- May 26, 2026
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Standing in front of Wild Blue's Sophia IV model that just sold for $6,775,000 in April, Stock Custom Homes Vice President Sam Canham already was thinking about his next, even higher-priced project.
Considering that the 5,012-square-foot Sophia at 1146 Blue Shell Loop was the neighborhood's highest selling transaction to this point, that is saying something.
"What we are doing hasn't been done before," Canham said of the lofty prices. "This sale reinforces the demand and cements what we do. Bigger things are on the horizon. Sophia confirms we are doing the right things."
A couple of lots down from the Sophia, a spec Stock Custom Home is being built to go on the market at $8 million.
"Eight million dollars is a fair target," Canham said. "We are doing a collaboration with (noted architect) Mark Sultana and Carrie Riley of Riley Interior Design.
Canham noted that he already has met with clients about a 7,500-square-foot lot in Wild Blue that he said would run approximately $3 million itself.
"Location," Canham said. "A lot of it has to do with location. We're selling to buyers from Siesta Key. This is like being on the water (in Waterside Place of Lakewood Ranch with the various lakes), and you have the shops, the restaurants, and I-75."
While multi-million dollar sales have not been rare to Lakewood Ranch over the past 10 years, they certainly have not been common, either. Prices once only associated with areas such as Siesta Key and Longboat Key are now attainable for builders in Lakewood Ranch.
"We've done eight homes in the Lake Club (of Lakewood Ranch) and we were selling for $6.65 million last year," Canham said of Stock Custom Homes. "I started with Stock six years ago and raising the bar was our goal.
"Since COVID and the hurricanes, people are moving away from the water. They want to get away from the insurance and the traffic. They are seeking a more amenity-rich lifestyle where they can meet people and be active. Look at the people in the northern states. Moving to Lakewood Ranch is a win-win for them. The vision for Lakewood Ranch has come to life. Now people have seen it and there is no more having to imagine what it can be."
Canham said the demand for multi-million-dollar homes in Lakewood Ranch is going to continue to expand because of the area's convenience in going to restaurants, grocery stores or entertainment hubs without having to cross I-75. He said Stock Custom Homes wants to cater to those willing to buy at the top of that ladder.
He admitted, however, that building $6 million, $7 million and $8 million spec homes can be a risk.
"There always is a level of uncertainty," he said. "But Stock is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and we know what our clients want."
Some Lakewood Ranch residents have questioned whether elite homes are a healthy sign for the community as a whole. An April 26 Fortune Magazine article by Sydney Lake ("Florida’s influx of rich residents is killing the middle class and housing market") aligns with that way of thinking. Lake's article contends that members of the middle class are leaving the state because they can't compete with the wealth.
"I did read the article," said David Crawford, the president of the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee. "But like most things, nothing in the real estate world can be (generalized). I think the story is painting too broad a picture. We are seeing record-breaking sales in both single family homes and condos, which all are at the high end of luxury. Now they are building $7, $8 million homes in Wild Blue.
"Sure, the nurses, the teachers, the firefighters, they are feeling the squeeze. They can have a hard time competing with the wealth of cash buyers."
Crawford said from a seller's perspective, a sale with no loan is certainly more attractive than someone who has to find a loan.
"We've seen that squeeze across all price points," he said. "It just makes it more difficult to put in a compelling offer (across all price points) without cash."
He said the last five years have seen a rise in property taxes, insurance, interest rates and more — "the overall formula" — that make affordability harder to find across the board.
He also noted that buyers strain to buy a home that needs renovation because those costs have risen drastically as well.
But he said that many of the costs of buying a home were going to happen following a pandemic and hurricanes whether or not an influx of wealth came into the state.
He is not playing the blame game, even as he notes that the traditional market for the middle class, which his association identifies as $500,000 to $1 million, has been the hardest hit the last few years.
"Six-point-five percent is a whole different formula than 3 or 4," he said. "The secondary problem is that so many of those people are locked in and had refinanced at 3% interest loans."
He said life in general — he called it diapers, divorces and death — throws things at you, and increases the desire to downsize or move up to more space, or just to make a move in general. But the current higher costs have people waiting for better interest rates.
Realtor Donna Soda, who represented the buyers in the Sophia IV sale, said the market is, indeed, "slow" at the current time. But she isn't blaming it on Lakewood Ranch's highest price level increasing.
"People are sitting on the sidelines, being methodical," she said. "You had better be priced right. We're back to 2018. But I am talking about all price points."
Soda, of the Schemmel Soda Group, said she expects 2027 will produce a better overall market with interest rates coming down "a little."
In the meantime, she said buyers looking for the elite home in Lakewood Ranch — those $3 million and up — will continue to find them.
"Lakewood Ranch is on the map and open to this market," she said. "There are buyers out there ... these people are cash."
She said potential buyers were "standing in line" in case her clients balked in buying the Sophia model.
"People are wanting to live here," she said.
Laura Cole, the senior vice president of Lakewood Ranch Communities, said her research hasn't shown any of the other price points has been negatively affected by the rise in the elite ceiling for Lakewood Ranch homes.
"Million dollar homes get a lot of headlines, and we are seeing higher highs," she said. "But there hasn't been a lot of movement (in the other price points). The entry level market has been the most cautious in this environment, and everybody is a little nervous about the employment market, but we have not seen that big a drop (at any price point).
"The (multi-million dollar sector) is just a sliver of the market. We have seen a lot of wealth transfer. John Cannon Homes has done extremely well in Waterside above $4 million and $5 million. It shows there is a market for that in a master-planned community.
"It also speaks to how Lakewood Ranch is being valued from a buyers' market. People want protection from the coastal areas. I am surprised in how far we are stretching up the price ladder, and that we are appealing to a segment of the market that we hadn't in the past. But it shows the buyer appeal."
She said demand for multi-million-dollar homes isn't going to affect the other price points other than signifying a healthy market.
"The core of our sales ($500,000-$700,000) is right where it needs to be," she said. "We always have wanted to be more than one thing to people. Our No. 1 goal is to be a complete community."
