- Floridian homeowners face mounting uncertainties following hurricanes Helene and Milton.
- One resident is afraid of residents abandoning homes after storms if they can't pay to be fixed.
- An inland real-estate agent worries that some snowbirds won't return to buy new properties.
A destructive hurricane season has dealt a blow to Florida's housing market, which was already struggling with surging homeowners' association costs and a home insurance crisis.
In October, the five metropolitan areas nationwide with the biggest year-over-year drops in pending home sales were all located in the Sunshine State, according to a new report from real-estate site Redfin.
Over a four-week period ending November 10, pending home sales dropped 15.2% in Ft. Lauderdale, 14% in Miami, 13.8% in West Palm Beach, 9.5% in Jacksonville, and 7.2% in Tampa.
In Tampa, pending home sales actually fell as much as 32.2% during the month prior, when both Hurricanes Milton and Helene made landfall. The drop has leveled out at 7.2%, indicating the worst impacts may be over.
Pending home sales are deals where a contract is signed, but the sale has not closed. With a typical window of one to two months between the sales of homes and their closings, pending home sales can be an early indicator of market shifts.
Hurricanes Helene and Milton have exacerbated concerns about the future of property values and the cost of homeownership in Florida. After the storms, which made landfall in September and October, the state suffered an estimated $21 to $34 billion in damages, including uninsured properties.
At the same time, insurance experts have raised the alarm that an affordability crisis is likely to worsen. Some Florida cities, like Jacksonville and Cape Coral, saw average home insurance payments for mortgaged single-family residences jump at least 85% since 2019, according to financial services company Intercontinental Exchange.
"Florida represents an outsize amount of risk compared to other areas of the world," Kyle Ulrich, president and CEO of the Florida Association of Insurance Agents, told Business Insider in October.
For some residents, the mood on the ground is anxious.
Three Florida homeowners shared their concerns about the cost of rebuilding after hurricane damage, their home values, and the storms' impact on seasonal residents who are key drivers of the state economy.
Retirees couldn't afford to raise their home, then it was hit by a hurricane
In 2021, Jon and Lyn Drake purchased a home in Yankeetown, Florida, which is about two hours north of Tampa and less than 10 minutes from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
Their 800-square-foot house, located just feet away from a small riverbed, had belonged to a neighbor who died and cost them $190,000.
The dream home soon turned into a nightmare for the retired couple, aged 71 and 69. Last fall, Hurricane Idalia floodwaters reached within a foot of the house, the closest it had ever been, prompting Jon to look into services that could raise the home.
The Drakes said they were quoted prices to lift the house from around $130,000 to as high as $229,000, which they felt they couldn't afford.
"There's not a lot of companies that do it here, and it's just really price-gouging right now," Jon told BI.
Then Hurricane Helene barreled through Yankeetown. The couple lost their kitchen appliances, washer and dryer, and a new generator. The floors will have to be torn up.
For now, the couple is waiting to see how their insurance claims shake out to figure out their next steps. They want to rebuild, but are worried about how much of the cost they'll have to shoulder themselves.
"We're in a holding pattern right now," Jon said.
A coastal resident worries about his home value
John Adams, a retiree who lives near Yankeetown in Inglis, said his home was 15 inches away from taking on water during Hurricane Helene.
His home, raised 12 feet above ground, is the highest in his neighborhood, he said.
With the increasing power of storms coupled with skyrocketing insurance costs, Adams worries about homeowners in a pinch walking away from devastated homes. That could, in turn, lower the quality and value of the neighborhood. As Adam sees it, it's in his best interest to help pay for other peoples' homes to be raised.
"I'm in favor of paying for somebody else's fund to raise their homes. Because if we can solve that problem, it helps my values," he said.
Adams thinks either taxes could be raised or a new state agency could be created specifically to focus on raising low-lying homes that are most at risk. Currently, regional authorities like the Southwest Florida Water Management District are tasked with flood prevention and FEMA provides grants to some homeowners after a disaster.
"Nothing is ever going to fix or safeguard homes from flooding except 'elevate, elevate, elevate,'" he said "You can't outrun the water."
A real-estate agent thinks snowbirds could get scared away
In Ocala, located an hour from the Gulf of Mexico coastline, real-estate agent Emily White worries about how the severity of this year's storm will impact the snowbirds.
The annual migration of mostly elderly residents from cold-weather states who flock to the Florida sunshine to ride out the winter months plays a key role in the state's economy.
An estimated 1.5 million seasonal residents make up the snowbird flock, according to the Associated Press, representing a temporary 6.5% bump in the state's population.
"I'm praying the snowbirds come back this year. I need them to come back so I can get some of my listings sold, but we'll see how it's affected," White told Business Insider. "Will they come as hot and heavy as they did before these storms?"
White said a potential buyer from Arizona called her after seeing the devastation of Hurricane Milton, wondering if she might need to alter her plans to buy and how the storms would affect home-insurance costs.
Even if there's no immediate impact this winter, White expects the hurricane jitters to leave a lasting impact. Buyers who were looking at coastal properties might move more inland and some prospective buyers may choose to rent instead, she told BI.
"I think it'll deter people overall," White said.