The sour feelings that many Canadians suddenly feel toward the U.S. are having a big impact on the property market in Florida, one of the closest warm-weather states to Ontario and Quebec, Canada’s most populous provinces.
“South Florida’s residential market has for decades been reliant on the annual influx of Canadian snowbirds who either own property and pay property tax or rent for the winter months – either way, a boost to the economy,” said Ermengarde Jabir, a director of economic research at Moody’s Analytics.
The first quarter is typically the peak buying season for condominiums in the region, coinciding with when many snowbirds are in town, said Andrea Hartmann, managing partner of the Sandy Hartmann Group, a real estate firm in the Tampa Bay area.
“Since the beginning of the year we have not received an offer from a Canadian buyer even once, and normally we would,” she said.
Florida’s housing market is already reeling. Prospective buyers have faced rising insurance premiums, concerns over climate change, and a series of devastating hurricanes in recent years.
In the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater region, mortgage lock volume for second homes – or the number of buyers securing rates ahead of purchases – fell 25% on a year-over-year basis in the first quarter of 2025, according to Optimal Blue, a mortgage technology and data company.
“Now with the political issue, the cost of maintaining a place here in Florida, and the insurance, a lot of them decided to sell and go,” said Ken O’Brian, owner of Southwest Coast Realty in Naples, which has specialized in helping Canadians purchase properties in Florida for about 20 years.
“There is no incentive to come to the States anymore,” said Donny B., a native of Ontario who is looking to sell his two investment properties in Florida. Like many snowbirds interviewed for this story, he declined to give his surname, saying he feared backlash.
He said he decided to sell because of the political uncertainty, the exchange rate, and concern about whether Floridians would still welcome Canadians in the current climate.
“I got down here on Wednesday and I was nervous. I’m like, ‘Are people going to be ‘pissed off’ at me?’”
Other states have started to see an exodus as well. Agents in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, California, are working with Canadian sellers who are quietly preparing to let go of their second homes, said Fatima Malik, global real estate advisor at Engel & Volkers Beverly Hills.
“Some are holding back to see how things play out, but others are already shifting their sights toward places like Portugal, Mexico, and parts of France,” she concluded.
With information from Reuters
TYT Newsroom
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