09/09/2026
Florida and the Great Housing Mismatch
As someone who’s spent decades navigating Florida’s real estate market, I’ve seen firsthand how our state exemplifies the so-called "Great Housing Mismatch." Even with homes on the market, it’s not always a matter of availability—it's about whether those homes truly fit buyers’ needs, budgets, locations, and life stages. Florida, with its aging, owner-heavy population, is offering many homes that the next generation either can’t or won’t buy. Affordability here is about more than just the listing price. Between insurance, association dues, maintenance, storm risk, and the need to drive everywhere, the real cost of homeownership is front and center for today’s buyers. What often works best is a community where residents can move within their neighborhood as their needs change—downsizing from a larger home to a townhouse, cottage, or apartment nearby. The big question for Florida is whether future buyers will step into inherited and new homes unless we provide a wider range of choices in price, size, and location. After 35 years in strategic sales and real estate, I know that understanding these shifts is key to helping buyers and sellers make the smartest moves for their future.
