Florida is becoming Germany’s retirement hedge

If you spend time in German-language Facebook groups about Florida real estate, you’ll notice a pattern. The houses have names like Villa Sunbeam, Villa Tulip, or Villa Sunshine Dream. Most of the owners don’t actually live in Florida. At least, not yet. A quiet trend is emerging across Florida’s real estate market. More Germans are looking at the state not merely as a vacation destination, but as a retirement plan. [Source: Florida Politics]

Manufactured homes gain traction as affordability option

Manufactured homes have a reputation problem – but so did sardines, until foodies decided the humble little fish had a cool factor. Today’s homes have come a long way from the boxy trailers of the past. The stigma, however, has been slower to fade. So what will it take to ditch the old “tin can” image? For buyers struggling to afford a starter home, manufactured homes offer modern layouts at a much lower price. They cost about 40% less per month than traditionally built houses, according to Fannie Mae. [Source: Florida Realtors]

How much would Florida homeowners save under proposed tax cut?

Voters will have to juxtapose desires for money in their pockets against warnings that the tax-slashing measure could upend public services, the structure of local government and the state’s economy. The proposed rules apply only to primary homes, which account for about 47% of the state’s parcels. The measure creates a homestead exemption of $250,000 in 2028 after a first-year phase-in, up from the current $50,000 cap, but leaves school taxes unscathed. That means if it passes this November, the bulk of most tax bills would fund public schools. Today, property taxes are the primary funder for far more. More from the Orlando Sentinel and Mortgage Professional.

Florida remains the riskiest market for future home price declines

Mounting pressures—including underwater mortgages, foreclosures, and persistent unemployment concerns—have placed several Florida housing markets among those most vulnerable to future price declines. Of the 50 highest-risk markets, 12 were in Florida, nine in California, and five each in Illinois and New Jersey, according to the first-quarter housing risk report from real estate analytics firm ATTOM. [Source: Realtor.com]

Florida ranked worst state for renters, but some areas offer a cheaper alternative

Florida has earned a title no renter wants to hear: the worst state in the nation for apartment hunters when it comes to how much they pay in rent. A new Consumer Affairs analysis ranks the Sunshine State as the single worst state in the country for renters, showing that the cost of rent across Florida is about 18% higher than the national median. Without change, housing advocates warn that these skyrocketing costs are actively threatening the state’s future ability to retain its workforce. [Source: Action News Jax]

STAT OF THE WEEK
28%
The September 2025 data from the Florida Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research shows that about 28% of Florida’s homestead properties have a just value (or market value) of $250,000 or below. [Source: WLRN]

ALSO TRENDING:

› ‘Living on prayer’: Some Miami-area homeowners head into hurricane season uninsured [Miami Herald]
For years, South Florida homeowners have watched insurance premiums soar as insurers pulled out of the state or tightened coverage in response to increasingly costly hurricanes, rising construction costs and litigation. A recent report found that Florida homeowners insurance premiums rose nearly double the national average between 2021 and 2025. The region now ranks among the most expensive places in the country to insure a home, particularly for windstorm coverage tied to hurricane risk.

› Sarasota back in top 10 U.S. cities people are moving to [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Sarasota has returned to a national ranking of top moving destinations after falling off last year. The city has landed back in PODS’ 2026 Moving Trends Report, the moving and storage company’s annual look at where Americans are relocating, marking a comeback after Sarasota fell off the list entirely in 2025. This year, Sarasota ranks No. 9 on the annual list produced by the moving and storage company based in Clearwater.

› Resident turnout forces Eustis to pause major housing plan [Click Orlando]
Eustis is pumping the brakes on a proposed development that could bring more than 250 new homes to the city. The project has sparked concerns from residents who say the area’s roads and infrastructure are already struggling. Eustis city leaders have tabled a vote on a proposed housing development that could bring hundreds of new homes off Eustis Airport Road.

› Jacksonville considering up to $1 million in incentives for conversion of former FBI office building into apartments [Jacksonville Daily Record]
City officials are set to consider granting $1 million in incentives for a completed office-to-multifamily conversion in the former Federal Bureau of Investigation field office in Arlington. According to a memo from the Office of Economic Development to the Mayor’s Budget Review Committee, the city would award a 10-year, 75% Recapture Enhanced Value Grant to Theotokos Holdings LLC for a portion of the three-building property.

Legal Elite Profile: John G. Crabtree