Florida’s real-estate market is on edge amid back-to-back hurricanes

Flooding from Hurricane Helene.

Another hurricane is expected to hit Florida as the state continues recovering from Hurricane Helene.

Hurricane Milton, a Category 4 storm (it weakened from a Category 5, but remains “extremely dangerous”), is on track to make landfall near Tampa Bay by Wednesday. It’s the latest hurdle for the state’s volatile real-estate market.

Milton’s peak wind speeds hit 160 mph on Monday. Heavy rain is expected before the storm arrives, and flooding is anticipated throughout the region. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has issued a state of emergency for 51 counties, and mandatory evacuations have begun in some areas. The mayor of Tampa, Jane Castor, has also issued a stark warning that anyone who remains in the city as Milton approaches will “die.”

It’s never a good time for a hurricane to hit, but preparing for a powerful storm while you recover from another makes the situation even more challenging.

Helene caused over 220 deaths and as much as $34 billion in damage, according to an estimate from Moody’s Analytics. Meanwhile, federal agencies meant to provide emergency assistance, like FEMA and the Small Business Administration, face their own cash crises.

Back-to-back hurricanes represent the latest problem for a real-estate market facing buyer’s remorse.

The threat and cost that hurricanes pose mean Florida homeowners have some reevaluating to do if they want to remain in the state, write B-17.

One homeowner told B-17 she pays $7,000 a year in flood and hazard insurance for her 1,400-square-foot bungalow just south of Tampa. (The policies paid off, her home was deemed uninhabitable after Helene, and she still wants to live there after it’s repaired.)

But those high costs, coupled with the annual fear of potentially losing your home every fall, have other residents throwing in the towel. Even a few insurers have called it quits on the state, while others could increase their prices by over 300% in the coming years.

It’s representative of the extremes the Sunshine State’s real-estate market has faced in recent years. One of the pandemic’s hottest markets, some people are now souring on Florida over its climate, costs, and overcrowding. (It’s not alone in its post-pandemic comedown, as Texas is facing a similar fate.)

But as much as people want to get out of the state, there will always be those looking to get in. More than 8,000 miles of coastline will do that.

One Florida resident whose home sustained almost three feet of water damage from Helene cut their listing price by 40%. Within hours, their real-estate agent received 25 calls from investors interested in the property.