Clermont Housing Market: Panther Run, SR 516 and a Tale of Two ZIP Codes

The Clermont housing market is running as two markets in late 2026. North Clermont, ZIP 34711, has strong buyer demand but sellers who often list too high, while South Clermont, ZIP 34714, is absorbing a wave of new construction near Wellness Way, where Lake County just approved the 2,241-acre Panther Run community.

For decades, the south end of Clermont was ranch land, citrus groves and two-lane roads. Over the past 8 to 10 years, Jared Jones notes, owners who had held land for 60 to 80 years sold in large blocks between Horizon West and the US 27 corridor. That allowed Lake County to plan the Wellness Way corridor, a district of more than 15,000 acres adopted in 2016, as a place to live, work and shop rather than another commuter suburb that empties onto the roads to Orlando each morning. For a wider look at daily life here, see the 2026 guide to living in Clermont.

What did Lake County approve with Panther Run?

Lake County commissioners voted 3 to 1 on September 1, 2026 to rezone 2,241 acres for Panther Run, a master-planned community by developer GT USA that sits just south of the SR 516 alignment between US 27 and the Orange County line. The plan allows roughly 2,600 homes, more than 1 million square feet of employment and commercial space, and more than 3,000 projected jobs. The full approval details are in the Panther Run county approval breakdown.

About 72.5% of the land is set aside as lakes, wetlands, conservation areas and open space, including a wildlife corridor. The plan also reserves a proposed high school site and an 8-acre site that could hold a future fire station and sheriff’s substation. Dream Finders Homes, Toll Brothers and Lennar have positions as builders, and Pulte is reported to be under contract for a tourist-home neighborhood. Jared says he has been told that piece will be a single, smaller section, with most of Panther Run built for primary residents.

Panther Run keeps nearly three quarters of its 2,241 acres as lakes, wetlands and open space, with homes and job centers on the rest.

Image: Jared Jones Team

Jared toured the site on a media invitation and came away convinced that conservation sits near the top of the developer’s list. He expects groundbreaking in the first quarter of 2027. In his view, Panther Run is the project that decides whether Wellness Way becomes a true destination where people work, shop and live in one corridor, or simply a larger bedroom community. The earlier look inside the Panther Run master plan covers the trails, parks and neighborhood layout, and the Toll Brothers Wellness Way story shows how the builder lineup took shape.

Which roads will connect Wellness Way to Horizon West, and when?

SR 516, the Lake/Orange Expressway, is a 4.4-mile toll road from US 27 near Lake Louisa State Park to SR 429 in Horizon West, built in three segments with interchanges at US 27, County Road 455 and Valencia Parkway. The Central Florida Expressway Authority lists a partial opening in spring 2027 and final completion in early 2029. As Jared puts it, the first usable stretch is close, but the full US 27 to 429 connection is a 2029 story.

Two shorter links may matter sooner for South Clermont drivers. The New Independence Parkway extension adds about a mile of four-lane road between Avalon Road and Wellness Way at the county line, with Orange County listing construction from September 2025 through early 2027. County transportation planners expect it to pull 7,000 to 9,000 vehicles a day off routes like Schofield Road. Jared says the pavement already looks finished from the air, even though it is not open yet. The New Independence Parkway explainer has the background.

The long-awaited Flemings Road connection to Sawgrass Bay Boulevard in the Four Corners area is the second. Lake County finished its side in 2025, and the developer building the Orange County segment received its notice to proceed late that year, with completion targeted for early 2027. That date has already slipped once, so Jared calls it anticipated, not promised. A Lake County extension of County Road 455 south toward the new SR 516 interchange rounds out the network. For the Orange County side of this map, see the Winter Garden and Horizon West real estate hub and the Horizon West neighborhoods guide.

Is Olympus still happening, and what else is changing in Wellness Way?

Olympus, the 243-acre sports and wellness campus approved by the Clermont City Council in 2019, was announced with an arena, tennis and aquatics venues, an ice center, a performance institute and a hospitality town center. Jared’s honest read is that the project is not dead, but the residential and infrastructure side is running well ahead of the sports and entertainment promise. He notes that the Olympus community development district is still meeting and doing business, while the developer’s public materials still describe the venues as in planning.

The housing is real. David Weekley Homes broke ground on a model home at Reflections at Olympus in July 2026 and is marketing single-family and townhome series there. What would change the outlook is an actual groundbreaking announcement for the venues, with financing and construction contracts in place.

Wellness Ridge sits beside the district’s planned elementary school site, one of the clearest signs of how fast the corridor is filling in.

Image: Jared Jones Team

School planning shows the scale. Lake County Schools has been weighing a new high school at about $214 million and a new elementary school at about $47 million for the Wellness Way area, with land and funding work targeted around 2028. The district already owns a 15-acre elementary site next to Lennar’s Wellness Ridge, and Panther Run reserves a potential high school site. Attendance zones for new schools are set by the district, so always confirm assignment with Lake County Schools. Age-restricted options are part of the corridor too, including Esplanade at McKinnon Groves.

What is changing in North Clermont and Minneola?

The north side has its own momentum around the Hancock Road interchange of Florida’s Turnpike. AdventHealth Minneola opened in December 2025 with 80 beds and more than 500 jobs. Next door, Hills City Center is planned for roughly 600,000 square feet of retail and dining, about 500,000 square feet of medical space and more than 1,000 apartments.

