
|---|---|---|
| Schools | $9,888.16 | $9,888.16 |
| Roads | $8,217.75 | $9,893.00 |
| Regional Parks | $2,249.93 | $2,774.62 |
| Government Buildings | $1,043.90 | $1,178.90 |
| Jail | $518.77 | $606.57 |
| Libraries | $307.85 | $377.38 |
| EMS | $157.64 | $179.25 |
| County total inside the city | $22,384.00 | $24,897.88 |
Our arithmetic: the under-4,000 column sums to $22,384.00 and the 4,000-plus column to $24,897.88. Under the city’s fee resolution, the county impact fees covered by the 1999 interlocal agreement are paid to the City of Marco Island before the building permit issues. On a teardown, Collier charges only the difference between the old home’s fees and the new one’s at current rates, which is why a new home replacing a house under 4,000 square feet with one over 4,000 pays far less than a vacant-lot build. The county schedule’s replacement row for a home going from under 4,000 to 4,000 square feet or more is $2,771.98; less the Community Parks ($163.08) and Law Enforcement ($95.02) components, which are not charged in the city, that is $2,513.88, exactly the gap between the two columns above. The city also charges its own municipal impact fees and its own water and sewer connection fees; we could not read a current city impact fee schedule, so ask Building Services for the figure on your parcel.
Resolution 26-26, effective for permits submitted from June 1, 2026, sets a new single-family structure at $0.67 per square foot under roof, and electrical, mechanical and plumbing at $0.28 per square foot under roof each, with a plan review fee equal to 38 percent of the permit fees, collected at application and not refundable (Resolution 26-26).
For a home with 4,000 square feet under roof:
Add roofing at $5.60 per roof square, a single-family pool at $498, single-family demolition at $226, a driveway at $120, and the separate right-of-way permit the city requires for a new home on a public road. Starting work before the permit issues costs an extra 300 percent of the permit fee.
Adding the two layers for a 4,000-plus square foot home: $24,897.88 in county impact fees plus $8,335.20 in city building fees is $33,233.08, before city impact, water and sewer fees, the survey, the engineering and the seawall. These are real costs a resale buyer never pays, and a spec builder has already folded them into the price.
Expect two very different tax bills. Florida values a house that is not substantially complete on January 1 at zero, so the first bill after a mid-year completion may reflect only the land, and the next one reflects the whole finished home at full value, at a combined Marco Island rate of about 8.95 mills before the mosquito control levy, or about 10.55 mills in Hideaway Beach.
Data updated: October 2026 (Florida Department of Revenue Table 1, Collier County 2025-26 adopted levies; City of Marco Island FY2026 adopted budget; retrieved 7 Oct 2026).
For tax year 2025 the confirmed millage components on a standard Marco Island parcel add to 8.9535 mills: Collier County 3.2449, schools 4.2490, South Florida Water Management District with the Big Cypress Basin 0.1926, and the City of Marco Island 1.2670. A Hideaway Beach parcel adds the district’s 1.6000, for 10.5535. Collier Mosquito Control District adds a further levy whose 2025 rate we could not confirm; its 2024-25 rate was 0.1349 mills.
Section 192.042 of the Florida Statutes says improvements “not substantially completed on January 1 shall have no value placed thereon.” Section 689.261 requires every residential contract to carry a disclosure that you should not rely on the seller’s current taxes, because a change of ownership or improvements trigger reassessment. And from February 1, 2027, listing platforms must show estimated taxes based on the list price, not the current owner’s bill.
A worked example, using round illustrative values rather than a quote: a lot with a taxable value of $800,000, close to the five-year median vacant-lot sale of $785,000, and a finished house that adds $2,000,000 of taxable value. On a standard Marco parcel at 8.9535 mills, a January 1 with the house unfinished produces a bill of $800,000 / 1,000 x 8.9535 = $7,162.80. The first January 1 after completion the taxable value is $2,800,000, and the bill is 2,800 x 8.9535 = $25,069.80, before mosquito control, non-ad valorem assessments and any homestead exemption. In Hideaway Beach at 10.5535 mills the same finished home is 2,800 x 10.5535 = $29,549.80. Budget for the second number from the day you sign.
