Florida Homeowners Insurance Rates Fell in 51 of 67 Counties This Year

Homeowners insurance rates decreased in 51 of Florida's 67 counties in 2026, according to reporting from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation this summer, marking the first broad-based relief for Florida homeowners after years in which premium increases outpaced almost every other component of the cost of owning a home in the state.

The state-backed insurer of last resort moved in the same direction. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation recommended a statewide average rate reduction of roughly 2.6 percent for its multiperil homeowners policies, its first proposed statewide decrease since 2015. The Office of Insurance Regulation reviewed the filing after a public hearing and issued orders that increased the size of the reduction beyond what Citizens had requested, with the resulting 2026 rates taking effect June 1.

The reductions matter most in the places where premiums climbed highest. Citizens' filing proposed its largest decreases in South Florida and the Keys, with reductions in the range of 11 to 14 percent for Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Monroe counties, the four counties where wind exposure has driven the steepest pricing in the state.

How Florida got here

Florida's property insurance market went through roughly five years of severe dislocation beginning around 2020. Multiple carriers became insolvent, several national insurers stopped writing new homeowners policies in the state, and premiums rose to levels that made Florida the most expensive homeowners insurance market in the country by a wide margin.

The causes were disputed at the time and remain partially so. Insurers and state officials pointed to litigation volume, to assignment of benefits arrangements that let contractors pursue claims directly against carriers, and to what they characterized as fraudulent roofing claims. Consumer advocates and plaintiffs' attorneys pointed to carrier management decisions, to reinsurance costs, and to capital moving out of Florida subsidiaries. Both sets of factors were operating simultaneously.

Hurricane losses were the underlying driver. Florida experienced multiple major hurricane landfalls in a compressed period, and reinsurance, which is the insurance that insurers themselves buy, repriced sharply after those losses. Reinsurance costs pass through to policyholders, and in Florida they represent an unusually large share of premium because of the state's catastrophe exposure.

The Legislature responded with a series of measures across special and regular sessions that restricted assignment of benefits, changed attorney fee provisions in property insurance litigation, altered claims deadlines and created reinsurance mechanisms. Whether those changes caused the current improvement, or whether a quieter stretch of hurricane seasons and softening global reinsurance markets did, is the central analytical dispute in Florida insurance policy.

What happened at Citizens

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation was created as the state's insurer of last resort, intended to serve homeowners who cannot find coverage in the private market. Its policy count ballooned during the market's worst years as private carriers withdrew, reaching a scale that state officials repeatedly described as a financial risk to all Floridians, because a sufficiently large hurricane loss could require assessments on policyholders statewide, including those insured privately.

Reducing that policy count has been an explicit state objective, pursued through a depopulation program in which private carriers assume blocks of Citizens policies. Citizens policyholders receiving a depopulation offer face specific decision rules under Florida law, and the terms of those offers determine whether a policyholder can remain with Citizens.

The recommended 2.6 percent statewide average decrease approved by the Citizens Board of Governors in December 2025 reflected improved loss experience and reduced reinsurance costs. The Office of Insurance Regulation then went further, increasing the size of the reduction in the orders it issued in January before the rates took effect on June 1.

Statewide averages conceal enormous county-level variation. A statewide average reduction is a weighted composite across a portfolio spanning inland counties with modest wind exposure and coastal counties where wind is the dominant peril. The double-digit reductions in Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Monroe counties reflect the fact that those counties had absorbed the largest increases on the way up.

What a rate decrease does and does not mean

A rate decrease is not the same as a premium decrease for any individual homeowner. Rates are the pricing factors applied to a property's characteristics; premium is what a specific policyholder pays. If a home's insured replacement cost has risen because construction costs increased, the premium can rise even when the rate falls.

Replacement cost inflation has been substantial in Florida. Materials and labor costs rose sharply through the post-pandemic period, and insurers adjust coverage amounts to keep policies at replacement value. A homeowner whose dwelling coverage limit increased 8 percent while rates fell 3 percent will see a higher bill.

Deductibles matter as well. Florida policies typically carry a separate hurricane deductible expressed as a percentage of dwelling coverage, commonly 2 percent, 5 percent or 10 percent. Choosing a higher hurricane deductible lowers premium but increases out-of-pocket exposure after a storm, and homeowners who selected higher deductibles during the premium spike should reassess whether they can absorb that exposure.