Hills City Center is bringing retail, dining, medical offices and apartments to the Hancock Road and Turnpike interchange.

Image: Jared Jones Team

Crooked Can Brewing opened its Minneola brewery, taproom and food hall inside Hills City Center on July 15, 2026, a space of roughly 40,000 square feet with a beer garden, stage and about a dozen local food vendors. It is technically Minneola, but Jared expects as many Clermont residents as Minneola residents to treat it as their own. A few minutes away on Turkey Farm Road, Camp Lake Commerce Center broke ground in early 2026 on the first 2 buildings, about 377,892 square feet, of a planned 1.4 million square feet of industrial and logistics space across 163 acres.

The quieter North Clermont story is jobs, health care and shopping moving closer to people who already live here. For more on the neighboring city, read what buyers should know about Minneola in 2026 or watch Jared’s Minneola growth breakdown on YouTube.

Why is the Clermont housing market splitting between 34711 and 34714?

In the latest month of data Jared reviewed, 34711 posted 71 closed sales, up almost 13% from a year earlier, and 77 new pending sales, up nearly 33%, while active inventory fell 11%. New listings rose, yet inventory dropped, which means buyers are absorbing homes quickly. In 34714, closed sales slipped 11% to 55, but new pending sales jumped 35% to 73 even as new listings surged 55% and inventory rose 15%.

The 34711 headline looks strong: a median sale price of about $470,000, up more than 9%, even though the average sale price dipped about 1%. Jared reads that gap as a mix effect, not a broad gain. The pressure point is pricing. Roughly 30% of 34711 listings have taken a price cut, and median list prices are running almost 6% above last year. Active listings ask a median of about $515,000, pending contracts sit near $485,000 and recent sales close around $465,000, so sellers are asking roughly 11% more than homes actually sell for.

34714 shows almost the opposite pattern. Its median sale price of about $502,000 is up 18%, but nearly 45% of recent closings were homes built in 2025 or later, compared with about 3% in 34711. New builds closed at a median near $586,000 versus about $430,000 for resales, a $156,000 gap. As more new construction closes, the median rises even if no single home gained 18%. Monthly medians bounced from about $496,000 to $508,000 and then to $450,000, which is product mix, not a crash.

The healthier signal in 34714 is alignment. Only about 19% of listings have cut price, list prices are roughly flat year over year, and active asking prices near $465,000, pending contracts near $463,000 and recent sales near $470,000 sit within a few thousand dollars of each other. Contract intensity tells the same story: for every 100 active listings, about 28 are under contract in 34711 versus about 56 in 34714.

What should buyers and sellers do in the Clermont housing market right now?

Rates explain why buyers are selective. When Jared recorded the update, the 30-year average sat near 6.7%, and the expected slide toward 6% for the year never fully arrived after a dip earlier in 2026. Rates have since moved higher: Freddie Mac’s weekly survey put the 30-year fixed at 7.03% on September 24, 2026 and 7.28% on October 1. That backdrop makes builder rate buydowns in South Clermont more influential, and it rewards sellers who price correctly from day one.

Selling in 34711: the demand is there, so do not overreach. Pendings and closings are up, but listings that launch too high end up cutting price, sometimes more than once. Jared’s advice is to set the right number on day one and be the next home to sell. Price leverage also changes by band: homes from $450,000 to $600,000 are moving in about 25 days, supply climbs to roughly 6.5 months from $600,000 to $800,000, and above $800,000 it reaches about 8 months, where buyers hold more leverage. The Clermont real estate page covers how the Jared Jones Team prices and markets homes here.

Selling a resale in 34714: your toughest competitor may be the builder down the street. Builders can offer warranties, current floor plans and rate buydowns or closing cost help that never shows up in the sold price, so a builder sale can look like a full-price deal while the real discount sits in the financing. Jared notes that 34714 sales are closing at about 100% of asking price, and builder activity is a big reason why. Compare your home against the true net price of new construction, not the sticker. The 2026 new construction guide shows how builder pricing works nearby.

Buying anywhere in Clermont: more inventory does not mean every seller will accept a low offer. Buyers have more choice and price reductions are real, but well-priced homes still go under contract fast. In 34714, the busiest range runs from about $350,000 to $800,000, where some price bands have nearly as many homes under contract as active. Read each listing on its own terms: whether the seller built in room to negotiate, priced it fairly, or priced it low to draw multiple offers.

Jared is watching five things over the next few months: whether mortgage rates ease or stay elevated; whether the 30% price cut rate in 34711 comes down; whether the 35% jump in 34714 pending sales turns into stronger closings over the next 90 days; whether jobs and infrastructure can keep pace with growth in South Clermont; and how hard builders lean on rate buydowns, closing cost credits and quick move-in deals, which reveal builder urgency before sticker prices do.

A light real estate read

Location inside Clermont matters more than ever. Homes near Schofield Road, the Four Corners area and the future SR 516 interchanges at County Road 455 and US 27 will live with construction traffic for several more years before the new roads pay off. Once the Flemings Road and New Independence Parkway links open, the trip toward SR 429 and the Horizon West job centers should get shorter for many South Clermont streets.

North of State Road 50, the established hills and lakes of 34711 now sit a short drive from a new hospital, a large food hall and an industrial park under construction. The housing stock there is older and more varied, which is why pricing discipline matters so much. In 34714, the more useful comparison is often resale versus new construction in the same price band, not one ZIP code versus the other.