If the new home will be your permanent residence, the homestead exemption and the Save Our Homes cap of 3 percent or CPI, whichever is lower, start the year after you qualify (section 193.155), and you must own and live in the home on January 1 and file by March 1 (section 196.011). A second home is capped at 10 percent a year for non-school levies (section 193.1554). If you are leaving a Florida homestead, portability can carry up to $500,000 of your old Save Our Homes difference to the new house (section 193.155(8)). A constitutional amendment on the November 3, 2026 ballot would change homestead exemptions from 2027 if voters approve it.
You do not have to have one, but the person selling you a Marco Island spec home or custom build works for the builder, and Florida presumes every licensee is a transaction broker with no duty of loyalty to you unless a single-agent relationship is put in writing. On a lot-and-build purchase worth several million dollars, that is the gap your own agent fills.
Data updated: October 2026 (Florida Statutes section 475.278 and the National Association of Realtors settlement FAQ, retrieved 21 Oct 2026).
Under section 475.278(1)(b), “it shall be presumed that all licensees are operating as transaction brokers unless a single agent or no brokerage relationship is established, in writing, with a customer.” A transaction broker owes you honesty, accounting for funds, skill and care, disclosure of known facts that materially affect value, and limited confidentiality. A single agent also owes you loyalty, confidentiality, obedience and full disclosure. When the builder’s listing agent shows you a finished spec home, the relationship that applies by default is the limited one.
On the mainland, the risk is a builder’s sales center registration rule that disqualifies an agent who was not at your first visit. On Marco Island the risk is different: there is rarely a sales center at all. A spec home is listed by the builder’s agent; a custom home starts with a lot purchase and a construction contract you negotiate directly with the builder. Your agent’s leverage sits in three places: the lot contract (survey, seawall, flood zone, demolition and utility questions), the construction contract (deposit escrow, draw schedule, allowances, change orders, completion date and remedies), and the spec purchase (price, finish list, warranty terms and closing date). If a builder will pay a buyer’s agent, it will say so in its listing or its contract; many small custom builders do not have a published policy, so we ask before your first meeting, not after.
Since August 17, 2024, under the National Association of Realtors settlement practice changes, an MLS participant working with a buyer must have a written agreement with that buyer before touring a home (NAR settlement FAQ). That agreement, not the builder, sets what you owe your agent. If the builder pays less than your agreement provides, the agreement decides who covers the difference, so we settle it in writing before we tour.
For a new one- or two-family home, Florida’s escrow statute gives you the right to have deposits up to 10 percent of the price held in escrow unless you waive it in writing, but it only applies to builders who build or sell 10 or more homes a year statewide. Many Marco Island custom builders fall below that line, so your contract has to do the protecting.
Data updated: October 2026 (Florida Statutes sections 501.1375, 718.202 and 718.503, retrieved 21 Oct 2026).
The statute defines a “building contractor” and a “developer” to exclude “a person who sells or constructs less than 10 units per year statewide.” For builders it does cover, every contract must carry this legend in conspicuous type: “THE BUYER OF A ONE-FAMILY OR TWO-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL DWELLING UNIT HAS THE RIGHT TO HAVE ALL DEPOSIT FUNDS (UP TO 10 PERCENT OF THE PURCHASE PRICE) DEPOSITED IN AN ESCROW ACCOUNT. THIS RIGHT MAY BE WAIVED, IN WRITING, BY THE BUYER.” If the builder wants to use escrowed money for construction, it must post a surety bond payable to you in the deposit amount, or borrow against it, in which case up to 12 months of that loan’s interest can be charged to you at closing.
If your builder is below the statute’s threshold, or you are signing a cost-plus or fixed-price custom contract on your own lot, insist on:
A condominium developer selling before completion must escrow deposits up to 10 percent of the price and hold anything above 10 percent in a special escrow account (section 718.202), and a buyer may cancel within 15 days after receiving all required condominium documents (section 718.503).
Sometimes, but on Marco Island they are rarer than on the mainland, because most new homes are one-off spec or custom builds rather than inventory a production builder needs to move. When a builder does offer a rate buydown or closing-cost credit tied to its own lender, compare it against the cash price and an outside loan quote before you accept.
Data updated: October 2026 (12 CFR 1024.14 and Fannie Mae Selling Guide B2-1.4-04, retrieved 21 Oct 2026).
