Condos Near UF Campus: Every Community, Current Prices and the Kiddie-Condo Math
Gainesville is one of the few Florida markets where condos are mostly a function of one address: the University of Florida. With about 60,000 students and a bus system built around campus, the condo communities within a bike or bus ride of the Reitz Union are bought by three groups, parents of students, UF employees who want a short commute without a yard, and investors who lease by the bedroom. This guide lists the communities we track with their most recent list or sale medians, grouped by how you would get to campus, then walks through the financing and condo-law details that decide whether a given building is a good buy.
Live list, refreshed nightly: every condo for sale in Gainesville. Community directory with HOA data: condo communities in Gainesville.
Condo communities by distance from campus
Medians below are the most recent figures on each community page (a list median when there are active listings, otherwise the latest sale median) and will differ from what you see on the page today as listings change. Click through for live listings, HOA fees and the last two years of sales.
Bike distance: on or within about a mile of campus
| Community | Recent median | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Campus View and Campus View South | $340,000–$423,000 | Newer townhome-style units steps from the north side of campus; the premium end of the student market |
| Countryside at the University | $185,000 | Large garden-style community on SW Archer Road, direct bus service, popular kiddie-condo pick |
| University Commons | $170,000 | SW 34th Street, walk or bike to the south side of campus and Shands |
| Destiny at UF | $195,000 | Smaller community marketed to students; check rental caps |
| University Terrace and University Terrace West | $182,000–$200,000 | Townhome and condo mix off SW 16th Avenue |
| Summit House | $133,000 | Older mid-rise near Archer Road; among the lowest entry prices with a short ride to Shands |
| Hawthorne Reserve | $134,000 | SW 16th Avenue garden condos, bus route |
| Archer Place | see page | Archer Road, bikeable to the health science campus |
Downtown and the Innovation District (bus or a long walk)
| Community | Recent median | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Union Street Station | $330,000 | Downtown mid-rise over shops, the most urban condo living in Gainesville |
| Lofts at West University | $222,000 | West University Avenue between downtown and campus |
| Seventh Street Station | from $144,000 | Smaller downtown building, walkable to Depot Park |
| First at Seventh | see page | 1980s downtown townhomes |
Ten-minute bus or drive: the SW 20th Avenue and Newberry Road corridors
| Community | Recent median | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rockwood Villas | $175,000 | The most active condo community in the city right now (about 10 listings); SW 20th Ave, bus route. Is Rockwood Villas a good place to live? |
| The Links | $233,000 | Golf-side condos off SW 20th Ave with about a dozen listings |
| Windsor Park | $150,000–$158,000 | SW 23rd Terrace, long-time student and staff community |
| Gaineswood | $213,000 | Larger units, quieter, attracts UF staff |
| Bivens Lake Estates | $172,000 | On Bivens Arm lake south of Archer Road |
| Cricket Club | $156,000 | SW 34th Street, pool and tennis |
| Woodside Villas | $160,000 | Townhome-style villas, SW side |
| Mill Pond and Monticello at Mill Pond | $225,000–$255,000 | Newberry Road side, west of campus |
| Casablanca East / West | $131,000–$177,000 | SW 16th Ave, value end |
| Treehouse Village, The Oaks, Greentree Village | $92,000–$110,000 | Lowest entry prices in the city; older buildings, so reserves and assessments matter most here |
| Charleston Place, Kensington Park, Greenbriar Terrace | $234,000 and up | Newer or larger-unit communities on the west side |
Townhomes are the other near-campus option and often finance more easily than condos; see townhome communities in Gainesville and townhomes for sale.
The kiddie-condo math, honestly
Take a representative near-campus purchase: a three-bedroom at $190,000 with a $300 monthly HOA. With 20 percent down at today’s rates the mortgage runs roughly $1,050 a month; add Alachua County property tax of about $220 (no homestead, since it is not the owner’s residence), insurance of about $60 for an HO-6 policy, and the HOA, and the carrying cost is about $1,630 a month.
Two roommates paying $700 each for a room (a typical by-the-bedroom rate in these communities; confirm current rents on each community page) cover $1,400 of it, so the family is out of pocket about $230 a month plus maintenance, versus paying roughly $800 to $1,000 a month for the student’s own room in a managed student complex.
