Five years after the Covid-19 pandemic sent condo prices skyrocketing in Florida, the market is now lagging as new building regulations drive up costs and foreign buyers stay away.
After the tragic 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South complex in Surfside, Fla., which killed 98 people, the Florida legislature mandated inspections for condo buildings 30 years and older. As a result, owners are facing hefty renovation bills, forcing many to put their units up for sale, flooding the market.
Meanwhile, the foreign buyers who long powered that market, primarily from Latin America, are bowing out. In South Florida, the region with the most condos statewide, sales to foreigners fell to the lowest level since at least 2015. With the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, the trend is likely to persist, said Peter Zalewski, an independent condo analyst who writes the Miami Condo Investing Club newsletter.
The result is a market that became saddled this year with 10 months’ worth of supply, the most since 2011. In Q2 2025, the number of available listings statewide (73,225) was nearly 25 percent higher than a year before.
The median sale price of condos and townhouses has dropped by more than 6 percent over the past year, to $310,000, according to a report from the Florida Realtors trade association, which compiled data from the Multiple Listing Service, a database used by brokers.
“We’re in a completely different world from when people were queuing up to see open houses and multiple offers were coming in above asking price,” said Mr. Zalewski.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Lower prices and higher inventory are part of a typical real estate cycle, said Tim Weisheyer, the president of Florida Realtors. And the new building regulations, while expensive, will improve transparency and make homes safer.
“Just a few years ago, buyers were struggling to shop the market and find what they wanted,” Mr. Weisheyer added. The reversal is “providing individual buyers an opportunity to access home ownership.”
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