Federal RESPA rules prohibit a builder or anyone else from paying or receiving a kickback or referral fee for steering you to a settlement service, such as a lender or title company (12 CFR 1024.14). A builder may offer an incentive for using its affiliated lender, but you remain free to use your own, and the comparison should be the whole cost of the loan, not the headline rate.
Fannie Mae allows temporary interest rate buydowns on fixed-rate and certain adjustable loans for principal residences and second homes, provided the rate reduction does not exceed 3 percent and the rate does not increase by more than 1 percent a year (Fannie Mae Selling Guide). A buydown lowers the first years’ payments; it does not change the price you paid, which is what the next buyer and the appraiser see.
On a finished spec home: the price, the furniture and dock package, the lift, the closing date and who pays for the final survey and elevation certificate. On a custom build: allowances that are realistic for island pricing, the change-order markup, the completion date and the remedy if it is missed, and who owns the risk of a failed seawall discovered during construction.
Florida does not require a builder to give a written “1-2-10” warranty; whatever written warranty you get comes from the contract. Behind it sit three statutes: a limit on implied warranties for off-site improvements, a pre-suit notice and repair process for construction defects, and a seven-year repose period for latent defect claims.
Data updated: October 2026 (Florida Statutes sections 553.835, 558.004 and 95.11, retrieved 21 Oct 2026).
Read the builder’s warranty for what it covers (workmanship, systems, structure), for how long, what it excludes (often seawalls, docks, landscaping and anything you change), and whether it disclaims the implied warranties of fitness and habitability. Get it before you sign, not at closing.
Yes. City inspections confirm the house meets minimum code at each stage; they do not confirm it meets your contract, the plans’ finish level or good practice. On Marco Island the stages worth an independent inspector are the foundation and piling, pre-drywall, and final, plus a seawall and dock check if either is new or reused.
Data updated: October 2026 (City of Marco Island Resolution 26-26 and single-family application, retrieved 21 Oct 2026).
The city requires a spot survey within 10 days after the approved slab inspection, a final survey and final elevation certificate before the certificate of occupancy, and structural design by a Florida-certified professional. Florida also lets an owner use a licensed private provider for plan review and inspections; the city then reduces its fee to 33.33 percent of the building permit fee for review and inspections, or 16.67 percent for inspections only, on one- to three-family buildings (Resolution 26-26).
Plan on roughly a year from permit to completion for a typical Marco Island custom home, longer for a large one, plus the months before permit for design, engineering and plan review. A spec home already under construction can close in weeks to months.
Data updated: October 2026 (U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Construction 2025 data as reported by the National Association of Home Builders; Florida Statutes section 553.792; retrieved 21 Oct 2026).
For single-family homes completed in 2025, the Census Survey of Construction put the average at 7.4 months from permit to completion for homes built for sale, 11.7 months for homes built by a hired contractor on the owner’s land, and 14.3 months for owner-built homes. Size matters: homes of 4,000 to 4,999 square feet averaged 10.7 months, 5,000 to 5,999 about 12 months, and over 6,000 square feet 16.3 months (NAHB Eye on Housing, 8 Sep 2026). Marco Island’s typical new home is a contractor-built custom home in the larger size bands, so the longer figures are the realistic ones.
Under section 553.792, a local government must approve, approve with conditions or deny a complete building permit application for a single-family home within 30 business days if the structure is under 7,500 square feet, and 60 business days at 7,500 square feet or more, unless the applicant waives the timeframe in writing. Within 5 business days of submittal it must say in writing what is missing, or the application is deemed complete. If it misses the deadline it must cut the permit fee by 10 percent for each business day late, with exceptions. The clock starts only on a complete application, so engineering and survey work up front saves time later.
City rules also shape the calendar: construction is not allowed from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. or on Sundays and holidays, pile driving not from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. (section 18-105), and beachfront work stops near the nesting zone from May 1 to October 31.
Buy new, or rebuild, if you want today’s flood elevation and wind code, the insurance profile that comes with them, and no 50 percent rule hanging over your first renovation. Buy resale if you want the location now, at a lower price per square foot, and you are comfortable owning a house built to an older code on a lot whose value is mostly land.
Data updated: October 2026 (Southwest Florida MLS closed sales 10/07/2021 to 10/07/2026; Collier County Property Appraiser roll dated 2026-08-29; retrieved 7 Oct 2026).
