Two devastating hurricanes have left their mark on Florida’s housing market, with home sales plummeting dramatically. According to Redfin, the five US metropolitan areas where pending sales declined the fastest were in Florida, with Fort Lauderdale taking the biggest hit at 15.2% year-over-year decline.
Miami followed with a 14% drop, and West Palm Beach was close behind with a 13.8% decline. In contrast, Tampa saw a slight improvement, with pending sales dropping 7.2%, compared to the 32.2% decline during the initial aftermath of the storms.
Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region on September 26, causing widespread damage and flooding in the Tampa Bay area. Hurricane Milton followed soon after, making landfall near Siesta Key on October 9.
However, Orlando’s housing market is slowly recovering from the impact of the storms. Pending sales dropped as much as 14.1% during the four weeks ending November 3 but have since decreased to a 5.1% drop.
Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari attributes Florida’s slowing housing market to frequent natural disasters, rising home insurance costs, and HOA fees due to intensifying climate risk. Meanwhile, nationwide pending sales increased by 4.7%, while property prices in the US rose 0.5% month-over-month and 5.9% year-over-year.
Bokhari notes that with the election now over, home buyer demand is starting to return, which could lead to increased competition and potentially higher prices unless there’s a significant spike in new listings.
Source: https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/these-florida-cities-saw-pending-home-sales-plummet-last-month-522ed630