Wesley Chapel Real Estate and Rental Market

Investing in Wesley Chapel, Florida: Trends, Communities and New Developments

Wesley Chapel is one of the fastest-growing communities in Tampa Bay, because of the excellent schools and proximity to the University of South Florida, Moffitt Cancer Center, VA Hospital, and all their satellite businesses.
Currently, there are 1013 homes for sale and only 128 homes for rent. Rental properties in great condition, rent with multiple applications even in this uncertain market.

Here is the market at a glance:

Median Rent in Wesley Chapel: $1600
Median Sale Price: $243,000
Year Over Year Change: 4%

Communities and Developments

” A community in progress”: that’s what the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce calls it’s namesake Wesley Chapel, a friendly, growing suburb 25 miles northeast of Tampa.

And they’re not kidding when they say progress: since the year 2000, Wesley Chapel’s Population has exploded-the community swelled from 5,700 to over 60,000 in only ten years. With so much recent(and ongoing) growth, the people of Wesley Chapel have no trouble remembering days gone by, when the community was largely settled by cows, pastures and citrus groves-way back when-around the year 2000.

A contender for Money Magazine’s 2007 Best Places to Live, Wesley Chapel is part of the greater Tampa region. It lies right over the Hillsborough/Pasco County line in Pasco county, the 38th fastest growing counties in the nation.

One area of Wesley Chapel along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard is often mistakenly called “New Tampa,” but Wesley Chapelians” won’t hesitate to tell you:” If it’s Pasco, it’s Wesley Chapel!

The six-miles-square Community is peppered with upscale executive and family neighborhoods, from which many residents endure an often long, messy commute to Tampa.

The Future Downtown Wesley Chapel: Avalon Park

As with any rapidly growing community, Wesley Chapel faces challenges ahead related to infrastructure and government services. A 2003 effort to incorporate the city was quickly squashed by many of the area’s well-known well-to-do’s.

But it hasn’t stopped people from talking: there’s still talk today about making Wesley Chapel a “real city”; some have even suggested that Wesley Chapel joins with its neighbor Land O’Lakes to the west and take on brand new identity as the “Tampa” of Pasco County, perhaps with a name like Lake Chapel or Wesley Lakes.

Some people are all talk and some take action, real estate developer Beat Kahli is making this vision of “real city” come true with $736 million investment in Avalon Park, a development that will become the downtown cultural center of Wesley Chapel. Here is their newsletter.

The Past and Future of Wesley Chapel Property Market

For now, though, the community remains unincorporated; its name remains Wesley Chapel. Wesley Chapel, originally called Double Branch after the twin creeks that run through it, was first settled in the in the 1840s by Edward Boyette and several other families thanks to the Armed Occupation Act of 1842.

Under the Act, established to encourage homesteading in Florida, 160-acres parcels were given away free to men 18 years and older who could bear arms, clear five acres, build a house, and stay for five years.

The community was later renamed Wesley Chapel after a Methodist church of the same name. And though the area was once filled with ranches, hog farms and citrus groves, aerial views of Wesley Chapel today still show lots of land.

Many of the new home communities encompass wildlife preserves, so it’s still possible to see deer in the early morning and twilight hours darting across the street or through your backyard.

Famous Wesley Chapel Real Estate Communities

Saddlebrook Community

Wesley Chapel is most well known as being home to the famous Saddlebrook Tennis and Golf Resort, the training ground of many pro players and home of the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy.

Surrounding the resort is the exclusive Saddlebrook residential community, some 400 hilly acres of golf course, and waterfront executive homes starting at $480,000 for a villa.

Epperson

Another brand new development by Metro Places is Epperson, which features the first Crystal Lagoon in the US, 7.5 acres of clear blue water man-made lagoon, swim-up bar, cabana cove, and floating obstacle course.

Prices start at $237,490 for a townhome and go up to 2 for single-family homes. 

Other Popular Communities

Wesley Chapel is also considered a bedroom community: with property taxes being lower in Pasco County, and with Wesley Chapel being within commuting distance to Tampa, it offers much appeal to those seeking access to the big city and suburb-style living.

Neighborhood choices for families abound: try Country Walk, Meadow Pointe or Seven Oaks, where nature trails surround tree-lines streets and wind through neighborhood parks and preserved wetlands; homes in Seven Oaks run in the low $300s

Other popular Wesley Chapel neighborhoods include Bridgewater, Northwood and Lexington Oaks, a golf course community on 812 acres, 260 of which are designated as wetland preserve, five as a community park. Townhomes are available in the Sandle Creek and Santa Fe communities. 

Want to learn more about Tampa Bay Neighborhoods and Real Estate? 

Click here to read our Tampa Bay Real Estate Guide.

About the author

Jana Christo is a business owner, real estate investor, and property manager. She has 16 years of experience in most areas of real estate.
During the last recession, she was also the managing partner for a company that bought and rehabbed properties from the court foreclosure auctions. Today, she manages her own portfolio of rental properties and shares her experience on Rentce.com.

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