Florida dragging national condo market down as investors back off

A new report has found investors are backing away from putting money into condominiums nationally, with Florida’s well documented trouble dragging the entire market down.

Research firm Redfin found that investments in condos declined 3% year-over-year in the first quarter to the lowest levels since the onset of the pandemic. 

Redfin says the slowdown is due to buyer concern that condos will lose value.

And that is a legitimate concern: according to its analysis, 68% U.S. condos sold below list price at the start of 2025, the lowest share in five years.

But it’s not only the list price.

Nationally, the typical condo that sold in February had a sale-to-original-list-price ratio of 95.4%, Redfin reports. That means it sold for 4.6% less than the owner listed it for. That’s down from a ratio of 96.4% last year and nearly 100% three years ago.

The report’s authors say Florida’s condo market is one reason investor purchases are down nationwide.

This, of course, is not a surprise to those who have followed the real estate market in Florida the past couple of years.

Condo prices have been in steady decline — and available inventory on an upswing — across the state since new safety regulations increased reserve requirements for associations leading to high special assessments and condo fees. And that’s happened as insurance costs have been rising in the wake of several serious storms the past couple of years.

Just last week, Homes.com shared data with the Business Observer showing that the median price of condos fell 10.9% from this time last year to $205,000 in Tampa. Fort Myers saw a 20% drop from a year ago to $300,000 while both Naples and Sarasota saw 20% drops. The median price for a condo in Sarasota fell to $320,000 and in Naples it fell to $500,000.

“The Florida condo market is in uncharted territory,” Tim Harper, a Redfin Premier agent working in metro Orlando, says in the report.

“We’re seeing a massive influx of condo inventory because a lot of senior citizens on fixed incomes can no longer afford their monthly payments, and a lot of other condo owners just want to move because they’re tired of dealing with rising HOA fees and special assessments.”

Nationally, Redfin reports that rising association fees are making it difficult to rent out condos which is also dampening interest from investors.

One Washington, D.C. agent is quoted as saying “people who own condos as rentals are trying to offload them because the money no longer makes sense. And people aren’t buying condos to rent them out anymore unless they have cash to burn.”