Just weeks into the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, forecasters are optimistic, with Colorado State University and AccuWeather lowering predictions as El Niño conditions are expected to suppress storm development. Should these projections hold, Florida could experience another quiet season.
A calmer storm season arrives at a time when the communities most impacted in recent years are regaining their footing. Coastal areas have been restored. Homeowners have invested in stronger, more storm-resilient properties, and the market continues to draw investment. One of Florida’s post-storm challenges – the availability of property insurance – is improving as legislative reforms take hold, private market participation expands, and reinsurance conditions evolve.
That was not the case just a few years ago.
From 2022 to 2024, Florida endured direct hits from six hurricanes, including four that reached Category 3 strength or greater. Those storms left catastrophic damage but also exposed vulnerabilities extending far beyond the wreckage. Insurance carriers became increasingly cautious, premiums climbed sharply, and obtaining coverage became one of the uncertainties facing homeowners, buyers, and investors.
Recognizing the growing strain on the market, Florida lawmakers enacted a series of reforms beginning in 2022 aimed at reducing litigation, strengthening insurer oversight, and encouraging private companies to write business in the state again. Those efforts are beginning to show measurable results.
Florida accounted for approximately 72% of the nation’s homeowners claim-related litigation in 2023 despite representing only about 10% of U.S. homeowners claims. Since the reforms, homeowners’ insurance litigation has fallen nearly half in the 18 months after taking effect. As a result, 20 insurers have entered Florida’s property insurance market, bringing new capital and greater competition. According to Fitch Ratings, Citizens Property Insurance, which had swelled to approximately 1.4 million policies during the height of the crisis, declined to 294,000 by May 2026 as private insurers expanded their presence and enacted standards for accessing.
The 2025 hurricane season also provided breathing room for progress. Although the Atlantic produced 13 named storms, Florida avoided a direct hurricane landfall, sparing reinsurance companies another year of catastrophic losses. Improved conditions and stronger insurer capitalization have also created a more stable environment in 2026.
Homeowners are beginning to see early signs of stability. For the first time in years, the direction of insurance costs has reversed, with Citizens Property Insurance cutting rates an average of 8.8% statewide beginning spring 2026, the largest reduction in the insurer’s 24-year history and decrease in 10 years. In fact, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation received 73 filings for rate decreases and 94 filings for zero increases heading into this year.
Additionally, insurers are gradually expanding underwriting guidelines, allowing more homes to qualify for private market coverage than was possible only a few years ago. Not every homeowner will benefit equally, and premiums remain highly dependent on location, flood elevation, roof age, and claims history. Yet the market is beginning to offer something many Floridians have not experienced in quite some time: choice.
That distinction is particularly important in a state where insurance has become inseparable from housing. Today’s buyers do not simply evaluate mortgage rates or home prices. They also seek confidence in insurance availability at an accessible price before closing on a home. Greater private market participation does not eliminate affordability worries but does remove one of the biggest sources of uncertainty complicating Florida’s real estate market in recent years.
Southwest Florida illustrates the progress yet also the work that remains. According to the insurance regulation office, homeowner premiums remain elevated throughout the region, with Collier County averaging $5,565 annually and Lee, Sarasota, Charlotte, and Manatee counties all reporting average premiums above $3,000. Those costs are significant in historical context, and Florida remains one of the nation’s most expensive insurance markets. But the steep, year-after-year premium escalation that followed successive hurricane seasons appears to be moderating across much of the state, and competition continues to expand.
None of this should create complacency.
Hurricane season extends through November, with September historically the riskiest to Florida, particularly Southwest Florida. One landfalling storm can quickly reshape the outlook regardless of how favorable preseason forecasts may appear. As experts consistently note, losses are determined far more by where storms strike than by how many develop.
That is why this year’s forecast represents more than the possibility of fewer storms. It represents an opportunity.
Another relatively quiet season would allow communities to continue repairing, homeowners to continue investing in resilience, and insurers to continue expanding their presence in Florida. It would also provide additional time for the reforms of recent years to mature and additional confidence for one of the nation’s most vital housing markets.
Entering the second half of 2026, Florida cannot control the track of the next hurricane, only how prepared it is when that storm inevitably arrives. A quieter forecast is encouraging, as is the progress Florida has made in strengthening its communities, restoring insurance capacity, and rebuilding confidence.
Budge Huskey is chief executive officer of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Why are Florida home insurance costs finally falling?
Reporting by Budge Huskey, Special to the Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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By Budge Huskey, Special to the Herald-Tribune | USA TODAY Network
