Today’s newsletter is full of great news for Florida real estate homeowners and home buyers.
Last week I touched on these ideas, and today I dive a bit deeper into each.
Starting with Florida real estate homeowners, this decade’s been a long slog when it comes to homeowners insurance. Florida real estate has been slammed with brutal hurricanes causing billions in damage. At the same time, relentless, bogus claims and frivolous lawsuits stemmed from these climate disasters.
According to Insurance Information Institute, “About 9% of homeowner property claims nationwide are filed in Florida, yet 79% of lawsuits related to property claims are filed here.”
But the worst appears to be over and Florida’s homeowners insurance is looking “less bad.” Here why:
* State-run insurer of last choice, Citizens, saw their policy count fall from 1.4 million to less than 385,000 – a decrease of 73%
* Florida approved 17 new insurers to write policies – more competition and less gov’t involvement equals pricing pressure
* Frivolous lawsuits are down 25% in 2025 over 2024
* Insurers became profitable in 2025 after years of heavy loses
* Florida had no hurricanes in 2025
* State Farm and other top insurers applied for rate reduction of 15% or more
One other idea I’ve yet to write about is Florida’s governor wants to eliminate Florida real estate property taxes. It’s an idea that started with deer-in-the-headlight looks, but is gaining momentum (I’ll be diving into this in the weeks ahead to help unpack what it’s about).
Florida Real Estate Home Buyers
If you’re a home buyer, 2026 is starting out with ideas that may be in your favor.
To start, have you seen the latest 30-yr mortgage rate? In my eLetter last week, mortgage rates were 6.19%. The next day our government launched a series of announcements.
First, it said they’d buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds. That caused a chain reaction in the markets and the 30-yr mortgage dropped to 5.99% – see the graph here:
Then the government said it wants to cap credit card interest rates at 10% (Today they hover between a crippling 19% – 29%).
And last, the government said it wants to stop institutions from buying homes in the US. Experts say this has, in part, artificially increased real estate values. But, reports show institutions only own about 2% of the homes in America and that it may not have any affect on the housing affordability issues.
In a period of a few short days, there was a barrage of ideas that hit the markets at once. We don’t know which will stick or create a better environment for the real estate market, but it’s clear that our government’s attention in on real estate and helping homeowners and home buyers.
So am I.
This is why created my latest video where I share the Pro’s and Con’s about buying Florida real estate in 2026. I talk about the risks of buying and not buying based on large themes in our local Florida real estate markets. I know you’ll find it worth your time to watch.
(Photo Above: Clean Delray Beach luxury front yard lines…)
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*** Tropical Smokehouse restaurant opened on Atlantic Ave last weekend
*** This downtown Delray condo listing is only 219 steps to The Ray Hotel where you can spend as much money as you want in their 3 fabulous restaurants
*** Another sign 2026 will be a strong year for real estate – Pending Home Sales are UP!
* Check out the new Downtown Delray Beach website to get current updates
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*** South Florida Real Estate Inventory is ABOVE 2019***
Last week’s supply was 56,168
Today’s supply is 55,965
Supply was down 203 Last Week
*** Supply is DOWN 25 of 36 weeks…***
