Housing growth and home values — Malabar, Florida

Malabar grew from 1,177 housing units in 2000 to 1,359 in 2020, a slow pace next to Brevard County, though the town's second decade added nearly twice as many homes as its first.

The Census 2000 housing count for Malabar town was 1,177 units. The 2010 Census table H1 counted 1,239, a gain of 62 homes (5.3 percent), and the 2020 Census table H1 counted 1,359, a gain of 120 (9.7 percent). Brevard County went the other way: its 2000 count of 222,072 units rose to 269,864 in the 2010 county table, up 21.5 percent, then to 288,794 in the 2020 county table, up 7.0 percent. Across the full twenty years Malabar added 182 homes, 15.5 percent (182 divided by 1,177), while the county grew 30.0 percent (66,722 divided by 222,072).

The five-year survey gives a lower Malabar total, 1,286 housing units with a margin of 148 in the Malabar DP04 table, which overlaps the 2020 head count once that margin is applied. The decennial counts are the firmer measure of growth for a town of Malabar's size.

Malabar's homes are newer than the county's: 57.5 percent were built in 1990 or later, compared with 44.2 percent across Brevard County, in ACS 2020-2024 estimates.

The Malabar share comes from adding four year-built groups in the Malabar DP04 table: 2.4 percent built 2020 or later, 19.1 percent from 2010 to 2019, 12.3 percent from 2000 to 2009 and 23.7 percent from 1990 to 1999. The same four groups in the Brevard County DP04 table are 2.9, 8.0, 18.7 and 14.6 percent. The 2010s stand out: Malabar's 19.1 percent built in that decade is more than double the county's 8.0 percent and above the 11.0 percent in the Florida DP04 table.

Very little of Malabar dates from the county's 1950s and 1960s building boom. No Malabar units were built from 1950 to 1959 or before 1940 in the estimates, and the 1940s account for 2.4 percent, while 13.4 percent of Brevard County homes date from the 1960s alone. The pre-1960 rows in the table add the 1950s, 1940s and pre-1940 groups: 0.0, 2.4 and 0.0 percent for Malabar against 6.2, 0.6 and 0.8 percent for the county.

The median Malabar owner-occupied home is valued at $451,100 in ACS 2020-2024 estimates, about $111,500 above the Brevard County median of $339,600 and above Florida's $359,000.

The Malabar median carries a margin of $22,318 in the DP04 value table. Most Malabar homes fall in two bands: 51.5 percent are valued from $300,000 to $499,999 and 29.5 percent from $500,000 to $999,999, against 36.9 and 18.6 percent in the county value table. The cheaper end is thin in Malabar: 5.4 percent of owner homes sit between $200,000 and $299,999, where 22.7 percent of Brevard County homes fall. No Malabar home is estimated at $1 million or more, while 3.2 percent of county homes are.

The under $200,000 row adds the four lowest DP04 value groups (for Malabar 2.9, 2.6, 0.0 and 8.2 percent). For property tax purposes the measure is different: the Town of Malabar's FY 2026/2027 budget report uses a gross taxable value of $467,810,775 inside the town, provided annually by the Brevard County Property Appraiser's Office. That figure is a tax-roll total for all taxable property in Malabar, not the value of a single home, so it is not comparable with the survey median.

Nearly every Malabar home is a detached single-family house: 98.9 percent of housing units in the ACS 2020-2024 estimates, against 65.9 percent in Brevard County.

The Malabar DP04 table shows no apartments or attached townhouses in the town, and mobile homes make up 1.1 percent of units against 7.2 percent countywide. Malabar houses are larger than the county norm: the median home has 5.9 rooms (county 5.5), and 35.8 percent have four or more bedrooms (29.4 percent with four and 6.4 percent with five or more), against 21.8 percent in Brevard County. Three-bedroom homes are the single largest group in Malabar, 54.2 percent.

Malabar is a town of owners. Owner-occupied homes are 98.8 percent of occupied units, compared with 76.7 percent in Brevard County and 67.6 percent in Florida; the survey finds only 14 renter-occupied homes in Malabar, with a margin of 24. Vacancy is low as well, at 5.5 percent of Malabar units against 13.9 percent across the county. Electricity heats 96.9 percent of occupied Malabar homes, and 31.7 percent of Malabar households keep three or more vehicles, against 18.7 percent countywide.

Malabar owners with a mortgage pay a median of $2,316 a month in housing costs in ACS 2020-2024 estimates, compared with $1,805 in Brevard County and $1,959 in Florida.

The Malabar DP04 table reports these as selected monthly owner costs. In Malabar, 57.5 percent of owner homes carry a mortgage, close to the county's 56.3 percent in the Brevard County DP04 table. Malabar owners without a mortgage pay a median of $621 a month, almost the same as the county's $608. Higher Malabar incomes soften the mortgage figure: 20.4 percent of Malabar owners with a mortgage spend 35 percent or more of household income on housing, below the 24.8 percent in Brevard County and 27.5 percent in Florida.

Malabar homes are worth far more than those in Palm Bay city, with a median value of $451,100 against $283,200, although the two places have similar shares of housing built since 1990.

The Palm Bay DP04 table counts 50,147 housing units in Palm Bay city, roughly 39 times Malabar's 1,286 in the same survey. Palm Bay's building came earlier in the cycle: 27.0 percent of its homes were built from 2000 to 2009 and 7.1 percent from 2010 to 2019, while Malabar's shares are 12.3 and 19.1 percent. Adding the four groups from 1990 on gives 55.2 percent for Palm Bay (5.2 plus 7.1 plus 27.0 plus 15.9) and 57.5 percent for Malabar.

Palm Bay also has more variety in its housing: detached houses are 83.5 percent of Palm Bay units and owners occupy 79.7 percent of Palm Bay homes, against 98.9 and 98.8 percent in Malabar. Mortgaged owners in Palm Bay pay a median of $1,549 a month, $767 less than the Malabar median of $2,316 (2,316 minus 1,549).

Malabar householders tend to stay put: 46.9 percent moved into their homes from 2010 to 2019 and 27.8 percent from 2000 to 2009, while only 5.4 percent arrived in 2020 or later.

That last figure adds two groups in the Malabar DP04 table, 4.2 percent who moved in from 2020 to 2022 and 1.2 percent in 2023 or later. In the Brevard County DP04 table the same two groups are 20.2 and 4.4 percent, so recent movers are about a quarter of county households and about one in twenty in Malabar. Another 11.0 percent of Malabar householders moved in during 1989 or earlier, against 6.6 percent countywide. The slow turnover sits alongside the slow growth in the Malabar housing count and the near absence of Malabar rentals.