Florida Real Estate in 2026: What We Are Seeing

A lot of people are asking what happens next in Florida real estate.

The market has changed compared to a few years ago. Interest rates are higher, construction costs are higher, and people are being more careful. Transactions have slowed compared to the peak years, but I still think the long-term fundamentals are strong.

Population growth continues to drive the market. Even with affordability becoming more challenging in some areas, people are still moving to Florida for business, taxes, weather, and lifestyle. That demand continues to support multifamily, retail, and industrial real estate across the state.

What is changing is the pace and the type of opportunity.

In multifamily, we are seeing more balance. A lot of new units came to market over the last two years, especially in parts of the Sunbelt. That increased vacancy and slowed rent growth in some cities.

At the same time, construction is slowing down because financing and development costs are much harder today. That means supply should moderate over the next couple of years, which will help stabilize the market again.

Industrial still looks strong to me, especially smaller industrial spaces. Demand is there, and supply is still limited in many parts of Florida. A lot of developers focused on larger warehouses over the past several years, while smaller bays remained undersupplied.

Retail has also been more resilient than people expected. The difference is that retail today looks different than it did ten years ago. Shopping centers are becoming more service oriented. Restaurants, fitness, medical, and everyday uses are driving traffic. In markets with strong population growth, those centers continue to perform well.

I also think investors are becoming more disciplined. A few years ago, people were buying very aggressively because money was cheap and everything was moving quickly. Today, deals need to make more sense. Underwriting matters more. Execution matters more. That is healthy for the market.

One thing I do think Florida needs to pay attention to is affordability and infrastructure. Costs have gone up significantly, especially insurance and housing. Traffic and transportation are also becoming more challenging in markets like Miami and Broward.

If the state continues investing in infrastructure and mobility, Florida will continue growing for a long time. If not, it becomes harder to support the amount of growth we are seeing.

At IMC Equity Group, we are adjusting to that reality as well. We bought land seven or eight years ago and are taking advantage of that now to build around 3,000 apartments over the next two years. But if you asked me whether I would buy land today for future development, I am not sure it would make sense for us. Construction has become much more complicated. Approval timelines are longer, costs are harder to predict, and projects that once took a year and a half can now take three years.

Because of that, we are stepping back somewhat from self-development and focusing more on acquiring finished assets. We started developing about ten years ago and did very well, but our strength has always been owning and operating assets over the long term. A lot of developers build, sell, and move on. Our philosophy has always been different. We buy, we keep it, and we operate it over time.

That is still how we see the opportunity going into 2026.

Florida will continue to grow, but the market is becoming less forgiving. The opportunities are still there, but they require more experience, better execution, and a clearer understanding of where long-term demand really is.  Real estate always moves in cycles. The people who do well long term are usually the ones who stay disciplined through all of them.