Florida
Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach
The top US market for foreign buyers. Houses around $650,000 to $680,000, a year of unsold condos in Miami-Dade, and lenders that scrutinise every building.
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Buying a home in
Florida
Florida is where foreign buyers go first: one in five homes sold to international buyers in the United States is here. The state has no personal income tax and plenty of sun. It also has insurance, condominium and rental rules that decide whether a purchase works, and none of them is visible in the listing.
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Everything about buying in Florida
Short answers on this page. The full guide has the detail, the figures and the sources.
The purchase and the loan
How a purchase runs here and which loans fit.
- Buying a condominium after Surfside
- The purchase itself
Prices, taxes and insurance
What homes cost and what you pay on top.
- What homes cost
- Property tax: do not look at the seller's bill
- Insurance comes before the offer, not after
Letting and living
Rental rules, local life and how to get there.
- Letting to holidaymakers
Places in Florida
Florida
Orlando and Central Florida
Median prices around $439,000, direct flights to Europe, and short-term rental zoning that differs between the city, Orange County and Osceola County.
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Florida
Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater
Median houses at $410,000, four European routes from Tampa airport, monthly minimum lets in Clearwater and real flood exposure after the 2024 hurricanes.
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Florida
Sarasota, Bradenton and Anna Maria Island
Gulf Coast homes around $470,000 to $495,000, minimum-stay rules that differ between city, county and island, and district fees in planned communities.
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Florida
Naples, Fort Myers and Cape Coral
Florida's most German market. Cape Coral houses at $380,000, Naples at $760,000, a utility charge of over $33,000 on some plots, and flood rules after Hurricane Ian.
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Florida
The Florida Keys
A housing stock limited by hurricane evacuation law, wind insurance through Citizens, flood elevation rules and a 28-day threshold for holiday lets.
Explore this destinationWhy Florida, and who buys
In the National Association of Realtors' latest survey, covering April 2025 to March 2026, Florida accounted for 20% of all US homes bought by foreign buyers, ahead of California and Texas. In the previous year's report Europeans made up 17% of Florida's foreign buyers, a larger share than in any other major state. Across the country almost half of foreign buyers pay cash.
European buyers in Florida fall into three groups: people relocating for work, people buying a winter or holiday home, and investors buying to let. The financing differs for each. Residents with a visa and US income can use mainstream loans. Buyers who stay resident in Europe normally use foreign national loans, with a larger down payment and a higher rate. We have guides to Miami and South Florida, Orlando, Tampa Bay, Sarasota and Bradenton, Naples, Fort Myers and Cape Coral and the Florida Keys.
Florida at a glance
Figures last checked:
This is not a lending decision: a US specialist confirms what applies to your own situation.
| Median sale price | $415,000 for a single-family home and $298,000 for a condo or townhouse, statewide, August 2026 (Florida Realtors). |
|---|---|
| Foreign buyers | Florida took 20% of all US home purchases by foreign buyers in the year to March 2026 (National Association of Realtors). |
| Income tax | No state tax on personal income. |
| Property tax | Reassessed at market value after a sale. Residents get a homestead exemption and a 3% yearly cap. Second homes get neither, only a 10% cap. |
| Taxes at purchase | Deed stamps of 70 cents per $100 of the price. On the loan: note stamps of 35 cents per $100 plus 0.2% intangible tax. |
| Short stays | Rentals of six months or less are taxed at 11% to 13.5% in the counties covered here, and local zoning decides where they are allowed. |
| On the ballot | Amendment 3, on 3 November 2026, would change homestead exemptions and assessment caps if 60% of voters approve. |
Before you make an offer in Florida
- Ask for a property tax estimate at your purchase price, as a non-homestead owner if that is what you will be.
- Get home, wind and flood insurance quotes during the 15-day inspection period.
- Check the flood zone and the age of the roof.
- For a condominium, read the milestone inspection, the reserve study and the budget.
- Read the association rules and any district assessments.
- Confirm in writing that the zoning at that address allows the kind of letting you plan.
- Tell your lender whether the home is a residence, a second home or an investment.
- Plan the euro to dollar conversion, and remember the FIRPTA withholding if you later sell as a foreign person.
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Questions people moving from Europe ask
Yes. The 2023 law restricts purchases by people domiciled in a short list of countries of concern: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, the Maduro regime of Venezuela and Syria. No EU country is on it. The test is where you are domiciled, not your passport, so an EU citizen living in one of those countries should take legal advice. Every buyer signs an affidavit at closing confirming they are not covered.
Because Florida reassesses a home at market value on 1 January after it changes hands. A long-term resident's assessment may have been held down for years by the 3% Save Our Homes cap and reduced by the homestead exemption. Neither carries over to you, and a second-home owner cannot claim homestead at all. The standard Florida contract carries a printed warning not to rely on the seller's tax bill.
It is the item to check first, and it has improved. Citizens, the state-backed insurer of last resort, had about 266,000 policies in August 2026, down from around 1.4 million at its peak in late 2023, and reports that 20 new insurers have entered the state since 2022. You should still get quotes before your inspection period ends. Flood is excluded from standard policies, and hurricane cover has its own deductible, offered at $500, 2%, 5% or 10% of the insured value.
Only where local zoning allows it. State law stops cities and counties from banning vacation rentals, except under local rules adopted before 1 June 2011, and many popular areas have exactly such older rules. The result varies street by street: the City of Orlando allows only hosted home-sharing, parts of Osceola County are zoned for short-term rental, and unincorporated Sarasota County requires a 30-day minimum. Check the specific address before you buy.
Closings are commonly handled by a title company acting as closing agent, and the standard contract is written around that. Nothing stops you hiring your own attorney, and the contract has optional clauses for attorney approval. For a first US purchase from abroad, a lawyer who reviews the contract and the association documents is a modest cost against the size of the commitment.
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Start my mortgage scanSources (25)
Figures and rules on this page were checked against these sources on 3 October 2026. Rates, prices and local rules change, so confirm anything you rely on before you commit.
- Florida Realtors, August 2026 market summary by metro area
- National Association of Realtors, 2026 international transactions report (news release)
- National Association of Realtors, 2025 international transactions report
- Florida Department of Revenue, property tax information for taxpayers
- Florida Department of Revenue, property tax exemptions
- Florida Statutes 193.155, homestead assessments (Save Our Homes)
- Florida Statutes 193.1554, non-homestead residential property
- Florida Senate, CS/HJR 1-F bill history (2026 special session)
- St. Johns County Property Appraiser, Amendment 3 explained
- Florida Department of Revenue, documentary stamp tax
- Florida Statutes 199.133, nonrecurring intangible tax
- Florida Realtors, Florida real estate contract laws
- Florida Statutes 692.201, foreign countries of concern
- Florida Statutes 553.899, milestone inspections
- Florida Statutes 718.112, condominium reserves
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-2.1-03, ineligible projects
- Citizens Property Insurance, policies in force
- Citizens Property Insurance, 2026 hurricane season release (23 June 2026)
- Florida Statutes 627.701, hurricane deductibles
- Florida Statutes 627.706, sinkhole and ground cover collapse insurance
- FEMA, flood insurance
- Florida Statutes 509.032, vacation rental preemption
- Florida Department of Revenue, local option transient rental tax rates (form DR-15TDT)
- Florida Statutes 190.048, community development district disclosure
- Tax Foundation, state income tax rates 2026