After bolting at a full gallop after the onset of the COVID pandemic, the Wellington equestrian market has slowed to a canter in both pricing and, especially, transaction volume. The result presents a potential buying opportunity, according to Atlantic Western Companies’ most recent Wellington Land Report.

Higher Prices, Lower Volume

Only 28 Wellington equestrian land transactions were recorded in the 12 months from October 2024 through September 2025. The 167-acre total represented a 30 percent reduction from the previous 12-month period, and the fewest number of sales since 2018-19.

Price per acre, however, stayed steady. The $135.7 million in total sales equated to $844,000 per acre, a slight uptick from the $842,000 figure of 2023-24. That value represents a significant increase from the $692,000-per-acre pricing of just three years earlier, in the immediate aftermath of the COVID pandemic.

COVID Effect

“A lot of what we experienced in price appreciation and volume was because this market was a direct beneficiary of COVID migration,” Atlantic-Western president Brad Scherer told The Land Report. “It frontloaded years of absorption into a very short period of time. That had an impact not only of pushing up prices really quickly, but it also absorbed a lot of those buyers who may have been planning to buy at some point soon. Instead, they all bought at the same time.

“The market is still strong from the standpoint of pricing, but with fewer transactions occurring. This is presenting selective buyers with perhaps better negotiating leverage than they have had in several years. Asking prices have already dropped slightly. There is not going to be a flood of buyers, but those who are careful and well-represented may end up getting a better deal.”

World Equestrian Center

The Marion County/Ocala region in Central Florida continued to set the pace for growth in equestrian land. This is due in part to the presence of the World Equestrian Center (WEC), the nation’s largest equestrian complex, which debuted in 2021.

“The Ocala equestrian land market has experienced robust appreciation and absorption unlike virtually any other similar equestrian submarket in the US,” the Wellington Land Report stated. “The significant investment and operational successes of the WEC are attracting many equestrian buyers.

“Additionally, the explosive growth of … residential communities in southern Marion and Sumter Counties and new industrial distribution development along the I-75 corridor have significantly impacted the supply of what was previously available.”

Robust Ocala Market

According to a report released by the Ocala-based real estate agency SVN McDonald & Company, land values within 15 miles of the WEC have increased more than 200 percent since the facility opened. The most significant growth has occurred in properties located within a 6- to 9-mile radius of the WEC. Those increased approximately 325 percent from 2019 to 2024.

“In percentage terms, Ocala has outperformed almost every land market that I study in the whole country. There’s just been an incredible amount of price appreciation,” Scherer said. “The question now is, are we going to be able to maintain these historically high values when there are not as many transactions occurring? It remains to be seen whether a slowing amount of buyer volume will manifest itself into a change in pricing, but it hasn’t happened yet.”