Of the 7,697 single-family homes with a year built on the county roll, the median year built is 2016; 1,482 (19.3 percent) carry a year before 2002, when the first statewide Florida Building Code took effect, and 472 carry a year before 1990. The condominium stock is far older: the median year built across 11,150 condominium units on the roll is 1982, and 10,243 (91.9 percent) were built before 2002. Because the roll’s year built resets after a substantial rebuild, the single-family figures make the island’s houses look younger than the original structures are; ask for the permit history on any resale. On price, the median over five years was $856 a square foot for new-built single-family MLS closings against $690 for the rest (Southwest Florida MLS, 10/07/2021 to 10/07/2026, our match to the county roll).
After Hurricane Ian, the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety studied thousands of Southwest Florida buildings and found that among the 455 single-family homes built to the modern Florida Building Code, none had structural damage from wind, while homes built before 2002 showed structural damage at nearly twice the rate (IBHS, Building Performance in Southwest Florida during Hurricane Ian, part 2). The same study found roof cover, soffit and siding damage still occurred on newer homes, so new is not immune to a claim. Florida insurers price wind mitigation from the Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, OIR-B1-1802, and a new home earns its credits by construction. On flood, the National Flood Insurance Program prices each home on its own elevation and risk, the city’s Community Rating System Class 5, effective October 1, 2023 on FEMA’s October 2026 list of eligible communities, earns a 25 percent discount on policies in the Special Flood Hazard Area (FEMA CRS eligible communities, October 2026), and a home built above the required elevation is generally cheaper to insure than one below it. Flood insurance is still required with a federally backed mortgage in a Special Flood Hazard Area, however high you build.
| Factor | New or rebuilt home | Resale, built before 2002 |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest floor | Meets today’s BFE plus 1 foot rule (section 26-90) | Often below today’s BFE; check the elevation certificate |
| 50 percent rule exposure | None for years | A large remodel can trigger full compliance |
| Wind code | Current Florida Building Code, 170 mph design glazing on the city’s form | Pre-Florida Building Code construction, retrofits vary |
| Insurance | Mitigation credits by construction; elevation helps flood rating | Depends on retrofits and elevation |
| Price per square foot | $856 median, new-built MLS closings | $690 median, other single-family MLS closings |
| Seawall | New or recertified with the build | Original age often unknown; ask |
| Time to move in | Spec: weeks to months; custom: a year or more | 30 to 60 days |
| Property taxes | Full reassessment once complete | Reassessed to just value on sale too |
| Who it suits | Owners staying 10 years or more; buyers who want low maintenance and certainty | Buyers who want the location now and plan to renovate under the 50 percent line, or rebuild later |
Choose new or rebuild if you plan to hold, want the most insurable house on the island and can wait or pay for a finished spec home. Choose resale if location on a specific canal or beach matters more than the house, you are buying below the cost to build, and you have priced what the 50 percent rule will allow you to do with it. If you are comparing Marco with the mainland, our Naples versus Marco Island comparison and the Marco Island buyer guide cover the rest of the trade.
We run the same checklist on every Marco Island lot, spec home and custom build, before you sign anything. It is the work a builder’s agent is not paid to do for you. Ten steps, in order, from the parcel’s flood zone to the timing of your own sale, so nothing about the lot, the contract or the tax bill surprises you after closing.
Data updated: October 2026 (McGreevy and Comisar buyer process).
For the buying process beyond new construction, see our guide to buying a home in Marco Island.
Most of the buyers we represent on a Marco Island new build own a home they need to sell, on the island or elsewhere, and the timing has to fit a construction schedule that can slip. We price your current home first, then set the sale and the build so you are not carrying two houses longer than you planned.
Start with a Marco Island home valuation, and read how we sell homes in Marco Island. If you own an older island home, ask us to compare selling it as is, renovating under the 50 percent line, and rebuilding on it yourself: on some lots the teardown buyer pays more than the remodel is worth.
Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072, or Marc at (239) 287-5873, before your first meeting with a builder or the builder’s listing agent. Tell us the lot, the spec home or the budget, and we will come back with the flood, permit, fee and tax picture for that address. You can also book through mcgreevyandcomisar.com/buying or the consultation form on this page. If you are browsing what is available today, Domain Realty Group keeps current Marco Island homes for sale.
