Last updated October 2, 2026
Living in Davie
Davie Guide for Residents
Davie is in Broward County, Florida. The Davie guide written by the brokerage that sells here: neighborhoods, everyday logistics, and what homes actually sold for last month.
Short answer: Davie is a Broward County town of roughly 112,000 people - the largest town in Florida by population - that grew out of farming and horses rather than platted subdivisions, and still protects that character with acreage zoning and a large trail network. It also holds the South Florida Education Center campuses, including Nova Southeastern University. The result is a market where lot size, zoning and water rights swing value more than square footage does. If you own here and want to know what your property would sell for today, we prepare that by hand, not by algorithm.
Key takeaways
- Shenandoah, Forest Ridge and Ivanhoe cover much of the conventional family housing.
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International is roughly 20 minutes east depending on the hour.
- Nova Southeastern University, Broward College and other campuses in the South Florida Education Center sit in the middle of the town, along with several medical facilities.
- Comparable sales here have to match on lot size and zoning, not just bedroom count.
How Davie is laid out
Davie does not have a single center so much as several. The older core sits around Davie Road and Griffin Road, with the western ranches and acreage neighborhoods spreading out toward Flamingo Road and Southwest Ranches. North of I-595, around Nova Drive and University Drive, you are in the education and medical district, where the housing turns to townhouses, condominiums and conventional subdivisions. East toward Fort Lauderdale the town blends into denser residential streets. Because zoning changes across those areas - some allowing horses and outbuildings, some not - the zoning designation on a parcel is part of its value here in a way that is unusual for South Florida.
The neighborhoods people ask about
Long Lake Ranches, Harmony Lakes and the surrounding gated communities are the recognizable planned developments with lakes and larger houses. The acreage sections west of Flamingo Road are where equestrian buyers look, and they trade on land, access and what the zoning permits rather than on kitchen finishes. Around the campuses the market is smaller townhouses and condominiums with a genuine rental demand behind them. Shenandoah, Forest Ridge and Ivanhoe cover much of the conventional family housing. Comparable sales here have to match on lot size and zoning, not just bedroom count.
Horses, trails and land
The trail system and the equestrian zoning are the town's signature, and they are also the most misunderstood part of buying here. Whether you can keep animals, build a barn or run a business from a parcel depends on that parcel's zoning and land-use designation, which the town confirms in writing - never a listing, and never a neighbor's arrangement. If the equestrian use is the reason you are buying, make that confirmation a condition rather than an assumption. The same applies to well and septic systems on the acreage parcels, which need their own inspections.
Getting around and everyday things
I-595 crosses the town and connects to I-95, I-75 and the Turnpike, with University Drive, Davie Road, Flamingo Road and Griffin Road carrying local traffic. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International is roughly 20 minutes east depending on the hour. Nova Southeastern University, Broward College and other campuses in the South Florida Education Center sit in the middle of the town, along with several medical facilities. Broward County Public Schools serves the whole city and boundaries move, so confirm the assignment for a specific address with the district rather than relying on a listing.
What owning property in Davie involves
Two numbers decide what owning here actually costs, and neither is on the listing. Property tax is set on your own purchase, not the seller's assessed value, so the tax line you see on a listing usually reflects a homestead exemption and an assessment cap that belong to the current owner and do not transfer with the house. Insurance is the other one: wind coverage, and flood coverage where the property calls for it, quoted on the specific roof, year built and elevation rather than a county average. Get both quoted on the actual address before you commit to a price. If the property is in an association, add the dues, ask what has been voted, and read the budget and reserve position rather than the marketing sheet.
Decide which Davie you are buying
There are effectively three. The acreage and equestrian sections west of Flamingo Road, where you are buying land, access and permitted use. The gated communities such as Long Lake Ranches and Harmony Lakes, where you are buying a house plus an association. And the conventional and campus-adjacent neighborhoods, where townhouses and condominiums with real rental demand sit close to Nova Southeastern University and the surrounding education and medical campuses. Those three have almost nothing in common as investments, so a search that spans all three is not really a search.
If land use is the reason you are moving here
Confirm it in writing before you commit. Zoning and land-use designations in Davie vary parcel by parcel, and what a neighbor keeps on their land is not evidence of what you may keep on yours. The town is the only authority on that, and a Florida real-estate attorney is the right person to read any deed restriction or covenant that comes with it. On acreage parcels also budget for well and septic inspections, and ask when the systems were last serviced - those are ordinary costs of this kind of property rather than red flags, but they are not on the listing.
