Yet, foreclosures up, consumer confidence continuing downward
The Florida Economy is still growing but the housing market is showing complications, the Sunshine State leads the nation in foreclosures, and consumer sentiment among Floridians falls for a fifth consecutive month. It’s all in this week’s Florida Economy News.
Population and Economy Surge, Housing Cools: The 2026 Florida Business & Economic Mid-Year Report from the Florida Chamber Foundation shows that while Florida’s $1.8 trillion economy and population influx may have slowed since pandemic highs, both are still seeing steady growth. On average, Florida is gaining 551 residents per day, but the housing market has taken an interesting turn. Where higher interest rates and rising costs once put pressures on buyers, the market appears to be finally stabilizing with 10 consecutive months showing an increase in single-family homes sales. A huge supply of homes in areas such as Miami and Orlando means the market is stronger for the homebuyer, a trend that is showing nationwide. A report released in mid-July by Redfin News found that sellers outnumber buyers nearly 2-to-1 in many of these metro areas, with Miami seeing an estimated 140% more sellers than buyers. Nearly 1 in 7 homes for sale in America are located in Florida, where the issue is easily visible – in plain terms, the Sunbelt overbuilt and flooded the market with homes during the pandemic boom, and now they’re having some trouble filling them. Buyers have been increasingly hesitant over affordability, insurance costs, and weather risk.
Foreclosure by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images
Florida Foreclosures Up: Foreclosures are up nationwide, and have continued climbing in the first six months of the year to pre-pandemic levels – and Florida leads the pack with 0.27% of homes facing repossession by a lender. More than 227,000 U.S. homes had foreclosure filings in the first half of 2026, a 21% increase from the same period last year, an alarming trend highlighted by data from analytics provider ATTOM. Still, levels are low on a historical scale, and are showing such large increases because COVID-19 relief programs from 2021 that eliminated almost all foreclosures have ended. At the metro level, Florida holds five spots in the top 10 for active foreclosure processes, with Punta Gorda clocking in at 0.50%, Lakeland at 0.48%, and Cape Coral (0.35%), Jacksonville (0.31%), and Ocala (0.31) rounding out the list.
Florida Consumer Sentiment Falls: Florida’s Consumer Sentiment Index declined for the fifth straight month in July, dropping another 2.1 points to 69.3 from 71.4 in June. This is the lowest consumer score since December 2023, and is heavily informed by inflation according to the economic analysis by the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research. Five components were aggregated to find the index score, and all five areas showed a decline: views of personal financial situations compared to a year ago (-1.7), opinions on whether now is good time to buy a big-ticket item (-1.8), expectations for personal financial situations a year from now (-3.8), and expectations regarding U.S. economic conditions over the next year (-1.3%) and over the next five years (-2.2). The outlook for both current and future economic conditions was grim in most demographics, except men and people over age 60 making more than $50,000 a year − they reported more favorable assessments of their financial situations. The last time confidence declined this steadily was back in 2022 when consumer sentiment fell for seven consecutive months.
See you on the trail,
Lisa
LMA Newsletter of 8-17-26
