Have Florida’s days in the real estate investment sun come to an end?
That appears to be the takeaway from a new report from brokerage/listing site Redfin, which showed Florida as one of the few states where investment activity—both mom-and-pop and institutional—has declined, while nationally, purchases were up about 2% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The Sunshine State has experienced a steep decline in investment activity, with major cities down double digits. In Orlando, the 16% year-over-year drop was the largest among the 38 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas Redfin analyzed. Fort Lauderdale was just behind with a 15% drop-off, while further north, Jacksonville was down 7%.
Redfin’s head of economic research, Chen Zhao, said in the report:
“Some investors are keeping their pocketbooks closed, which eliminates competition for everyday first-time buyers. The pandemic-era investor frenzy that crowded out so many first-time homebuyers has largely fizzled. There are still obstacles for buyers, like high costs, but investors are no longer one of them—at least in many parts of the country.”
The Math for Investors
The reasons for the pullback from Florida are not hard to figure out: rising expenses and stalling rents. While this is true for much of the country, in Florida, those expenses are even more pronounced due to a steep rise in insurance costs.
Bankrate’s March 2026 homeowners survey put Florida’s average premium at about $5,838 per year for a standard policy with $300,000 in dwelling coverage, more than double the U.S. average of $2,424.
That analysis shows that Florida’s typical homeowner pays roughly $3,400 more per year than the national norm, which is a killer for the…