Cape Coral was a booming real estate parasite a few years ago. Now, it is reportedly the “worst housing market in America.”

Housing prices have dropped 11% in the past two years, with about 12,000 homes in the area now for sale, and prices continuing to drop.

Realtor José Echevarria “described an open house he had recently hosted in the area for a home that was purchased three years prior with plans to turn the property into an Airbnb rental,” Unilad Tech writes. “However, while the asking price was originally $675,000, it has seen been cut to $500,000, which is a whopping $100,000 below what the seller paid for it. Echevarria continued: ‘We’re cutting the price further tomorrow.’”

Hurricanes hit the Gulf Coast of Florida hard in 2022, 2023, and 2024. That means big floods that have both destroyed properties and raised insurance prices. That puts a dimmer on the housing market.

Climate change strikes again. Hurricanes are more frequent and bigger now due to global heating. That comes at a high cost for Floridians. Insurance companies are going to get their profits, and with rising climate costs, that means homeowners are going to foot the bill — and whoever they pass costs on to in the case of long-term and short-term renters.

Reporting also indicates livability problems in Cape Coral. Local resident Sherri Sprinkle says she moved to Cape Coral in 2022, was laid off last year, and now can’t find adequate work. “The cost of living down here doesn’t match the wages. This is paradise, but there’s no work. Everyone’s begging for work.”

In the state government, you’re not allowed to talk or write about climate change. That’s a big Republican no-no, and Republicans now run the state. Does it matter to them that the Florida housing market is walking into one giant decades-long disaster? Doesn’t seem like it. Recall that they repealed clean energy projects and banned offshore wind power projects.

Governor DeSantis then decided he wouldn’t let companies get NEVI funding for EV infrastructure that was granted under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by Congress. “Florida submitted a plan for spending the money, and the federal government approved it. But now Florida is one of 15 states that won’t allow any companies to apply for the money. Of those, Florida is the biggest state dragging its feet,” the Florida Phoenix wrote last year.

“Turns out this delay is not your typical case of bureaucrats moving slower than a three-toed sloth climbing a greased pole in a driving rainstorm. They’re doing this on purpose.

“Instead of handing out those federal millions, the Florida DOT has set up a silly website called ‘Roads Are Not For Politics.’ Contrary to its name, the site features a laundry list of culture-war complaints, such as ‘COVID tyranny,’ as well as criticism of electric vehicles.”

Nice, eh? That’s what happens when your whole political party is bought by the oil industry apparently. Who cares about climate catastrophe’s threat to the Sunshine State and its residents and homeowners?

Photo by Following NYC, via Pexels (free to use).