“Snowbirding” has long been a tradition for many New Englanders looking to avoid the region’s infamous winters — but could the recent bout of hurricanes slamming Florida deter migration to the Sunshine State?
Florida is a classic destination for New Englanders either looking to buy a second home to spend the winters in, or a new place to live full time for retirement. But experts say that the intense storms hitting the state — mostly recently Helene and Milton — have the potential to shakeup snowbird culture in the coming years.
"I think fewer people will choose to own homes in Florida because they don't want to pay for property taxes, insurance costs, HOA fees and choose to rent for only the weeks or months," Chief Economist at Redfin Daryl Fairweather said. "I would expect that the demand for those winter kind of supply will likely be more limited because fewer people want to be the property owners for those."
A New Bedford city councilman may be seeing the beginnings of that prediction among snowbirds and retirees from the South Coast, thousands of whom have property on Florida's west coast.
Councilman Ian Abreu says that there are so many part-time and former New Bedfordites in the Fort Myers and Cape Coral area, that a former mayor of the city founded an annual New Bedford Day celebration two decades ago. Abreu now helps to organize the event, after getting involved to sell his company's coffee syrup — Silmo — which is a local favorite.
"Some of the older folks who have had properties down there for a while are getting frustrated," Abreu said. "They're looking at other alternative options, maybe going to the east coast of Florida or maybe even leaving the state because they're frustrated with living under the constant threat of crippling storms."
Florida has certainly seen its share of crippling storms recently. The 2024 hurricane season brought with it the double whammy that was Hurricanes Helene and Milton — both of which made landfall on the state's west coast. Just two years ago, Hurricane Ian made landfall in the Fort Myers area, leading devastation in its wake.
Researchers at Redfin say that the threat of severe weather is helping to drive up costs in Florida — with things like HOA fees, insurance policies and property taxes all on the rise.
Property taxes have risen nearly 60% in the Tampa area since 2019, according to Redfin, which says the state is raising taxes to cover projects protecting against natural disasters.
"I think that those winter rental rates are going to go up because somebody has to own the home, incur those costs, and they're going to pass it on to renters," Fairweather said. "I think it might be I think that only really wealthy people are able to afford to do."
Still, Florida remains an incredibly popular choice for people relocating. Realtor.com incorporates climate risk data on their listings, helping buyers to make informed decisions.
"We have evidence of consumers kind of shifting their behavior, especially after a storm has recently been in an area, we do see that consumers are more likely to engage with lower risk properties as opposed to higher risk properties," Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale said.
Researchers with Redfin said that young people tend to be more climate conscious when they're buying property for a couple of reasons — they're been exposed to more climate science, and their investments are typically longer term because of their age.
