Finding Affordable Florida Homeowners Insurance Rates

Typical single family home in South Florida,  with concrete block and stucco located in the tri-county area in the countryside with palm trees, tropical plants and flowers and beautiful grass lawn.

ValuePenguin recently analyzed the cost of housing in major Florida cities and found that some cities in the Sunshine state are much more affordable than others. Housing costs varied by a mind boggling 161 percent with Lakeland being the most affordable, housing costs there run $7,992 a year while Coral Springs costs a whopping $20,868 per year.

While Coral Springs, and the entire Miami metro area for that matter, are pretty expensive, housing costs do fall below 30 percent of median income in all areas of the state which is an industry standard metric of affordability. Even in the least affordable city of Miami Gardens, homeowners are only spending 28.8 percent of their income on housing costs.

Renters are not quite as lucky. None of the 30 largest cities in Florida fall into the affordable range. Cape Coral is the most affordable city in the state for renters and even there renters were forking up 31 percent of their income to housing costs. In Hialeah, renters pay $12,420 or 53.7 percent of their median income ($23,104) to housing costs.

What the Numbers Show for Homeowners

When ValuePenguin crunched the numbers they found that the residents of Lakeland are living in the most affordable city in Florida. The annual income for homeowners in Lakeland is $50,851 which is slightly below the average for major cities in Florida but low housing costs, only $666 per month, makes Lakeland very affordable for homeowners. Homeowners are only spending 15.7 percent of their income on housing in Lakeland.

Gainesville managed a second place showing with residents spending 16.9 percent of their annual income on housing. Largo (17.6%), Tallahassee (18.2%) and Melbourne (18.8%) rounded out the top five of the most affordable places for homeowners in Florida.

On the other end of the spectrum are Miami and its surrounding communities.  All five of the most expensive cities to live in Florida fell in the Miami metropolitan area. Part of the reason for this is the high cost of homeowners insurance in this area. Miami area residents pay some of the highest insurance rates in the state, according to our numbers, Miami-Dade residents are paying almost 84 percent more for homeowners insurance than the state average.

Miami Gardens was the most expensive city in the study with homeowners spending 28.8 percent of their income on housing. Miami proper came in second at 27.9 percent while Miramar (26.7%), Hialeah (26.7%), and Sunrise (25.0%) filled out the top five most expensive Florida cities.

How Affordable are Homes in Florida

While some locations may push home affordability to the limit, in general, Florida is still fairly affordable for homeowners while renters are using more of their income to cover housing expenses. The ValuePenguin study found that in most locations, the median household income for homeowners was higher than that of renters. This income gap varied from a mere 19 percent in Sunrise to a surprising 167 percent in Tallahassee. A higher household income means they are using less of their income towards housing costs while renters are spending more of their income on housing.

In 14 of the 30 largest cities, renter had higher median housing costs than homeowners. As an example, in Deerfield Beach, renters are spending 44 percent more on housing than homeowners. High housing costs for renters can make it difficult to save for home.

The affordability of housing depends greatly on a person’s financial situation. According to the government’s standard metric of affordability, if a person’s mortgage or rental payments combined with the cost of homeowners insurance and utilities exceeds 30 percent of their income, the house or rental is unaffordable.

Tips for Saving on Insurance

One way to lower your housing costs is to lower your insurance costs. Here are a few tips to help keep your homeowners premium in the affordable range:

• Shop Around: This is absolutely the best way to lower your insurance costs. Insurers rate risk differently so premium quotes can vary dramatically. Shop your coverage on a yearly basis and get quotes from at least 5 different insurance companies. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples when it comes to deductibles and coverage levels. At HomeInsuranceKing.com, we can compare up to 30 competitive home insurance quotes all in one place. Get Florida homeowners insurance quotes today!
• Discounts: Insurers offer dozens of discounts and your job is to make sure you are receiving all of the discounts that you are entitled to receive. Ask your agent to do a discount review to make sure all available discounts are being applied to your homeowners or renters insurance policy.
• Upgrades: Adding a monitored security system or replacing your roof with wind resistant materials can result in a big discount. Check with your agent to see which upgrades will garner the biggest discount. Helpful Article: Top 5 Home Improvements That Can Save You Money on Your Home Insurance
• Up Your Deductible: The higher your deductible the lower your premium so doubling your deductible can result in huge savings. Always make sure you can easily afford the deductible in the event you have to make a claim on your policy.