Rising sea levels and more intense and frequent storms are having a direct effect on Florida’s housing market. According to ATTOM, a real estate data research firm, the state now has the third-highest number of foreclosures in the United States, driven largely by skyrocketing insurance premiums that directly correlate to greater climate change risk in the state.
Florida experienced a total of 4,724 foreclosures during the first quarter of 2024. “The most likely culprit is the rise in homeowners’ insurance that, coupled with the general inflation, has pushed people who were close to the edge over into foreclosures,” explained Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Forecasting.
Almost three-quarters (70.3%) of Floridians reported that their neighborhood experienced either an increase in homeowner insurance rates or a negative change in coverage such as being dropped by their insurer. For perspective, the state with the next-highest rate was California, where 51% of residents reported more expensive insurance or coverage changes.
In total, homeowners’ insurance premiums increased 102% across Florida over the previous three years. Compared to 2023, Orlando experienced a 28% increase in foreclosures (1,403) while Tampa (1,426) and Miami (3,011) experienced a 21% and 19% increase, respectively.
Greater climate change risk and its corresponding rise in homeowners’ insurance rates is having a direct effect on Floridians’ housing decisions. 12% of surveyed Florida residents who planned to move out of the state within the next year specifically cited higher insurance costs as a reason—almost twice the national average of 6.2%. Time will tell whether Florida’s elected leaders wake up to this alarming fact or continue to deny climate change and its deleterious effects on state residents.