McGreevy and Comisar and their Domain Realty Group team have sold over $2.5 Billion in Real Estate. Top 1% Real Estate Agents Nationally Since 2008.
McGreevy and Comisar is a top-reviewed Southwest Florida real estate team on Google. These are genuine five-star reviews from our Google Business Profile, quoted in full and unedited. The first is from a buyer we represented while the builder was still building the home, which is exactly the moment this page is about.
★★★★★ “Marc has been a great help in securing a great price for our home during its build phase. Negotiated a much better deal from the builder.” Verified Google review
★★★★★ “He was quick to respond with any questions about the purchase of our new home and made sure everything went smoothly! We highly recommend him as an agent!” Verified Google review
★★★★★ “We highly recommend Marc Comisar for your real estate needs. He was very knowledgeable. If he didn’t know an answer, he would do research until he did. Marc is pleasant, timely, and listened to our wants and needs. He went above and beyond to make sure we found our forever home. Thank you, Marc!” Verified Google review
We publish only what a primary source supports. These are the figures we looked for and could not confirm on 2026-10-21, and the document that settles each one for a specific property.
Yes. The City of Marco Island permitted 1,311 new single-family homes from 2016 through 2025 and 77 from January to August 2026, according to the Census Building Permits Survey. Nearly all of it is new houses on existing lots, many replacing older homes, because the island has no undeveloped subdivisions left to open.
Local custom and spec builders, working one lot at a time. We found no national production builder selling a community inside the city on 2026-10-21. Check any builder’s Florida license on the DBPR license search and ask how many homes it builds a year, because that decides whether Florida’s deposit escrow statute applies.
Yes, and it is the most common way new homes are built here. You need a demolition permit ($226 flat for a single-family home under Resolution 26-26), and the new home must meet the current flood elevation, wind and zoning rules. On a teardown, Collier County charges impact fees only on the difference between the old home and the new one.
The average construction value declared on a Marco Island single-family permit was $1,563,333 in 2025 and $1,748,155 in January to August 2026 (Census Building Permits Survey). That excludes the lot, the builder’s margin on a spec home and most site work, so treat it as a floor. County impact fees add $22,384.00 to $24,897.88 and city building fees about $8,335 on a 4,000 square foot home.
In the RSF single-family districts the limit is 35 feet, measured from the base flood elevation rather than from the ground. The Walker’s Cay condo-hotel site was approved at its own 75-foot maximum, also measured from base flood elevation, which shows the measurement point the city uses.
Florida law requires a decision within 30 business days of a complete application for a single-family home under 7,500 square feet, and 60 business days at 7,500 or more, unless you waive it in writing (section 553.792). The city must tell you within 5 business days what is missing. Design, engineering and survey time comes before that.
Yes. Under City Code section 26-90, the lowest floor must be at the highest of base flood elevation plus 1 foot, 18 inches above the road crown, 24 inches above an ungraded road, or the Florida Building Code level. The flood zones on the island are AE and VE on the map effective February 8, 2024.
If improvements or storm repairs reach 50 percent of the structure’s market value, counted cumulatively over 12 months from the first permit, the whole building must meet current flood rules. The city applies it to every structure in a Special Flood Hazard Area that does not already comply.
Yes, but the rebuilt home must meet today’s flood rules, including the lowest-floor elevation, as a new home would. The city makes the substantial damage determination, and the City Code’s post-disaster redevelopment section governs buildback. Ask for any damage letter before you buy a storm-affected house.
Not for residential ownership as of October 2026. Walker’s Cay, approved September 4, 2026, is a 45-unit condominium hotel whose units must stay in a hotel rental program and cannot be used as residences. A Port Marco five-story project was proposed, a Hilton tower expansion was withdrawn, and a 27-unit Live Local Act building is rental apartments.
The median qualified recorded sale of a vacant residential lot in the city was $700,000 in the 12 months to 2026-08-24, across 53 sales, with the middle half between $355,000 and $1,500,000 (Collier County Property Appraiser). Over five years the median was $785,000 across 418 sales. A lot with an older house on it sells as an improved sale and is not in these figures.
A new seawall goes at the plat or bulkhead line, and a new wall built in front of an old one may sit at most 18 inches seaward (section 6-85). Docks plus boats may protrude at most 30 feet and 25 percent of a 100-foot-plus waterway, or 20 percent of a narrower one, with side setbacks of 15 percent of the seawall length. New boathouses are not allowed.
