Yahoo Finance Florida Retirees: Could New Property Law Make It Impossible To Buy Your Dream Home?
Florida has consistently ranked as a top destination for retirees because of its sunny climate, tax-free retirement benefits, easy access to healthcare, and lack of inheritance and estate taxes. These advantages not only attract U.S. seniors, but also retirees from across the world — many of whom are lured by Florida’s cultural and ethnic diversity.
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But for seniors from some countries, retiring in Florida could be a problem moving forward because of a new property law that bans certain foreign nationals from buying homes and other real estate in the state. Seven countries fall under the law’s umbrella, according to CoStar: China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria and Venezuela.
As CoStar noted, immigrants from those countries cannot own agricultural land or any other real estate in Florida near a military installation or critical infrastructure, such as airports, refineries, power plants and chemical manufacturing facilities. Florida governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis signed the law on May 8, and it became effective a couple of months later.
More than a dozen military installations are located in Florida. Many are located within five miles of major cities such as Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Panama City and Key West — all of which are attractive to retirees from overseas and elsewhere.
China has been a particularly big player in U.S. residential sales over the last decade. From April 2022 to March 2023, China ranked first in U.S. residential sales dollar volume at $13.6 billion, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This continued a trend that dates back to 2013.
“Home purchases from Chinese buyers increased after China relaxed the world’s strictest pandemic lockdown policy, while buyers from India were helped by the country’s strong GDP growth,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in an Aug. 1 press release.
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The NAR also found that Florida remained the top destination for foreign buyers, accounting for 23% of all international purchases during the survey period.
“Florida, Texas and Arizona continue to attract foreign buyers despite the hot weather conditions during the summer and the significant spike in home prices that began a few years ago,” Yun said.
The new Florida property rule will make it difficult for retirees from China to relocate to the state. That’s also the case with the six other countries. Retirees from Cuba and Venezuela might be particularly attracted to Florida because of its large Latin American population.
The wild card is whether the law will stick around. It is already being challenged in court after a group of Chinese citizens living in Florida sued the state. The plaintiffs, who are being represented by the ACLU, contend that the Florida law is unconstitutional and violates a federal law banning housing discrimination, Reuters reported.
For now, the law still has many unknowns, according to Luis Padilla, CEO of Oceanside Realty & Investment Inc./ Padilla Team in Florida.
“I think it’s a little bit beyond the real estate practitioner’s pay grade to really be playing national security agents,” Padilla told Yahoo Finance. “As a realtor, I think it’s a law that hurts and borders on redlining citizens just because of their ethnicity or citizenship. If I have to be on one side, I’m not for it.”
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Florida Retirees: Could New Property Law Make It Impossible To Buy Your Dream Home?
