Short Answer
Yes, and the 2026 numbers back it up: Citizens dropped to roughly 255,000 policies, its lowest level in 25 years; approved 2026 rates averaged about 8.8 percent lower; and more than a dozen new carriers entered the market. That is real progress, though premiums remain high and not every policyholder benefits immediately.
The answer in fall 2026 is genuinely different from the answer two or three years ago. Florida's property insurance market has turned a corner: not all the way back, and not for everyone, but measurably, and the state data now supports what homeowners have been hoping to hear. The story is worth understanding before you buy, because it changes how you shop for coverage.
The Citizens Story Is Reversing
Citizens Property Insurance, the state's insurer of last resort, swelled to about 1.42 million policies in October 2023 when private carriers were pulling out. By September 2026 it had fallen to roughly 255,000 policies, its lowest level in 25 years, as private companies came back for coastal risk. Nearly two dozen carriers have entered or re-entered Florida since the 2022 and 2023 reforms, including more than a dozen newly approved insurers backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in new capital. That is exactly the direction the market needed to go.
Rates Are Coming Down for the First Time in a Decade
For the first time since 2015, Florida approved statewide rate decreases for 2026: on average about 8.8 percent lower for homeowners multiperil policies and about 5.5 percent lower for wind-only policies, effective July 1, 2026. State regulators had already recorded more than 190 residential rate filings seeking decreases or no increase. None of this means cheap insurance, and carriers set their own numbers, but it does mean shopping the market is worth real money again instead of a formality.
Hurricane Isaias Was a Test, Not a Reversal
Hurricane Isaias made landfall on Florida's Panhandle near Destin on October 9, 2026 as a Category 2 storm, and Naples was not directly struck. Rating agencies estimated insured losses in the low-to-mid single-digit billions and said the storm is unlikely to weaken insurer capital or meaningfully pressure the January 2027 reinsurance renewals. For buyers, the takeaway is calm: one storm does not undo the market's recovery, but it is a reminder that hurricane risk and the insurance that prices it are permanent parts of owning on the Gulf Coast.
What It Means When You Buy
A healthier market means you should get real quotes from private carriers rather than assuming Citizens is the only option, and you should ask an agent who knows coastal Florida to run the wind mitigation numbers for your specific property. The roof, the impact glass, and the age of the systems still drive the premium, and that is exactly what I evaluate on a walk-through. The market is better than it has been in a decade; the discipline of knowing your flood zone, your elevation, and your construction has not changed.
Key Things to Remember
- Citizens fell from about 1.42 million policies in October 2023 to roughly 255,000 by September 2026, its lowest level in 25 years.
- Florida approved the first statewide rate decreases since 2015, averaging about 8.8 percent lower for 2026.
- Nearly two dozen carriers entered or re-entered Florida, including more than a dozen new insurers backed by hundreds of millions in capital.
- Hurricane Isaias hit the Panhandle on October 9, 2026; Naples was not directly struck, and rating agencies see manageable impact.
- Premiums remain high, so shop private carriers and verify the wind mitigation credits your home earns.
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