Florida homeowners insurance market recovering, but challenges remain

While Florida’s residential casualty insurance companies are recovering from the assets vs. claims crisis a few years ago, there still are challenges facing homeowners when it comes to insuring their property. Florida domestic property companies reported $944 million in net income as of year-end 2024, up from $292 million at year-end 2023 and reversing the $741 million net loss in 2022 from Category 5 Hurricane Ian that caused an estimated $112 billion in damage, the most for a single storm in Florida history. [Source: Jacksonville Daily Record]

Buyers wield more power in housing market, especially in Sun Belt, with contract cancellations on the rise

A surging wave of home-sale cancellations is tilting the balance in the housing market from sellers to buyers. In June 2025, nearly 15% of pending home sales fell through, per Redfin, a record high for June data stretching back to 2017. The contract cancellations are concentrated in the Sun Belt states like Florida and Texas that have powered housing since the pandemic housing boom. The consequences of contract cancellations reach beyond individual buyers and sellers to builders, agents, and the broader economy. [Source: Fortune]

Buyers seeking older condos, report says. See the latest on sales, prices

Condos inside buildings that have been around for 30 years or older are spending an average of 62 days on the market once listed for sale. That’s fewer than the 79 days on the market for condos in newer buildings. That trend might have been influenced by a new Florida condo safety law that went into effect on July 1 mandating inspections with immediate repairs and maintaining structural integrity studies to help prevent another Surfside condo collapse. [Source: Miami Herald]

Florida's home hardening program saves homeowners $1,000 on average. Here's when to apply

If you applied for a My Safe Florida (MSFH) grant last year but didn't get a grant before funds dried up, you may soon be in luck. Florida's home hardening program received $280 million for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which will enable it to offer grants to the existing 45,000 applicants to strengthen their homes against storms and lower their home insurance premiums. Florida homeowners who participate in the program have saved an average of $1,014, according to the state's former Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. [Source: Pensacola News Journal]

Florida's Fisher Island is the most expensive zip code in the U.S.

South Florida is topping the list when it comes to the most expensive zip code in the U.S, a new report said. According to the Robb Report, the 33109 zip code is the most expensive one in the Sunshine State. The 33109 zip code is tied to Miami Beach, but more specifically, Fisher Island. Fisher Island is home to about 600 residents and requires a helicopter or boat to get to it. It's located across Government Cut. [Source: NBC Miami]

STAT OF THE WEEK
$8.8 million
A home in St Petersburg’s Snell Isle neighborhood just sold for $8.8 million, marking the highest-grossing home sale in Pinellas County this year. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

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Struggling to find a lucrative niche this year? You’re not alone. With leads scarce and deals drying up, you’re probably considering niches you wouldn’t have touched with a ten-foot pole in 2021. Probate, divorce leads, short sales — everything is on the table when you have a mortgage to pay. Leads are leads, right? There’s just one problem: every agent in your office is in the same boat. Efrain Daza might have a solution to your lead problem.

› City Council approves $3.5M for East Tampa affordable housing project [Tampa Bay Times]
Tampa City Council members on Thursday approved $3.5 million for a 20-unit affordable apartment project in East Tampa, with a plan to earmark more money later. The Tampa-based developer, Urban ReWorx, requested $5 million for the rental apartment building. But council members, meeting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, said approving that much money might mean pulling funds from other projects. It took five votes and an hours-long discussion to reach a compromise.

› See inside a 56-room, Venetian-inspired mansion in Florida that the Ringling circus family built a century ago [Business Insider]
The Ringling Brothers circus once brought elephants, gilded wagons, and flying trapeze artists to towns across America aboard a mile-long train. Lauded as the "World's Greatest Show," the circus enterprise made the Ringlings one of America's wealthiest families by the early 20th century. So what did John Ringling, the second-youngest and most famous of his seven brothers, do with all that wealth? He brought Venice to Florida.

› Kissimmee extends hot streak as developers compete for dormant Kmart site [Orlando Sentinel]
Downtown Kissimmee’s commercial real estate market is on fire. The city received three proposals from developers eager to transform a blighted Kmart and Big Lots site on W. Vine Street into a vibrant, urban neighborhood. The three developers — Skyview Companies, Wendover Housing Partners and Capstrata/Hedrick Brothers — all proposed a mixed-use district on the 22-acre site with commercial uses fronting on Vine and a large pond on the north end of the site. The similarities end there.

State Rep. Vicki Lopez discusses new laws impacting condo owners