Cesidia Cedrone has been enjoying the shelves in its condo in Florida every winter since 2011.
“Sunshine all the time. I don’t have to shovel the snow. The beach, the sand… ”, declared the Ontarian from his second house in Hallandale Beach, halfway between Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
Last week, her retirement reverie ended while Cedrone and her husband signed the closing documents on their home sales.
“Things have changed so much. The Canadian dollar is not tied with the US dollar, “she said. “It was at the origin of our main decision to sell.”
Other reasons also played a role – higher insurance rates, taxes and condo fees.
“For us Canadians, it is a double blow,” said Cedrone, pointing a Huard who is negotiated for around 69 cents, in addition to the increase in maintenance costs.
“We love this place. But it has happened now – we are in our 70s – and it is cheaper for me to come here two months and rent. »»
Cedrone is not alone. Many snowbirds rush to sell their homes in Florida as a low hum and high insurance costs lead a Canadian exodus from the state of Sunshine.
The Canadians constituted nearly a quarter of foreign sellers in Florida between April 2023 and March 2024 against 11% during the same period a year earlier, according to a report from the National Realtors Association.
The real estate broker Alexandra Dupont, who sells properties largely to Quebecois in southeast Florida, says that she juggles her typical workload with more than 30 ads twice.
“I never had so much in a decade. I recovered three new announcements on Monday. It never happened to me in a day, “she said last week.
The properties last on the market for a day or two before being broken, said his father and real estate partner, Sylvain Dupont.
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“Now the minimum in southwest Florida is 90 days, and they still do not sell. Stocks are developing day by day, “he said, noting that most of its customers are Ontarians and Quebecers.
“We believe that the market will collapse very soon … people are panicking now.”
As for whether Donald Trump’s return to the White House helped chase the owners – the American president has taken an aggressive position on Canada, threatening the growing prices and questioning his sovereignty in question – Sylvain Dupont has echoed the observations of several brokers and sellers: “I do not think that it is a question of politics; This is money, economy, inflation. »»
Residents and real estate agents claim that the higher cost of living, the risk of damage caused by natural disasters and a growing taste for travel to different destinations each winter explain the flight from Florida.
The Canadian dollar oscillated below 70 cents in the United States in recent weeks, continuing a decline that has started in early October due to a slower rate of reduction in the American Federal Reserve.
“In Canadian dollars last week, I paid $ 18 for 18 eggs,” said Cedrone.
But the departures of Canadians picked up even this slide even before.
Insurance premiums have increased in recent years due to more extreme time, which cost Cedrone more than US $ 16,000 per year – 10 times the rate where it bought the property for the first time.
She also paid nearly US $ 4,000 in taxes against US $ 1,500 a decade ago.
Meanwhile, the upgrades required by the stricter construction codes meant that residents had to cough thousands of others in recent years, forcing the couple to reach their second house.
Some would prefer to wander rather than perch.
“Young couples or people, they want to travel. They will spend a winter in Portugal, or they will go to Miami, they will go to Mexico, or they will go to the Dominican Republic, “said Sylvain, referring to the new retirees.
“The purchase of a place in Florida is like our grandparents and our parents did. Young people, they don’t do it anymore, “he said. “They don’t want to be in the same place.”
Especially in some places.
Last fall, Hurricane Helene and Milton torn the Florida, causing US $ 40 billion in insured losses. The total amounted to 63% of all the assured losses caused by serious storms around the world last year, according to a new report by the reinsurance broker Gallagher Re.
These consecutive cyclones followed the Hurricane Ian in the fall of 2022, including $ 113 billion in damages made it the third most frequenting storm in the history of the country. Six insurance companies in Florida fell back the following year.
The owners of this state now pay more than three times the national average to ensure their properties, according to insure Information Institute, making Florida the most expensive home insurance in the United States
Aside from the effect of climate change on bonuses, there is also the question of security and a perpetual feeling of precariousness in the regions subject to storms.
“I am not going anywhere who has hurricanes,” said Laurie Lavine, an Arizona -based real estate agent whose clientele is largely made up of Canadians.
Former Albertan, Lavine said that most customers share her feelings.
However, he recently observed a recent increase in the lists of Canadians in his desert state. Again, the expenses are essential.
“It costs them $ 20,000 a year just to have ownership, between public services and taxes and all costs of understanding the possession of a property here. They just don’t go down as much as they want because of the Canadian dollar, “he said.
Lavine said he would take care of eight lists – all Canadians – in the coming weeks, twice his typical load.
The departure is no more strictly stationary houses.
“The VR park in which we are is normally full of Canadians and American places,” he said in the Phoenix region. “This year, it is down 30%.”