A new poll from the University of North Florida says more people across Florida are worried about the cost of owning a home and paying for insurance.
UNF’s Public Opinion Research Lab polls registered voters across Florida every year, but the latest one shared by the university shows what some local experts call a troubling trend.
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The poll says 34% of the 871 registered voters surveyed, or around 296 people, say housing costs, including insurance, are the top concern affecting Floridians today. UNF’s poll released in 2022 said only 2% of voters surveyed viewed housing costs as the biggest issue affecting them.
Dr. Michael Binder with UNF’s PORL said the 32% jump in the last few years is significant, but not a surprise.
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“Two or so years ago, this just exploded,” Binder said. “It’s becoming much more expensive to live here and we’re starting to see some of the effects of that. Not just with people’s concerns, but much less people are coming to Florida.”
A new study from the University of Florida said average home costs in the state have jumped around $150,000 in the last 10 years. Binder said this ties into a more alarming result from UNF’s recent poll, which is the 22% of voters who said they would ditch their home insurance rather than keep it. He said as people see their home values go up, coverage from insurance won’t always be enough to meet the rising prices.
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“They’re trapped and I think some people are saying ‘I don’t think I’m getting my value on this,’” Binder said.
Local insurance agents like Vicky Zelen, who has more than 30 years of experience, are seeing it too.
“It’s definitely a crisis in the state of Florida,” Zelen said. “How devastating would it be if they had $100,000 worth of damage to their home and they have no insurance whatsoever?”
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Zelen runs Zelen Risk Solutions, a Jacksonville-based insurance agency. She understands people wanting to drop their insurance but said they can’t afford to lose it.
“You have to have homeowners insurance and if you cannot afford homeowners insurance, you might need to get a part-time job to be able to pay for it. It’s critical,” Zelen said.
It’s worth pointing out that the UF study says home prices in Florida have been starting to level out in recent years, but local insurance agents like Zelen recommend all homeowners have home insurance, even if their home is paid off.
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