Florida’s Spring Home Market Showing ‘Unusual’ Slowdown Across Major Cities
Multiple Florida Cities See Unusual Spring Market Trends
At least eight Florida metropolitan areas experienced slow new-home market conditions this spring—what is traditionally the busiest season for the U.S. housing market—according to data from John Burns Research and Consulting (JBREC).
Fort Myers, Lakeland, Naples, Jacksonville, Orlando, Sarasota, Tampa, and West Palm Beach all experienced weakening prices and lower sales for newly built homes, with more-frequent use of incentives for buyers, including discounts.
“These areas were barely an isolated case in the country,” JBREC noted, “with over half the new-home markets experiencing the same slump.” The company added in a recent social-media post: “Not exactly what you’d expect from the busiest season in housing.”
Surge in Inventory Meets Weakened Demand
“New-home inventory in many regions of the U.S. is at its highest level since 2010,” according to JBREC data, “with Texas and Florida at the epicenter of this surge.” The two states, which saw “an explosion in housing demand and higher-than-normal levels of domestic migration over the pandemic,” built more new homes than any others since 2020.
Now, many of those thousands of newly built homes added to the market in Florida and Texas “are sitting idle on the market without finding interested buyers.” JBREC points to higher mortgage rates, rising home insurance premiums, and homeowners association (HOA) fees as key factors “contributing to eroding buyers’ purchasing power, even as growing inventory gives them more options.”
Builders Pull Back as Listings Decline
“Builders in these states are responding to slower demand and falling sales by pulling back on new construction, but this adjustment would take time,” JBREC said.
The number of new homes listed for sale on the Florida market, however, has already started to decline. “After reaching a peak of 54,824 new-home listings in January 2025, up 8.9 percent from a year earlier,” the number of new homes added to the market has been trending down.
In May, Florida recorded 45,441 new homes for sale, “8.7 percent fewer than a year earlier,” according to Redfin.
Source
John Burns Research and Consulting (JBREC), Redfin