What 100% financing means when every Florida metro is falling
Program and regulatory figures verified October 5, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
We will write this loan. We would rather you took it with the downside in view than discovered it at a closing table in three years.
What the market actually did
| Metro | Typical value | Year over year | Days to pending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naples | $550,720 | −2.4% | 130 |
| Miami–Fort Lauderdale | $475,830 | −0.5% | 98 |
| North Port–Sarasota | $402,040 | −3.1% | 91 |
| Orlando | $383,445 | −1.8% | 70 |
| Port St. Lucie | $381,749 | −1.3% | 92 |
| Tampa | $358,706 | −1.5% | 70 |
| Jacksonville | $350,783 | −0.5% | 80 |
| Palm Bay–Melbourne | $341,944 | −0.9% | 67 |
| Cape Coral–Fort Myers | $335,410 | −4.4% | 119 |
| Lakeland | $295,821 | −2.4% | 80 |
| United States benchmark | $368,697 | — | 53 |
Zillow Research public data, month ending 2026-08-31. Ten of ten metros down, ten of ten slower than the benchmark.
★ The honest math
A physician programme offers up to 100% financing with no monthly PMI. Put that against a market losing value and the arithmetic is straightforward.
Buy at $400,000 with nothing down. If that market behaves like Orlando did last year, down 1.8%, the house is worth about $8,000 less a year later while your balance has barely moved. If it behaves like Cape Coral, down 4.4%, a $335,410 purchase loses roughly $14,758 in a year.
Now add the exit. Selling costs money, and Florida is slow — 119 days in Cape Coral, 130 in Naples. A buyer who needs to move in year two or three in a falling, slow market can reasonably expect to bring money to closing.
None of that is a prediction. Prices may stop falling; nobody can tell you otherwise and we will not pretend to. It is what the last twelve months did, and it is the risk you are taking when you finance the whole price.
So what should you actually do?
Not "don't buy." Three practical positions, depending on your situation:
- Staying five years or more? Take the loan that gets you in. Over that horizon a year or two of softness matters much less than being in the house, and the no-PMI structure is doing real work the whole time.
- Genuinely unsure, or a one-to-three year post? This is the case where renting deserves a serious look, and where we will say so. A fellowship with an uncertain destination is not an obvious buy in a falling market.
- Have a deposit? Consider using some of it. You do not have to take 100% just because it is offered. Equity at the start is the direct answer to the risk on this page.
Mike's read: in Texas we tell physicians the deposit question is mostly about convenience. In Florida right now it is about cushion. Same product, different advice, because the market is different. Where each route wins.
And budget for insurance properly
Property insurance sits inside your housing payment, so it sits inside your debt-to-income ratio. In Florida that is a larger line than most physicians moving from another state expect.
The direction has recently been favourable: Citizens Property Insurance announced a statewide average reduction of 8.7% effective Spring 2026 at renewal, affecting more than 330,000 policyholders across all 67 counties, with average reductions of 14.1% in Broward, 14.0% in Miami-Dade and 11.9% in Palm Beach. More than 150,000 policyholders saw reductions of 10% or greater.
★ We publish no statewide average premium in dollars. Secondary sources gave figures ranging from roughly $3,757 to $8,458, a spread too wide to be useful and not reconcilable against a primary source. Get a real quote on the actual property before you set your budget, not a state average.
What we are not doing
We are lenders, not investment advisers. We are not forecasting Florida prices, not telling you the bottom is in, and not telling you it is not. What we can do is show you the last twelve months, explain what financing 100% of the price does on top of that, and write whichever loan you decide on. Talk it through.
Frequently asked questions
Are Florida home prices falling in 2026?
Every major Florida metro fell year over year as of 2026-08-31 per Zillow Research. Cape Coral and Fort Myers fell 4.4%, North Port and Sarasota 3.1%, Naples and Lakeland 2.4% each, Orlando 1.8%, Tampa 1.5%, Port St. Lucie 1.3%, Palm Bay 0.9%, and Miami and Jacksonville 0.5% each.Is 100% financing risky in Florida right now?
It carries real equity risk. Financing the whole purchase price in a market that fell between 0.5% and 4.4% over the past year means starting with no cushion in an asset that is losing value, and Florida sells slowly at 67 to 130 mean days to pending, so exiting takes longer.Should a physician buy or rent in Florida?
It depends on the time horizon. Over five years or more, being in the house generally outweighs a year or two of softness. For a one-to-three year post, or where the destination after training is uncertain, renting deserves serious consideration in a falling market.How much is homeowners insurance in Florida?
This site does not publish a statewide average premium, because secondary sources ranged from roughly $3,757 to $8,458 and could not be reconciled against a primary source. Citizens Property Insurance did announce a statewide average reduction of 8.7% effective Spring 2026 at renewal. Get a quote on the specific property.Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax, or licensure advice. Physician-loan program terms, eligible degrees, and overlays are set by the lender and change; Florida FRAME award amounts, eligibility and application cycles change too. Confirm your scenario with us and your program administrator. All loans are subject to borrower and property qualification, including credit and income review.