A homeowner in The Isles at Lakewood Ranch lists her house in April. It's a clean three-bedroom Sanibel floor plan, updated, priced fairly against what neighbors closed for last year. She expects a handful of showings in the first two weeks. Instead she gets a trickle of drive-bys and a buyer's agent who mentions, almost in passing, that her clients also toured a decorated model two streets over. New construction. Same neighborhood. Same clubhouse, same gate code, same zip code.
That model isn't a leftover. Toll Brothers is still actively marketing quick move-in homes inside The Isles, with completion dates running into September 2026 and Captiva Collection pricing starting at $1,034,995. Several Lakewood Ranch resale specialists describe the community as largely finished, its builder allocation mostly spoken for. Both things are true at once, and that contradiction is the reason resale listings in The Isles are behaving the way they are right now.
The Gap Between "Sold Out" and "Still Selling"
The Isles was built by Toll Brothers between 2019 and 2022 across roughly 450 to 470 homes on 340 acres off University Parkway, about five miles from I-75. Two collections define the community: Sanibel, running from around 2,200 to 3,700 square feet, and Captiva, the larger estate product from roughly 2,700 up past 4,700 square feet, most of it on oversized lakefront or preserve lots. West Indies and Coastal Contemporary architecture gives the streetscape a lighter, brighter look than the Mediterranean styling common in older Lakewood Ranch villages, and every home carries access to The Pier House, the community's clubhouse with a fitness center, resort-style pool, fishing pier, tennis and pickleball courts, bocce, a meditation lawn, and a dog park.
That's the marketing story, and it's accurate. What it leaves out is that Toll Brothers still has homesites on the board. Its current online inventory lists specific move-in ready and near-complete homes in The Isles, from a 3,520 square foot Sanibel plan at $1,199,000 with a June 2026 move-in, up through a 3,438 square foot Captiva home at $1,498,000 completing in May 2026 and a 3,211 square foot Captiva listing at $1,568,000 slated for July. A decorated Captiva model at 2,500 square feet is priced at $899,000. These aren't hypothetical future phases. They're active, dated, and priced.
So when a resale seller lists her home believing she's the only game in the neighborhood, she's actually competing against a builder who can still offer a rate buydown, design center credits, or closing cost contributions on a brand-new home with a warranty. A resale listing can't match that dollar for dollar, and the MLS doesn't show the difference. A $650,000 resale and a $650,000 new build carrying $30,000 in builder concessions register as the same line item in a data pull, even though one buyer is walking away with meaningfully more value.
What the Numbers Actually Show
Live listing snapshots from this spring and summer make the pressure visible. In mid-May 2026, thirteen active Isles listings carried a median list price of $1,299,000 and an average of 97 days on market, at roughly $424 per square foot. By late June, ten active listings showed a median list price of $1,337,500, average days on market had stretched to 104, and price per square foot had climbed slightly to $441.
| Snapshot | Active Listings | Avg. Days on Market | Avg. $/Sq Ft | Median List Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-May 2026 | 13 | 97 | $424 | $1,299,000 |
| Late June 2026 | 10 | 104 | $441 | $1,337,500 |
These are small, live cross sections rather than closed-sale comp reports, but the direction is consistent across both windows: days on market rising while asking price per square foot rises with it. That's an unusual pairing. Normally when homes sit longer, sellers cut price to compensate. Here, the mix shifting toward larger Captiva homes with premium lot positions is holding the average price up even as time on market grows, which suggests entry-level Sanibel inventory is either scarce or pricing itself out of contention against the builder's own remaining Sanibel stock.
That price-per-square-foot figure is also worth sitting with on its own. A community cost breakdown published in December 2025 put The Isles' average at $280 to $320 per square foot. Compare that to the $420 to $480 range showing up in live listings this spring and summer, and you're looking at current asking prices running well above where the community was pricing just a couple of quarters earlier. Some of that gap is mix, since the currently listed pool skews toward larger, more upgraded Captiva product. Some of it is sellers testing a market that hasn't caught up to their expectations yet. Either way, it's a real signal for anyone pricing a listing here in the second half of 2026: an older average is not a reliable floor for what will close this year, in either direction.
