What the Florida Market Actually Looks Like Right Now
Program and regulatory figures verified September 19, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
Two numbers decide whether buying before selling is smart in Florida: how long your house takes to go pending, and which way values are moving while you hold two of them.
Fourteen Florida metros, month ending August 2026
Typical value is Zillow's ZHVI for the middle tier of the market, smoothed and seasonally adjusted. Days to pending is the mean number of days from listing to pending status. The United States row is the benchmark.
| Metro | Typical value | Change over year | Days to pending |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $368,697 | benchmark | 53 |
| Miami and Fort Lauderdale | $475,830 | down 0.5% | 98 |
| Tampa | $358,706 | down 1.5% | 70 |
| Orlando | $383,445 | down 1.8% | 70 |
| Jacksonville | $350,783 | down 0.5% | 80 |
| North Port and Sarasota | $402,040 | down 3.1% | 91 |
| Cape Coral and Fort Myers | $335,410 | down 4.4% | 119 |
| Port St. Lucie | $381,749 | down 1.3% | 92 |
| Naples | $550,720 | down 2.4% | 130 |
| Lakeland | $295,821 | down 2.4% | 80 |
| Palm Bay and Melbourne | $341,944 | down 0.9% | 67 |
| Punta Gorda | $297,279 | down 4.9% | 114 |
| Ocala | $269,193 | down 2.3% | 95 |
| Key West | $959,889 | up 1.1% | 151 |
How to read this if you are planning a move
The first column that matters is the last one. Days to pending is the number your entire plan rests on, and it is measured list to pending, so your closing period sits on top of it. A Naples seller looking at 130 days to pending should be planning around something closer to five months from listing to funds in hand.
That is why contingent offers struggle here. A seller weighing your offer against a clean one is being asked to wait out that entire period with no certainty at the end of it. In a 53 day national market that ask is modest. In a 119 day Cape Coral market it is not.
The half that most lender sites leave out
Values fell over the year in twelve of the fourteen metros above. Punta Gorda down 4.9%, Cape Coral down 4.4%, North Port down 3.1%. Only Key West and Pensacola rose.
We include this because it cuts against the easy version of our own pitch. If values are drifting down and marketing times are long, then carrying two Florida homes carries real risk: the departing house may sell for less than you projected, and it may take longer than your financing assumed. A site that prints the days-to-pending argument and hides the value trend is selling rather than advising.
The right response is not to abandon the plan. It is to build the carry period with slack in it, to be conservative about the departing home's sale price, and to prefer structures with a lower monthly obligation when the overlap is uncertain. That is a financing decision, and it is ours to get right.
The metros are not one market
Florida gets discussed as a single market and it is not. Palm Bay at 67 days behaves differently from Naples at 130. Ocala's time on market rose by twelve days over the year while Jacksonville's fell by ten and The Villages fell by eleven. Your metro's number is the one that belongs in your plan.
Metro-level detail sits on the bridge pages for Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville and Southwest Florida.
One more input: insurance
Insurance sits inside PITI and therefore inside your debt ratio, and Florida's has been the hardest to plan around of any state. The direction has changed. Citizens Property Insurance received approval for a statewide average reduction of 8.7% effective in spring 2026 at renewal, affecting more than 330,000 policyholders across all 67 counties, with Broward down 14.1%, Miami-Dade down 14.0% and Palm Beach down 11.9% on average. More than 150,000 policyholders saw reductions of 10% or greater.
We are deliberately not publishing a statewide average premium in dollars. The figures in circulation differ by thousands depending on the coverage assumed, and we could not reconcile them against a primary source. Your actual quote on your actual address is the number that belongs in your file, and it is worth getting early because in Florida it moves the debt ratio more than people expect.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to sell a house in Florida?
Longer than the national market. For the month ending August 2026, Zillow's mean days to pending was 53 for the United States, compared with 70 in Tampa and Orlando, 80 in Jacksonville and Lakeland, 91 in North Port, 92 in Port St. Lucie, 98 in Miami, 114 in Punta Gorda, 119 in Cape Coral, 130 in Naples and 151 in Key West. Days to pending measures list to pending, so closing time is additional.
Are Florida home values going up or down?
Down modestly in most major metros over the year to August 2026. Twelve of the fourteen metros tracked here declined, ranging from 0.5% in Miami and Jacksonville to 4.9% in Punta Gorda. Key West rose 1.1% and Pensacola rose 1.4%. That trend is a genuine risk factor when carrying two homes.
Is buying before selling risky in a softening Florida market?
There is real risk and it should be planned for rather than dismissed. With values drifting down and marketing times running 70 to 130 days in major metros, a departing home may sell for less than projected and take longer than the financing assumed. The sensible responses are a conservative sale estimate, a carry period with slack, and structures with a lower monthly obligation when the overlap is uncertain.
Is Florida homeowners insurance getting cheaper?
The direction has improved. Citizens Property Insurance received approval for a statewide average reduction of 8.7% effective spring 2026 at renewal, covering more than 330,000 policyholders in all 67 counties, with average reductions of 14.1% in Broward, 14.0% in Miami-Dade and 11.9% in Palm Beach. Your own quote is what matters for qualifying, so get it early.
Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about financing, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax, or real estate advice. Homestead eligibility, portability, and landlord-tenant rules change and depend on your facts; your county property appraiser, your CPA or a Florida attorney, and your real estate agent each handle their own part. Loans are subject to borrower and property qualification.