Yes, in effect. The city’s single-family application requires windows and doors designed for 170 mile-per-hour wind loads, and openings in a new home must be protected by impact-rated glazing or approved shutters under the Florida Building Code. Treat impact protection as the baseline, then compare design pressure ratings.
The Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023) applies to permits the city accepts now; its application form names it for permits submitted from December 31, 2023. The 9th Edition takes effect December 31, 2026, so a permit submitted after that date will be reviewed under the new code.
You are not required to have one, but the builder’s listing agent works for the builder, and Florida presumes any licensee is a transaction broker without a duty of loyalty unless you sign a single-agent agreement. Bring your own agent before your first showing or builder meeting, and settle compensation in writing.
Some do and some do not. Most Marco Island custom builders publish no buyer-agent policy, so ask in writing before you tour. Since August 17, 2024, your written buyer agreement sets what you owe your agent, whatever the builder pays.
Only as well as your contract protects it, in many Marco cases. Section 501.1375 gives escrow rights for deposits up to 10 percent, but excludes builders who build or sell fewer than 10 homes a year statewide. Use a title company or attorney escrow, milestone draws and lien releases.
Almost never. The one community development district on the island is the Key Marco Community Development District on Horr’s Island, which levies a flat annual assessment of $1,700 per homesite for fiscal year 2025-26 (Key Marco CDD). The one special taxing district is the Hideaway Beach Tax District, which levied 1.6000 mills for tax year 2025 on Hideaway Beach parcels for beach renourishment and maintenance. Everywhere else on the island a new home carries no CDD.
Because Florida values an improvement not substantially complete on January 1 at zero (section 192.042). If your home finishes in, say, June, that year’s bill may reflect land only, and the next year’s reflects the finished house at full value, at a combined rate of about 8.95 mills on a standard Marco parcel before mosquito control.
Yes, if you own it and live in it as your permanent residence on January 1 and file by March 1 (section 196.011). The Save Our Homes cap starts the year after. If you are leaving another Florida homestead, portability can move up to $500,000 of its capped difference.
National Census data for 2025 put contractor-built homes on the owner’s land at 11.7 months from permit to completion on average, and homes over 6,000 square feet at 16.3 months. Add design, engineering and permit review before that, and Marco Island’s limits on construction hours and Sunday work.
A home the builder starts without a buyer and sells finished or near finished, usually listed through the builder’s own agent. It is the fastest way into a new Marco home, and the price includes the lot, the fees and the builder’s margin.
Yes. City inspections check minimum code at each stage, not your contract or finish quality. Inspect at foundation and piling, pre-drywall and final, plus the seawall and dock, and get a wind mitigation report at the end so your insurer gives the credits the house earned.
Whatever the builder’s contract gives you; no statute requires a written warranty. Florida limits implied-warranty claims for off-site improvements (section 553.835), requires 60 days’ pre-suit notice of a construction defect (section 558.004), and bars latent defect claims filed more than 7 years after the certificate of occupancy (section 95.11(3)(b)).
Usually for wind, because a new home earns the mitigation credits on Florida’s inspection form by construction, and after Ian no single-family home built to the modern code in the IBHS sample had structural wind damage. Flood cost depends on elevation; building above the required lowest floor generally lowers it, but the flood insurance requirement with a federally backed mortgage remains.
If the home is in a Special Flood Hazard Area and has a federally backed mortgage, yes, however high it is built. Elevation lowers the premium; only a map change removes the requirement. The city’s Community Rating System Class 5 (FEMA’s October 2026 list) earns a 25 percent discount on policies in the Special Flood Hazard Area.
Separate ones. Under Resolution 26-26 a single-family pool permit is $498 flat including electric, a dock is $0.25 per square foot with a $134 minimum, a boat lift is $94, and a seawall is $4.50 per linear foot with a $189 minimum.
Only outside the flood zone. From July 1, 2026, state law exempts single-family work under $7,500 from permits, but not electrical, plumbing, mechanical, gas or structural work, and not on any property partly or wholly in a Special Flood Hazard Area, which covers most of Marco Island. The city charges a $40 fee to record the exemption.
Not as a home. The units are condominium hotel units that must stay in the central rental program, cannot be rented independently, cannot be used as residences and do not qualify for homestead. Evaluate one as a hotel investment.