Over four years that is a swing of about $30,000 to $40,000 in the family’s favor before any appreciation, and before the roughly $15,000 to $19,000 it costs to buy and later sell. The math works when three things are true: you hold at least three years, the building is financeable at a normal rate, and the association is healthy.
Financing: where kiddie condos go wrong
- Occupancy classification. If the student is on the loan and lives there, some lenders will treat it as owner-occupied (the classic kiddie-condo structure, often with a parent co-borrower). If only the parents are borrowing, expect second-home or investment pricing: a larger down payment and a higher rate. Get this answered in writing before you shop.
- Condo warrantability. Conventional lenders review the project, not just you: owner-occupancy ratio, share of units owned by one investor, pending litigation, reserve funding and commercial space. A building with 70 percent investor units may be cash or portfolio-loan only, which also caps who can buy it from you later.
- Reserves and assessments. Florida’s condo law changes since 2022 require funded structural reserves for buildings three stories and up, and associations everywhere have raised fees to catch up. Request the current budget, the most recent reserve study and the minutes from the last year of board meetings; a pending special assessment is a price negotiation, not a reason to walk, as long as you know about it.
- Insurance. You carry an HO-6 (walls-in) policy; the association’s master policy covers the structure. Alachua County is one of the cheapest counties in Florida to insure, so this is rarely the problem it is on the coast, but the master policy deductible can be passed through to owners after a loss.
Rules that matter more to parents than to other buyers
Read the declaration for occupancy limits (some communities restrict unrelated occupants per unit), leasing rules (minimum lease terms, registration, caps on the share of rented units), and pet and parking rules if your student has a car. Gainesville has no city ordinance that bars roommates in condos the way some college towns do, so the association documents are the controlling rules. We pull them during the inspection period on every condo contract.
Timing: buy in spring, sell in spring
Student leases in Gainesville run August to July, so the condo market has one real season. Investor and parent sellers list from February to May to close before move-in; buy then if you want choice, or in September and October if you want a motivated seller who missed the window and is carrying an empty unit. At graduation, list in March of senior year. The same spring cohort of incoming parents is your buyer pool, and it arrives every year, which is why near-campus condos here resell faster than condos in most college towns.
Momentum agents based in Gainesville
Four Momentum Realty agents live and work in Gainesville: Ariel Ammirati, Donavan Arnold, KC Harder, Robert Harder. All four work the UF and UF Health relocation calendar every year, and the form at the bottom of this page goes straight to them. Momentum is Jacksonville-founded with 320+ agents across Florida and Georgia; in Gainesville you get a local agent backed by the statewide housing data on this site.
Common questions
How much does a condo near UF cost?
What is a kiddie condo?
Can I rent the other bedrooms to my student’s roommates?
Does Florida’s condo inspection law affect Gainesville condos?
Should I sell the condo at graduation or keep it?
What about parking, buses and safety near campus?
Keep going
- All condos for sale in Gainesville and condo communities directory
- Moving to Gainesville for UF and UF Health relocation guide
- Buying a condo in Florida: the statewide guide and first-time buyer guide
- HOA fees by community, Alachua County and Gainesville insurance costs
- Gainesville ZIP codes: 32603, 32601, 32607 and 32608 ring the campus
UF figures: University of Florida Office of Economic Impact, "UF Government One-Pagers" (July 2026), Alachua County 2023–24 academic year. UF Health figures: UF Health Shands "Facts and Figures," fiscal year 2025. Housing figures: Momentum Realty MLS record, active listings and 12-month closings as of October 18, 2026; rent from the Zillow Observed Rent Index for Alachua County via our rent-vs-own page; monthly cost to own from our Gainesville cost-of-living model (20% down, 7.40%, Alachua County tax, Citizens county-average insurance).
Neighborhood medians are the most recent list or sale medians on each community page and move with the market. This is general information, not legal, tax or lending advice; confirm homestead, condo-financing and loan-program details with a Florida attorney, CPA or lender. The kiddie-condo example uses a $190,000 price, 20% down, a 7.40% rate, $300 HOA, 1.4% effective tax and a $60 HO-6 premium; room rents and student-housing rents are typical ranges, not quotes.