Florida's Real Estate Wish List

Ron Cardenas
Dec 23, 2025
3 min read

What Could The Florida Real Estate Market Use in 2026? 🎄

As we head into another year, Florida real estate professionals, buyers, and sellers aren’t wishing for miracles—we’re wishing for alignment. After years of volatility, adaptation, and recalibration, 2026 feels like the year the market could finally reward preparation, clarity, and informed decision-making.

Here’s what’s on the Florida real estate Christmas wish list:

1. Predictable Interest Rates

Not ultra-low rates—just reliable ones. Stability allows buyers to plan, sellers to price with confidence, and lenders to structure loans without constant recalculations. Predictability creates momentum, and momentum creates healthier transactions.

2. Insurance That Supports Homeownership, Not Discourages It

Florida insurance has become one of the biggest obstacles to affordability. The wish for 2026 is a system with fewer surprises, clearer underwriting, and premiums that align with actual risk—not fear. When insurance stabilizes, deals stop falling apart at the eleventh hour.

3. No More Property Taxes!

Not necessarily “no property taxes”—but a system that’s predictable, transparent, and fair. One where long-term homeowners aren’t priced out by sudden increases, where exemptions are clearly understood, and where tax assessments don’t feel disconnected from real household income.

Stable property taxes would go a long way toward restoring confidence and long-term affordability across Florida. Rising values are great—until tax bills jump faster than incomes. Homeowners are hoping for more transparency, smoother increases, and better education around exemptions so long-term ownership remains sustainable.

4. More Inventory Where People Actually Need It

The biggest gaps remain in entry-level and move-up homes. The wish isn’t just more homes, but homes that make sense: functional layouts, reasonable maintenance, and pricing aligned with today’s buyers—not yesterday’s peak.

5. Appraisals That Reflect Current Market Conditions

Lagging appraisals can derail solid deals. In 2026, we’re hoping for valuation processes that better reflect real-time buyer behavior, local nuances, and modern financing structures—especially in transitioning markets.

6. Sellers Who Price Strategically from Day One

The era of “let’s try this price and see” has proven costly. Homes that launch correctly attract stronger buyers, better terms, and cleaner negotiations. The wish is for pricing rooted in data, not emotion.

7. Buyers Who Make Decisions from Information, Not Fear

Between headlines and social media, fear spreads faster than facts. A healthier 2026 market includes buyers who understand options—rate buydowns, incentives, alternative loan structures—and make decisions based on long-term value.

8. New Construction That Continues to Lead the Way

New builds have become a critical solution for affordability, insurance costs, and financing flexibility. The wish is for continued incentives, improved timelines, and quality that delivers well beyond the closing table.

9. Smoother Transactions Across the Board

Fewer surprises. Better communication. Stronger collaboration between agents, lenders, inspectors, and title companies. When everyone rows in the same direction, closings feel less like crisis management and more like execution.

10. A Market That Rewards Preparation and Professionalism

Ultimately, the biggest wish is for a market where informed buyers win, prepared sellers succeed, and professionals who educate, strategize, and advocate stand out. Not hype. Not shortcuts. Just real value.

2026 doesn’t need to be perfect—it just needs to be balanced. And with the right expectations, guidance, and strategy, it can be one of the most rewarding years Florida real estate has seen in a long time.

So let’s put it to a vote!

What do you think is the BEST gift we could give Florida real estate in 2026?