"It needed to happen, or else we were going to price everyone out of the market," said Tony Barrett, president of the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee. He calls the slowdown a "reset" rather than a down market. Credit: Raul Rodriguez/Adobe Stock

(Bloomberg) — Florida's southwestern coast — long one of America's fastest-growing regions — is losing some of its boomtown swagger as a home insurance crisis and other soaring costs make homes unaffordable.

Homeowners from Sarasota south to Naples, known for its eight-figure waterfront mansions, are having a tougher time selling their properties, and the buildup in inventory has caused home prices to fall at some of the fastest rates in the nation. Realtors point to rising insurance costs that were exacerbated by Hurricane Ian in 2022, prompting some homeowners to list their homes for sale and would-be buyers to walk.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.