Published September 28, 2026 in Market Update

92.5% of new Clermont builders paid money back at closing

By Marlon Persaud

Real estate, Clermont MLS Clean

Most buyers shopping new construction in Clermont know builders are offering something. What they do not know is how often, and how much. I pulled every new home sale in the file and counted the credits. The number stopped me.

Builders paid money back on 470 of 508 new homes sold

That is 92.5% of all new home sales. The typical credit was $20,000. Not a free appliance package. Not a rate buydown buried in the fine print. Twenty thousand dollars back to the buyer at closing. Nearly every new home that sold came with a builder credit. Compare that to older homes: 40.4% of those sellers paid something back, and the typical amount was $8,500. The gap between new and older is not small. It is $11,500 on a typical deal, and it shows up in more than nine times as many sales.

The longer a home sat, the more the seller gave up on price

Credits are one part of the story. Price is the other. Homes that found a buyer in the first month got 98.6% of what they first asked. Homes that took five to six months got 91.1%. Homes that took more than six months got 88.8%. That is a gap of 9.8 points between a fast sale and a slow one. The market does not reward waiting. It charges for it.

More than half of homes for sale right now have already dropped their price

Right now, 572 homes are for sale in Clermont. Of those, 325 have already dropped their price. That is 56.8% of everything on the market. The typical drop is $24,500. Sellers have cut a combined $14,684,359 from their asking prices so far. More than half the homes for sale today are already on their second price. That tells you something about where first prices were set.

What this means if you are buying or selling in Clermont right now

If you are selling, the data on timing is the one thing to act on. Homes that sold in month one got 98.6% of their first asking price. Homes that took over six months got 88.8%. The sellers who gave up the most were not in a bad neighborhood. They started too high. The typical home that gave up first asked $490,000. The typical home that sold first asked $469,900, a difference of $20,100. Price it right on day one and you keep that gap in your pocket.

If you are buying, the builder credit picture is worth understanding before you make an offer on an older home. New home builders paid back $20,000 on a typical deal. That credit can cover closing costs, buy down your rate, or come off your cash to close. On an older home the typical credit was $8,500. That does not mean older homes are a worse deal, but it does mean the comparison is not just the sticker price. Factor in what each seller is likely to contribute. With Freddie Mac's weekly rate survey showing a 30-year fixed rate at 7.03% as of September 24, 2026, a $20,000 rate buydown from a builder can move your monthly payment more than most buyers expect.