No. Goodland, Isles of Capri and the Hammock Bay and Marco Shores area are in unincorporated Collier County, outside the City of Marco Island, so they run on county permits, county floodplain rules and the county’s full impact fee schedule.
New or rebuilt wins on flood elevation, wind code, insurance and freedom from the 50 percent rule; resale wins on price per square foot and speed. On our MLS cut the median price per square foot was $856 for new-built single-family closings against $690 for other single-family closings over five years.
The city limits status, flood zone and base flood elevation, a survey, the seawall’s condition and age, deed restrictions and any association review, utility availability, and the permit history including any open permits. On a gulf-front lot, add the Coastal Construction Control Line and the sea turtle season limits.
Under the city’s fee resolution, county impact fees covered by the 1999 interlocal agreement are paid to the City of Marco Island before the building permit is issued. In unincorporated Collier, by contrast, most are paid before the certificate of occupancy.
Yes, several. An elevation certificate goes in with the permit application, another after the lowest floor is set, a spot survey within 10 days after the slab inspection, and a final survey and final elevation certificate before the certificate of occupancy.
| Document | Issuer | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution 26-26, building permit fee schedule (PDF) | City of Marco Island | Every city permit fee for a new home, effective June 1, 2026 |
| Single-family permit application, 2023 form (PDF) | City of Marco Island | Submittal checklist, wind, survey and elevation certificate requirements |
| Residential impact fee schedule, effective May 1, 2026 (PDF) | Collier County | County impact fees and the City of Marco Island exclusions |
| Ordinance 98-21, community park impact fee (PDF) | City of Marco Island | The city’s own park impact fee ordinance |
| FY2026 adopted budget (PDF) | City of Marco Island | City millage and the Hideaway Beach Tax District levy |
| Table 1, Collier County 2025-26 levies (PDF) | Florida Department of Revenue | Adopted millage for every Collier taxing authority |
| Building Permits Survey, Marco Island place data, 2025 (text file) | U.S. Census Bureau | Annual new-home permits and values by place |
| Florida Building Code 9th Edition notice (PDF) | Miami-Dade County | The December 31, 2026 effective date of the next code |
| FY2026 Final Budget Public Hearing (PDF) | Collier County | County millage for tax year 2025 |
| SFWMD FY2025-26 final millage hearing (PDF) | South Florida Water Management District | Water management and Big Cypress Basin millage |
Every source below was read on the date shown. Government and statutory sources first, then data files, then press. We do not cite real estate portals or other brokerages.
McGreevy and Comisar · About us · Jesse McGreevy · Marc Comisar · Contact us
Market figures on this page: we tracked 1,725 qualified single-family sales, including 238 estimated new-built home sales, recorded by the Collier County Property Appraiser in the City of Marco Island from 2021-10-07 to 2026-08-24, and 4,236 Southwest Florida MLS closings in ZIP 34145 from 10/07/2021 to 10/07/2026. Top 1% Real Estate Agents Nationally Since 2008. Call Jesse direct at (239) 898-6072.
Top 1% Real Estate Agents Nationally Since 2008
5 Star Award for Customer Satisfaction for 21 Straight Years. Only 5 out of 21k+ Licensees (Gulfshore Life Magazine)
#1 Team in Southwest Florida since 2012
McGreevy and Comisar and their Domain Realty Group team have sold over $2.5 Billion in Real Estate
McGreevy and Comisar alone have over $900 million in Sales
Nationally Recognized Top Producing Realtors
Platinum Sales Production Award Winners
Jesse McGreevy: (239) 898-6072 · [email protected]
Marc Comisar: (239) 287-5873
Office: 24031 S Tamiami Trl #101, Bonita Springs, FL 34134
Jesse McGreevy (Sales Associate) and Marc Comisar (Broker Associate) are licensed Florida REALTORS® with Domain Realty; Florida real estate licensure is regulated by the Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC).
McGreevy and Comisar lead Domain Realty Group, a full-service Southwest Florida real estate team. Learn more at DomainRealtyGroup.com.
Market data from Southwest Florida MLS, pulled 7 Oct 2026 (ZIP 34145 closed sales 10/07/2021 to 10/07/2026), and from Collier County Property Appraiser files dated 2026-08-29.
Brokered by Domain Realty.