The typical Lakeland home lost value for a sixth straight month in September, Zillow says, but held up better than Polk County. See how your ZIP code did.
The typical Lakeland home was worth $309,422 in September. That is the sixth monthly drop in a row, according to the latest monthly figures in the Zillow Home Value Index.
The fall is small. Values slipped about $3,600, or 1.2%, from September 2025. The typical home is now 5.8% below the May 2024 peak of $328,645.
Rents went the other way. Zillow’s Observed Rent Index put the typical asking rent at $1,687 in September, up 1.1% from $1,669 a year earlier.
What it means for you
- Buyers: prices are drifting lower, not falling sharply. The typical home costs about $3,600 less than a year ago.
- Sellers: values are still roughly double what they were in September 2016, when Zillow put the typical Lakeland home at $151,569.
- Renters: asking rents are still edging up, even as home values ease.
- Your property tax bill is based on the Jan. 1 value set by the Polk County Property Appraiser, not on Zillow. See our Polk County property taxes guide.
Six months of small declines
Lakeland’s typical value peaked in May 2024 and has drifted down since. It held steady through the winter, then started falling again in April.
Monthly values, from Zillow’s index:
| Month | Typical home value |
|---|---|
| September 2025 | $313,048 |
| March 2026 | $312,887 |
| April 2026 | $312,549 |
| May 2026 | $311,889 |
| June 2026 | $311,007 |
| July 2026 | $310,282 |
| August 2026 | $309,777 |
| September 2026 | $309,422 |
How your ZIP code did
Values fell in nine of the 10 ZIP codes Zillow files under Lakeland. The steepest drops were in 33815 and 33805. The only rise was in 33849, the Kathleen ZIP code northwest of the city.
| ZIP code | Typical value, September 2026 | A year earlier | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 33849 (Kathleen) | $389,385 | $380,449 | up 2.3% |
| 33812 | $373,215 | $374,393 | down 0.3% |
| 33813 | $368,970 | $370,084 | down 0.3% |
| 33811 | $334,737 | $341,244 | down 1.9% |
| 33810 | $315,049 | $318,681 | down 1.1% |
| 33809 | $310,626 | $313,554 | down 0.9% |
| 33803 | $286,133 | $290,429 | down 1.5% |
| 33801 | $231,486 | $234,018 | down 1.1% |
| 33805 | $229,319 | $237,077 | down 3.3% |
| 33815 | $181,389 | $188,724 | down 3.9% |
Several of these ZIP codes reach beyond the city limits into unincorporated Polk County.
Lakeland held up better than most of Polk
Lakeland’s 1.2% decline was smaller than the county’s. Zillow put the typical Polk County home at $295,509 in September, down 2.2% in a year. Florida as a whole fell 0.9%, to $375,361.
| Place | Typical value, September 2026 | Change in a year |
|---|---|---|
| Plant City (Hillsborough County), about 10 miles west | $337,742 | down 1.0% |
| Lakeland | $309,422 | down 1.2% |
| Auburndale, about 10 miles east | $303,592 | down 1.2% |
| Polk County | $295,509 | down 2.2% |
| Bartow, about 14 miles southeast | $276,179 | down 0.1% |
| Winter Haven, about 14 miles east | $271,922 | down 2.3% |
Bartow was nearly flat. The bigger falls were farther east: Davenport was down 3.3%, Polk City 3.1% and Haines City 2.9%, by Zillow’s count.
How to read these numbers
Zillow’s index is an estimate of what a typical home is worth, sold or not. It covers homes in the middle third of values, and it is smoothed and seasonally adjusted. It is not a sale price. Zillow also revises past months: it now puts August at $309,777, slightly below the figure it first published.
For actual sales, every price is public in Florida through the Polk County Property Appraiser’s sales search. We track the longer trend, sale prices and days on market on our Lakeland home prices page, and recent sales in our real estate transfers.
Have your say