Florida Trend Real Estate

Florida home sales rise again in April

Florida’s housing market logged year-over-year closed sales gains for the eighth consecutive month in April, with condos and townhouses leading the charge, according to Florida Realtors®' Research Department. Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor said April’s numbers reflect a market normalizing after years of tight inventory and rapid price growth. More from Florida Realtors and the South Florida Business Journal.

Rising gas prices reshape Florida home searches

Rising gas prices and return-to-office mandates are reshaping how buyers search for homes, with some Florida house hunters placing a greater emphasis on shorter commutes, walkable neighborhoods and day-to-day travel costs. A new report from Realtor.com found the growing “commute tax” is shrinking home searches as buyers factor fuel costs into overall affordability. In Florida, where sprawling metro areas and car-dependent suburbs are common, agents say the issue is becoming more noticeable. [Source: Florida Trend]

Column: For Florida's condo market, a necessary reset – but at what cost?

Across Florida, condominium median prices have declined nearly 10% over the past year. But that headline number tells only part of the story. This is not a broad market correction but rather a split in buyer sentiment. Newer, well-funded buildings continue to attract buyers and hold value, while many older properties face rising costs, expanding inventory and declining demand. This divergence is not accidental. It is the direct result of overdue reforms. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

Florida’s $130k housing miracle comes with a brutal catch

A new $130,000 housing ‘miracle’ is drawing desperate buyers in Miami - but it comes with a catch buried beneath the front lawn. Cottage Grove, a new trailer park-style community in South Miami-Dade, is offering four-bedroom homes from just $129,900 in one of America’s most unaffordable property markets. The price is astonishing in Miami-Dade County, where the median listing price is $595,868 and many ordinary families have been priced out altogether. But buyers will not own the land under their homes. [Source: Daily Mail]

Meet the women shaping South Florida’s skyline

Real estate is a notoriously male-dominated industry, but in South Florida a growing number of women power players are making their mark on the tri-county region’s changing skylines. A recent study by the MIT Center for Real Estate and CREW Network Foundation found that women make up just 38 percent of the commercial real estate workforce. Earlier this year, The Real Deal featured its Top 100 South Florida real estate leaders, including 22 of the women at the top of the industry. [Source: The Real Deal]

ALSO TRENDING:

› Central Florida housing market favors buyers for first time since pandemic [WFTV]
For the first time since the pandemic, the Central Florida housing market has officially shifted in favor of buyers, with new data showing more than half of all price-reduced homes in the region sitting on the market for at least two months. According to the latest Price Reduction Report from the Homes In Orlando Team, there are currently 1,394 active price-reduced listings across Orange, Seminole, Volusia, and Lake counties. Of those, 753 homes — that’s 54 percent — have been on the market for 60 days or longer.

› Is Jacksonville the worst large housing market in the nation? [News 4 Jax]
Jacksonville has been ranked the worst large housing market in the country in a new national real estate analysis, with several other Florida cities also landing near the bottom of the list. The report from Construction Coverage analyzed housing markets across the United States using factors including home price growth, bidding competition and the amount of time homes spend on the market. The data used in this analysis is from Redfin’s Data Center. Jacksonville ranked last among large cities with a composite score of 16. Tampa ranked third worst, while Miami also appeared among the bottom-performing large housing markets.

› Miami’s $1 million-plus home sales are leading the market in 2026 [Haute Residence]
Miami’s real estate market is opening 2026 with strong momentum across multiple price points, with notable activity in the $1 million–plus segment alongside continued strength at the ultra-luxury level. Rather than sitting at the top, the $1 million–plus range has become a key part of the market’s foundation, offering a clear view into where consistent demand is forming.

› In New Port Richey, this housing project just cleared a key hurdle [Tampa Bay Times]
The city of New Port Richey has taken the next steps to help the Villa del Sol housing project move forward. City Council members approved four ordinances — three vacation of public right-of-way requests and a small city-owned surplus property transfer request on Grand Boulevard. In exchange for transferring the small city-owned parcel of land along Grand Boulevard to the developer, the city will acquire a separate parcel.