TAMPA - Florida condo owners are stuck in
a rut as prices drop and mounting insurance rates and condo
fees are scaring away buyers. It’s led to more condos
sitting on the market for longer than single-family homes
according to realtors in the Bay Area.
Condo owners in the Sunshine State are trying to unload
units, as insurance costs and maintenance fees, like an HOA,
make it too expensive. It’s led to a 30% jump in condo
listings sitting on the market from that just this time last
year in Florida.
"What you're seeing here is flood insurance rates have
impacted not only single-family homes, but they've really
impacted a lot of condominiums, especially if they're on the
water. And as these insurance policies rise, HOA payments
have gone really high," said Mark Middleton from Silver
Trident Realty. "You can clearly see that condos are staying
on the market longer. And some of those prices are
significantly lower price than they were a year ago."
The risk of flooding and worsening weather has scrambled the
homeowner’s market. Single-family homes are always a
necessity, so condo sales have been worse off.
Data from just in the Bay Area shows condo sales are down
year over year by 18%. While in many cases, condo owners say
insurance costs and HOA fees have doubled in the last few
years.
"We have high-interest rates, high insurance or condo fees
is how the insurance is wrapped in, and high prices," said
Cyndee Haydon with Future Home Realty. "Interest rates are
across the United States, insurances across Florida. But the
condo catch-up piece is sort of unique right now to the rest
of the world that we're dealing with."
According to RedFin, homeowners’ insurance in Florida costs
three times the national average and is escalating with
unfortunately no reprieve insight.
The laws and regulations for condo owners also changed
following the Surfside tragedy in South Florida in 2021,
where a 12-story building collapsed.
Now, new fees for building assessments and safety
precautions have been imposed on owners as well.