The order we suggest doing things in
Choose which of the three Davies suits you. If land use matters, get the town's written confirmation first, because it can eliminate a shortlist. Then get insurance and tax quoted on real addresses, add well and septic inspections on acreage, and read association documents before writing an offer where they apply. If you are selling somewhere else to fund the move, sequence both sides deliberately rather than hoping they align. Start with an opinion of value on what you are leaving; if it is outside our area we will refer you to someone we would use ourselves.
If you own here
What your property is worth depends on things a website cannot see: which street you are on, what the last owner did to the place, what your association holds in reserve, and which recent sales are genuinely comparable to yours. We work that out by hand from those sales rather than publishing an automated estimate, within one business day, with the sales it is based on attached. Ask for an opinion of value on your property.
Nearby and related
This guide describes the town and how property here trades. It carries no market statistics on purpose, so nothing on it goes stale; the live figures sit on the market pages linked above, sourced from BeachesMLS. PBP Real Estate, LLC, 700 NW 7th Drive, Boca Raton, FL 33486, 561-395-8418. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Moving to Broward County
Moving to Davie? Everything in one place
- Moving to Broward County guide — prices by city updated daily, houses and condos kept separate, homestead and insurance basics, and how to plan the search.
- Search homes for sale in Davie — live BeachesMLS search; email me new listings.
- Public schools: check the address — Broward County Public Schools assigns schools by address, not by neighborhood name. Check each address in the Broward Find My School locator before you sign.
- More Broward County guides: Deerfield Beach · Hallandale Beach · Hillsboro Beach · Hollywood · Lighthouse Point · Miramar
- All 26 Broward County cities — market data, guides and search for each one.
More about living in Davie
Living in and owning property in Davie: questions and answers
Where is Davie, Florida?
In central-western Broward County, roughly 24 miles north of Miami, bordered by Fort Lauderdale and Plantation to the north and east and Cooper City and Southwest Ranches to the south and west. Griffin Road, University Drive and I-595 are the main routes.
Why is Davie a town rather than a city?
It kept the designation from its agricultural beginnings, and it is the largest town in Florida by population - roughly 112,000 by the latest US Census Bureau estimate. The name matters less than what it reflects: a place that grew out of farming and horses rather than platted subdivisions.
Can you really keep horses in Davie?
In parts of it, yes. Davie retains an equestrian tradition with an extensive trail network - the area promotes over 165 miles of trails - and zoning in some sections allows horses. Whether a particular parcel does is a zoning and land-use question for the town, and it should be confirmed in writing before you buy on that basis.
What kinds of homes are in Davie?
A genuinely wide range: acreage parcels and equestrian properties, conventional single-family neighborhoods, newer gated communities with lakes, and townhouses and condominiums closer to the university campuses. Two houses of the same size can carry very different value depending on lot, zoning and water.
I inherited a property in Davie. What are my options?
Sell it, hold and rent it if the zoning and any association rules allow, or transfer it to a family member. Which is open to you depends on how it was titled and whether it must pass through probate, where a personal representative generally needs court authority before closing. Have a Florida attorney confirm the process for your situation.
Is Davie a good place to relocate to?
It suits people who want land, animals or simply space, and people connected to the university and medical campuses. It is a poor fit for anyone who wants to walk to a beach or a downtown; Davie's appeal is lot size, trails and central Broward access.
How far is Davie from the airport and the beach?
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International is roughly 20 minutes east depending on the hour, and the Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood beaches are a similar run further east. I-595 is the artery for both.
What should I budget beyond the purchase price?
Property tax on your own purchase rather than the seller's assessed value, insurance including wind and flood where the parcel calls for it, association dues if the community has them, and on acreage parcels the cost of maintaining a well and septic system, which needs its own inspection.
Are there gated communities in Davie?
Yes - Long Lake Ranches, Harmony Lakes and others offer lakes, amenities and association governance, alongside the acreage and conventional neighborhoods. The town holds both models, which is unusual, so decide which one you want before you shortlist.
Ready to look at Davie homes?
The Davie market page shows what sold last month, at what price and how fast, plus the neighborhoods we track. If you already own here and are weighing a sale, the same page has the seller path.
764 closed transactions (Gia and Grant Freer, since 2000)5.0 from 86 Google reviewsLicensed since 1997 and 2000