Hit by setbacks such as the back-to-back hurricanes and high property insurance costs, the Florida housing market is cooling down, according to a new report by the Redfin Real Estate brokerage.
"We're in a very slow market, and now that we're coming to holidays, it's going to be even a little slower, except for those are vacation rentals because we always receive snowbirds," said Lindsay Garcia, a Redfin real estate agent based in South Florida.
According to the Redfin study, the Orlando housing market is starting to recover after a 14% drop in the weeks following Hurricane Milton, which swept across Central Florida.
Still, the Redfin report found that Florida is home to the five U.S. metro areas where home sales are falling fastest. They are Fort Lauderdale, Miami, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville and Tampa.
"So it is happening all over, but I think in condos is when people suffer the most. I think it's as a single family, you have more options," Garcia said.
After the Surfside condo collapse in South Florida, state lawmakers approved new building safety regulations in 2022, driving up HOA fees to pay for inspections. Garcia said some Florida condos are sitting on the market for more than a year.
"So it is a combination of high insurance and now, you know, high dues for the reserve funded studies, all the work related to that, and also then special assessment, also related to the work that they need to do to get the recertification that now is earlier than before," Garcia said.
Garcia tells WESH 2 News that the state's housing market outlook could improve in the new year.
"And then interest rate went a little down this week, and we're expecting that it's going to be more reduction by the Fed. That. So that is going to help. And I think the situation with the market is going to improve," Garcia said.