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Posted on 04/18/2026 11:59:07 AM PDT by Angelino97
Florida condo owners are waking up to a brutal new reality: their homes are becoming virtually worthless.
Desperate sellers all over the Sunshine State are slashing prices to as little as $10,000 - and still failing to find buyers.
The property problem across the state has been triggered by a tough new safety law brought in after the 2021 deadly Surfside condominium collapse that killed 98 people, forcing aging buildings to undergo inspections and fund massive repairs.
Florida-based real estate expert Katrin Pfitzenreiter told the Daily Mail that, for many owners, this has meant repair bills in excess of $100,000, soaring HOA fees - which averaged $135 per month in 2025 - and a market flooded with listings no one wants.
Worse still, hundreds of buildings have effectively been blacklisted by mortgage giants, meaning buyers can't even secure loans to purchase them.
The scale of the crisis is enormous.
More than half of Florida's condo stock is now over 30 years old, placing millions of units under stricter post-Surfside regulations. And in some cases, prices appear to have collapsed.
On Zillow, the Daily Mail found dozens of properties listed in Florida at around the four-figure price mark, ranging from standalone plots to high-rises and multi-unit structures.
Some have been sitting on the market for almost a year, with prices repeatedly slashed and even furnishings thrown in - yet still attracting no interest.
In Boynton Beach, around 57 miles north of Miami, several properties within a golf course are currently listed at strikingly low prices.
One condo, built in 1982 with two bedrooms and 1,712 sq ft, is listed for just $6,000, while a neighboring unit built a year earlier - but with upgraded contemporary interiors - is priced at $18,000. It offers 1,388 sq ft and also comes fully furnished.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
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it’s the sunshine state
In studying archaeology, it is so common to tear down and rebuild. Sounds like this human characteristic will continue.
Just think, if they had simply RENTED their unit, they could just walk away from it. LOL!!!
From the article:
To help ease the crisis, last year Governor Ron DeSantis proposed more than $600 million in the Florida budget for programs aimed at reducing homeowners' insurance costs.
State senators also put forward additional bills in the fall to bring those costs down.
But [loan originator] Orlicki said authorities need to do more to address the crisis - and, in turn, ease some of the challenges facing sellers and buyers in Florida's housing market.
'I think from a government standpoint, they need to fund more. They need to step up to the plate and put a stopgap in place,' he said. 'And unfortunately, I don't see that happening anytime in the near future.
A unit built in 1981 with upgraded contemporary interiors - is priced at $18,000.
I wonder what the property taxes are. Would you on the hook for huge assessments to improve the building?
Sounds like the ideal place to house Haitians and Somalis.
None of the condos pictured in Boynton Beach or the Hillsborough properties are subject to the Surfside Law. It could be they are in less desirable areas or they have other problems specific to Florida’s climate or soil. This article is simply propaganda aimed at Governor DeSantis and the GOP Congress by the slimy UK media.
None of the condos pictured in Boynton Beach or the Hillsborough properties are subject to the Surfside Law. It could be they are in less desirable areas or they have other problems specific to Florida’s climate or soil. This article is simply propaganda aimed at Governor DeSantis and the GOP Congress by the slimy UK media.
There is a sewer easement (we told him) that connects 4 homes above us down to the street we are on that runs along the edge of our property. The city told him that he would need to spend $50,000 to bring the sewer up to the new codes. Our house doesn't even use it!
We ended up selling to a remodeller.
In many states, condominium law is designed to serve one major purpose: to protect condominium owners from their fellow owners.
In many cases, the "protection" the condo owner needs is two-fold:
1. Against harassment by a predatory condo board.
2. Against property destruction due to a negligent and/or cheap condo board.
What this effectively means is that condo owners lose a lot of control over the property they own. And the Florida example shows what happens when the "control" they lose is the ability to defer maintenance on the common elements of the property.
And for all that, you still have to live in Miyami - lol
When making an old mid-rise building, perhaps constructed on fill, in a marine environment, safe for the next 50+ years, the local building officials, inspectors, and engineers are naturally going to overdo the inspection findings, assume worst case scenarios, and over-engineer the remediation projects. They’d be fools not to.
The only things the State might do is limit the liability of the “remediators” or manage the design and work themselves and have the State assume liability. Good luck with that.
I wonder what percentage of these condo complexes have serious problems. I bet many problem structures were built on the cheap originally. Caveat emptor.
HOAs are the assessors of added “fees” to cover the State Law requirements. So now the gubmit suggests a slush fund for insurance payments... to further subsidize the cost and spread it to all taxpayers. Real cute. And real wrong.
HOA assessments increasing to more than what any ONE unit in a condo is market worth... to pay for whom the HOA contracts (no doubt with a kickback) to “repair” hurricane damage (poorly) and structural support degradation (poorly if at all, and sometimes the engineer passing it, is getting greased as well).
The $600M may sound like a lot, but it’s peanuts compared to what people out there are dealing with. If we assume 10 million homes, and then assume, very conservatively, that insurance has gone up by $1000 a year (I’m in Texas, and it’s far more than $1000)...then $60 is available to each home...or 6% of the insurance increase. For the assessments, a few dozen buildings could wipe out the entire $600M.
Now I get it.
A couple weeks ago, on Free Republic, I watched video of a 25 year old Florida beach condo being imploded.
What!
All the Florida beach condos have reinforced concrete floors and reinforced concrete support columns.
There are dozens of 50 year old beach condos that are still occupied.
Problem - new building code after the Miami Beach condo collapse, which really was horrible.
One I saw in Boynton Beach was going for $18K, had a buy-in fee of $125K and and the HOA (monthly) was $899. Looked nice. No thanks!
I could not find many others.
Yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever own a condo because of exactly what you’re describing.
They’re not as bad, but they sort of feel a little bit like the timeshare scam that boomers were diving into in the 80s and 90s and now can’t get out from
THe Daily Smear Or SB remaned the Daily Recycle
has literally RERUN the SKY IS FALLING FL CONDO
SCARE SMEAR Every Month since Trumps been in office .
This issue was never reported during the
Evil DR - Pres JIll years .
This Brit Globalist Socialist TDS inflicted RAG needs to be banned in the US
“Seems the government might offer subsidies”
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“Socialism is evil unless it benefits me.”
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