2025 Florida Market Cools, Early Rebound Emerging

ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida’s housing market slowed through much of 2025 as high mortgage rates and affordability pressures weighed on buyer demand, but early signs suggest activity is beginning to rebound as rates ease, according to Florida Realtors®’ review of international sales and economic conditions.

While Florida’s market reflects local challenges — from insurance costs to elevated prices — it is also being shaped by a cooling global economy marked by slower growth, trade tensions and lingering uncertainty. Together, those forces have softened demand, extended time on market and kept price movement largely in check across much of the state.

Globally, economic growth has slowed amid heightened trade tensions, policy uncertainty and elevated interest rates. Global GDP growth edged down from 3.0% in calendar year 2023 to 2.9% in 2024 and is expected to remain near that pace for several years, according to the International Monetary Fund. Persistent inflation, geopolitical instability and the risk of financial market corrections continue to cloud the outlook.

In Florida, higher mortgage rates, rising insurance costs, property taxes and elevated home prices dampened housing demand during the 2025 survey period. Inventory increased largely because homes took longer to sell, not because more properties were coming onto the market. Since the survey period ended, falling mortgage rates have helped lift sales activity, offering early signs of improvement.

Although inventory growth slowed significantly in 2025, levels in most Florida markets remain above pre-pandemic norms, reflecting demand weakness that followed the sharp interest rate increases beginning in 2022. Current inventory levels are not high or low enough to drive major price shifts statewide. Markets that have seen some price softening tend to be those where existing homes face competition from sizable new construction.

Domestic in-migration to Florida has cooled since its post-pandemic peak in 2022, but it remains stronger than pre-pandemic levels. Lower interest rates could help reenergize that demand in the year ahead.

International travel adds another layer to Florida’s outlook. Tourism continued to recover in calendar year 2024, with nearly 3.4 million Canadian visitors — about 174,000 more than in 2023. While Canadian visitation slowed in the first half of 2025, travel from other international markets has improved so far this year.

Transactions

International buyer activity

• International buyer purchases of Florida residential properties (i.e., single-family homes, townhouses, condos, and co-ops) between August 2024 and July 2025 showed substantial change compared to the prior 12-month period, with sales counts increasing by 50%.
• High prices and interest rates, along with economic uncertainty, continue to dampen buyer activity, as sales remain well below pre-pandemic levels.

Dollar volume

• With higher sale prices and an increase in transactions, international buyer dollar volume climbed up to $10.4 billion from a multi-year low of $7.1 billion in 2024.
• Dollar volume was still 33% less than the recent peak of $15.6 billion in 2020.

Share of Florida sales

• Domestic demand for Florida homes remained strong, with international buyers accounting for only a 5% share of both existing home sales and dollar volume across the state.
• Although a slight improvement from just 3% in 2024, the 2025 trend in the share of both existing home sales and dollar volume remains somewhat steady.

Where international buyers are coming from

International buyers are attracted to Florida from across the globe. The appeal of the Sunshine State for some could be its weather and beaches, while others view it as a bright investment opportunity.

• Latin American and Caribbean buyers continue to represent the largest fraction of international buyers in Florida, at 45% in 2025.
• The shares of international buyers from the Europe and Northern American regions tied for second place, both at 18%.
• All international buyers from the Northern America region were from Canada.

Top countries by dollar volume

• As usual, Canadians accounted for the most international dollar volume in the 2025 survey by a wide margin. In total, Canadian dollar volume in 2025 was about $1.9 billion, a 52% increase from 2024.
• Colombian buyers staged a big resurgence in dollar volume, increasing spending to $925 million from just $307 million in 2024.
• As a result, Brazil fell from second to third place in this metric for the first time in several years, despite a modest increase of its own to $762 million.
• Mexico returned to the Top 5 in dollar volume after a year’s absence, dropping the UK from the ranking.

Transaction growth

The estimated number of residential purchases by international buyers in Florida between August 2024 and July 2025 increased by 51% compared to last year’s survey. While international sales levels still remain muted compared to the pre-pandemic years, this year’s rebound is a signal that international investor confidence in Florida’s property market is on its way back. With higher sale prices, the jump in transactions pulled dollar volume up to $10.4 billion—46% higher than last year’s total of $7.1 billion.

• Purchases by international buyers remained heavily concentrated in South Florida, with 45% of purchases occurring in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach MSA.
•  In South Florida, 64% of purchases were by buyers from Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by 14% from Europe.
• The Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford MSA also saw a heavy concentration of buyers from Latin America and the Caribbean, accounting for 36% of international purchases in that market.
• Destinations in the Tampa Bay area and Southwest Florida were more popular with Canadian and European buyers.
• While only 6% of Florida’s international purchases in 2025 were in the Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island MSA, 52% of those buyers were identified as Canadian.

Prices

Florida’s median sale price decreased slightly in the 2025 survey period but remains elevated relative to pre-pandemic years.

• The median sale price among Florida international buyers was $442,000 in 2025, decreasing $27,000 from 2024’s median price of $469,000.
• The median price among international buyers was 12.5% more than the median of all properties sold in Florida between August 2024 and July 2025, which was smaller than the 17% spread from the prior year.

Price distribution

The distribution of international buyer purchase prices shifted somewhat from the previous year.

• The largest share of purchases were in the $250K–$500K range, rising to 39% from 38% in 2024.
• The range with the largest increase in 2025 was the under $150K price bracket, with a share of 9% compared to 7% in 2024.

Methodology

The 2025 Profile of International Residential Transactions in Florida report presents information from Florida Realtors members regarding residential transactions with international clients closed during the 12-month period of August 2024 to July 2025. For the survey results presented in this report, the year “2025” refers to this 12-month period, and the year 2024 refers to the period of August 2023-July 2024.

In August 2025, online survey invitations were sent to about 238,000 Realtors across the state of Florida. A total of 4,907 Realtors completed the survey from August 8 through October 7, of which 978 reported a closed international buyer transaction during the reference period. Respondents were asked about their real estate activity over the period of August 2024–July 2025 and were asked detailed questions about the characteristics of their most recent transaction.

To correct for over- or under-response from Realtor members in each metropolitan area, the sample distribution of respondents was reweighted by a factor that aligns the sample distribution to the Florida Realtors membership distribution across the state’s 22 metropolitan areas.

Jennifer Warner is an economist and Director of Economic Development

© 2025 Florida Realtors®