Wind mitigation credits remain the most reliable way for an individual homeowner to lower premium. Florida law requires insurers to provide discounts for construction features that reduce wind damage, including roof covering and deck attachment, roof-to-wall connections, opening protection and roof shape. A wind mitigation inspection documents those features, and the resulting credits can be substantial on a coastal property.

The counties that did not see decreases

Sixteen counties did not see rate decreases in 2026. Rate filings are made carrier by carrier and territory by territory, and a county's experience depends on which carriers write there and what their loss history in that territory looks like.

Counties that experienced recent hurricane landfalls carry loss experience that flows into subsequent rate filings, and a county hit within the past several years can see rates hold or rise even as the statewide picture improves. Southwest Florida and portions of the Big Bend have absorbed significant recent storm activity.

Carrier availability varies geographically as well. Some counties have a thinner roster of carriers actively writing new business, and less competition generally translates to less pricing pressure. Homeowners in those areas have fewer alternatives when shopping a renewal.

Homeowners in any county can compare rates through the Office of Insurance Regulation's rate comparison tools, which publish sample premiums by carrier for representative homes in each county. Those comparisons are approximations rather than quotes, but they identify which carriers are pricing competitively in a given area.

What it means for Floridians

For homeowners renewing a policy this year, the practical step is to shop the renewal rather than accepting it. In a market where rates are moving, the spread between carriers widens, and the carrier that was cheapest three years ago is frequently not cheapest now.

For homebuyers, insurance cost belongs in the purchase decision before the offer rather than after. Insurance quotes can be obtained during the inspection period, and the difference between a home with a new roof and impact-rated openings and an otherwise comparable home without them can run into thousands of dollars annually.

For Citizens policyholders, the depopulation program means a private carrier offer may arrive, and Florida law sets specific rules about when a policyholder must accept such an offer to remain eligible for Citizens coverage. Those rules turn on how the offered premium compares to the Citizens premium, and policyholders should read depopulation notices carefully rather than discarding them.

For condominium owners, the picture is less favorable. Association master policies are priced separately and passed through as part of monthly assessments, and reserve funding requirements enacted after the Surfside collapse have driven association costs up independently of insurance. Condo inventory statewide stood at a 7.8-months' supply in July, well above the single-family figure, and cost pressure on associations is part of why.

Flood coverage is a separate purchase

The most consequential gap in Florida homeowners coverage is flood, which standard policies exclude entirely. Flood damage requires separate coverage, available through the National Flood Insurance Program or through a growing private flood market that has developed in Florida over the past decade.

Florida holds more NFIP policies than any other state by a wide margin, and the program's periodic congressional reauthorization is therefore of direct concern to Florida homeowners and to the real estate transactions that require flood coverage to close.

Risk Rating 2.0, the program's revised pricing methodology, moved premiums toward property-specific risk rather than broad flood zone categories. The change raised premiums for many Florida properties while lowering them for others, with statutory caps limiting how fast individual premiums can increase toward their full risk rate.

Homeowners outside mapped high-risk flood zones frequently assume they do not need coverage, but a substantial share of flood claims nationally come from properties outside those zones. New policies generally carry a 30-day waiting period, which means coverage cannot be added once a storm is approaching.

What's next

Hurricane season runs through November, and a significant Florida landfall would affect the 2027 rate cycle directly. Reinsurance renewals occur primarily on June 1, which means losses in the current season would flow into pricing decisions made next spring.

Citizens' Board of Governors typically considers its next recommended rate filing in December, and that filing then goes to the Office of Insurance Regulation for review and a public hearing. Whether the direction of that recommendation holds is the clearest available indicator of where the market is heading.

The November ballot includes a proposed constitutional amendment on homestead exemptions and assessment caps that would change property tax bills starting in 2027 if approved by 60 percent of voters. Property tax and insurance together constitute the non-mortgage portion of Florida housing costs, and both are moving at once.

Homeowners with questions about a specific policy or a claim dispute can contact the Florida Department of Financial Services Division of Consumer Services, which handles insurance consumer complaints and mediation for residential property claims.