The Cost Stack Nobody Quotes the Same Way Twice
Ask a handful of sources what the HOA fee is in The Isles and you'll get a handful of different numbers, none of them dated the same week. A 2024 posting put dues at a flat $399 a month. A spring 2026 village comparison listed $635. A late-2025 cost breakdown gave a $300 to $500 range. That spread isn't one source being wrong so much as dues published at different points and never updated again, which is a useful reminder for anyone comparing Lakewood Ranch villages by scraping a number off an aggregator site. The dues you'll actually pay are whatever the current HOA documents say, not whatever a listing page cached a year or two ago.
Layered on top of that HOA fee is a Community Development District assessment, which shows up on the property tax bill rather than as a separate monthly charge. In The Isles, that CDD assessment typically runs $2,500 to $4,000 per year and funds infrastructure and common area maintenance. Unlike the property tax itself, it does not qualify for Florida's homestead exemption, so it doesn't shrink the way your taxable value might over time.
The base property tax sits on top of both of those. Manatee County's countywide operating millage runs around 6.08 mills for fiscal year 2025-2026, and once school district and other local millages are layered in, the effective combined rate typically lands between 15 and 17 mills depending on exactly where in the community a home sits. For a property valued near $850,000, that translates to an estimated annual tax bill of roughly $7,800 to $9,500 before any homestead exemption is applied. Add the CDD, add the HOA, and you have three separate line items that never appear together on a single listing sheet, which is exactly why buyers touring both new construction and resale in the same afternoon often end up comparing apples to a fairly different fruit.
One number works in a seller's favor here. Most of The Isles sits in FEMA Flood Zone X, which generally means flood insurance isn't required, a real cost advantage in a Gulf Coast market where insurance has become its own negotiating point.
What This Means Depending on Which Side You're On
If you're selling in The Isles this year, the comparison that matters isn't last year's closed price per square foot. It's what Toll Brothers is currently offering on a comparable floor plan two streets away, incentives included, and pricing your listing to account for the difference rather than against it. A buyer who can get a rate buydown and a warranty on new construction needs a real reason to choose a resale home instead, whether that's lot position, mature landscaping, or a price that reflects the incentive gap honestly.
If you're buying, the builder's active inventory is worth touring even if your instinct is to assume the neighborhood is built out. Comparing a specific Toll Brothers quick move-in home against a resale listing at a similar price point, incentives and all, is the only way to know which one actually costs less over the life of the loan.
A Few Direct Answers
Is The Isles at Lakewood Ranch actually sold out? Not entirely. Toll Brothers continues to market specific homesites with 2026 completion dates, even as much of the community's original 450 to 470 homes have long since closed and moved to resale.
Why do HOA fee figures vary so much across sources? Published figures have ranged from roughly $300 to $635 per month depending on the source and when it was last updated. Always confirm the current fee directly against the HOA's own documents rather than a third-party listing site.
Does the CDD assessment ever go away? No. It's a long-term infrastructure assessment tied to the property, separate from your HOA dues, and it doesn't qualify for homestead exemption the way your base property tax value can.
Is now a good time to sell in The Isles? It depends on how your listing is priced against the builder's current incentives, not just against what similar homes closed for last year. That comparison is the piece most sellers miss.
Whether you're weighing a resale purchase against a Toll Brothers quick move-in home, or trying to price a listing honestly against what the builder is offering next door, this is exactly the kind of comparison worth walking through with someone who tracks it closely. Gulf Coast Premier Properties works Lakewood Ranch's villages daily, and Pamela Modisett would welcome the chance to talk through your specific situation in The Isles. Let's Connect.
