Below are excerpts from Bisnow’s article recapping its April 26th State of the Market Event.
Speakers at Bisnow’s Fort Lauderdale State of the Market event this week generally struck an optimistic tone for the city and its real estate prospects in the post-pandemic era — with the mayor even talking up the idea of boring a tunnel from downtown to the beach to alleviate traffic snarls.
But the city, and South Florida for that matter, still face some headwinds, the participants also said. Perhaps most urgent is a convergence of circumstances making property insurance in the state harder to find and much more expensive.
…
The event panelists generally agreed with the mayor’s optimism for the future of Fort Lauderdale, but also discussed some imminent challenges for the city and the health of its commercial real estate.
“We are in challenging times right now,” Franklin Street Regional Managing Director Evan Seacat said regarding the current property insurance crisis in the state, which is seeing major insurers leave or raise premiums.
“We’re seeing massive increases in premiums right now. Legislation is going to have to step in, or a lot of properties are going to become uninsurable in the Broward market,” Seacat said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has set aside May 23 through May 27 for a special legislative session about the property insurance crisis.
