Florida Condo Market Cools as Single-Family Home Prices Climb, Showing a Growing Divide for Buyers

Written by:

Rudi Davis

Date:

08 Feb 2026

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Florida’s housing market is showing a clear divide: condos are struggling with high inventory and falling prices, while single-family homes are holding or gaining value. Taylor Johnson, a sales associate with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty in St. Augustine, sees this split play out daily.

“Our condo market is hurting. We have very high inventory for condos,” Johnson says. The aftermath of the 2021 Surfside condominium collapse, combined with new regulations and special assessments, has led to higher monthly fees for condo owners and has prompted many owners to sell. “Buyers are more hesitant to purchase them,” she adds, citing the growing inventory and increased financial risk.

At the same time, Johnson notes that single-family home prices are rising, creating a dynamic in which overall market data no longer tells the whole story. Aggregate statistics now mask fundamentally different trends for condominiums and single-family homes.

Special Assessments Reshape Condo Economics

Since the Surfside disaster, Florida has imposed new safety and maintenance requirements on condo buildings, resulting in widespread special assessments. These assessments, intended to address years of deferred maintenance, have sharply increased the cost of owning a condominium unit.

Monthly association fees have risen significantly, changing the cost calculations for both current owners and potential buyers. Johnson explains that the spike in carrying costs has triggered a surge in listings as owners seek to exit, while buyers reconsider the long-term financial burden of condominium ownership.

The impact is not limited to one-time special assessments. Even after mandated repairs are completed, many condominium associations have raised fees permanently to fund ongoing maintenance and reserves. This sustained increase in expenses is pushing down condo values relative to single-family homes, which are not subject to the same regulatory and financial pressures.

Why Aggregate Data Now Misleads

This divergence between property types makes it harder for buyers and sellers to interpret housing market statistics accurately. Johnson points out that year-over-year price changes can be misleading. “Looking at the price change year to year, yes, I would say, generally speaking, they’re down about three to 4%,” she says. “But for certain properties, we’re actually still on the rise, like single-family.”

In practice, this means that buyers relying on overall market data could make poor decisions. Someone shopping for a single-family home might underestimate the level of competition if they believe prices are falling. At the same time, a condominium buyer could overestimate the strength of the condominium market if that buyer only sees headlines about rising home values. Johnson stresses that accurate market assessment now requires breaking out sales and pricing data by property type. “Prices are down about three to 4% from last year on certain properties… our condo market is hurting,” she says, underscoring the need for more granular analysis.

Shifting Buyer Psychology in the Condo Market

The hesitation among condo buyers is not just about the numbers. Johnson sees a bigger change in how people perceive risk. The combination of special assessments, higher fees, and memories of the Surfside collapse has created a sense of caution that affects even buildings without immediate financial issues.

This new risk premium means buyers approach condos with greater skepticism, factoring in the possibility of future assessments or surprise expenses. As a result, inventory continues to build, signaling a weak market and reinforcing buyer reluctance. Johnson’s description of the condo sector as “hurting” reflects a cycle of declining demand and forced price reductions that shows no sign of reversing in the near term.

Single-Family Home Resilience Explained

While condos face mounting challenges, single-family homes are experiencing price gains. Johnson provides context, noting that the market’s peak was in 2023, when interest rates were still low. “The height of the market, the very height, height was 2023,” she says. Back then, rates were around 3 to 3.5 percent, prompting even those without an urgent need to move to buy homes as an investment.

Today’s single-family price increases are best understood as a recovery or stabilization from a lower post-peak base, not a return to all-time highs. Still, the fact that single-family homes are appreciating while condos are declining highlights a sharp divide between buyer demand and perceived value.

Johnson also observes that differences in buyer financial strength may be driving this divergence. “I think there are a lot of people who want to buy, and their biggest challenge is coming up with the cash on hand,” she says. In her experience, sellers in some deals are now covering buyers’ closing costs to help transactions close. This cash constraint may hit condo buyers hardest, particularly first-time owners or investors with less liquidity, while single-family buyers may have more resources to navigate rising costs.

Implications for Investors and Strategy

These property-type splits carry significant consequences for investors. Those relying on aggregate market data risk missing opportunities in single-family homes or underestimating risks in condominiums.

Johnson’s own investment strategy focuses on single-family properties in Vilano Beach, which she prefers for their flexibility and fewer regulatory hurdles. She values properties that can serve as a primary residence, a long-term rental, or a short-term rental, explaining, “The more options I have, the better for me.” This preference for versatility and lower regulatory risk appears to align with a broader trend among savvy investors.

Whether this sharp divide between condos and single-family homes is temporary or signals a permanent repricing will depend on how long extraordinary assessment pressures and buyer wariness persist. For now, Johnson’s experience suggests that Florida’s residential market requires careful, property-type-specific analysis. Relying on unified market frameworks risks masking the real risks and opportunities that have emerged since the Surfside collapse and the resulting wave of special assessments.