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High homeowners insurance rates scaring away Florida homebuyers, other states face the same issue

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Southern states like Florida, Texas and Oklahoma have the highest homeowners insurance rates in the country.  (iStock)

Florida is in the middle of an unprecedented insurance crisis. The state has the highest homeowners’ insurance rates in the country, an Insurify study found.

These record-high rates are driving potential homeowners away, especially in coastal areas where rates are highest. 

Realtors in the state cite the aftermath of Hurricane Ian as one of the largest factors driving rates up, a Bloomberg article reported. After Hurricane Ian, rates shot up by 42%, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

“You’ve got people that went through the storm and just want to move on, and don’t really think the affordability is here anymore because of insurance,” said Marlissa Gervasoni, Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association president.

Southwest Florida has traditionally been a hot spot for buyers. Its home prices have often outpaced the national average. Even with an increase in listings, buyers are now shying away from the area, largely due to unaffordable homeowners insurance.

Additionally, rampant insurance fraud has plagued Florida in recent years, causing insurers to raise rates to keep up with demand.

You can shop around to make sure you’re not overpaying for your homeowners insurance policy. Get free quotes from Credible in minutes and compare multiple policies at once.

2023 WAS THE HOTTEST YEAR ON RECORD, DRIVING UP UTILITY COSTS AND HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE PRICES

South and Midwest hit with highest rates

Florida isn’t alone when it comes to rising homeowners’ insurance rates. Nationally, the average cost of homeowners’ insurance went up by 12% for $300,000 in property coverage, Insurify’s report found. The average annual cost now sits at $1,770.

Certain states have felt these rising premiums more than others. While Florida tops the list, Oklahoma residents have seen their annual rates increase 24% to $4,782, on average. Mississippi follows close behind with an average yearly premium of $4,017, up 23% from the previous year. Texas has also seen an increase in claims due to dangerous weather with an average premium of $3,969, up 18% annually.

These states face a higher risk of weather-related events that require large payouts from insurers. In turn, insurance companies are becoming less profitable and raise rates.

Areas that have a low risk of natural disasters pay the lowest rates. Currently, Vermont has the cheapest homeowners insurance rates, at just $914 annually, on average, according to Insurify.

Having enough insurance is vital. Having the appropriate insurance coverage is just as important. To ensure your insurance is suitable for your circumstances, visit Credible to check out plans, providers and costs.

SOCIAL INFLATION CAUSING INSURANCE RATES TO JUMP, NO END IN SIGHT FOR RISING PREMIUMS IN 2024

Major insurers are raising rates in multiple states

Specific insurance companies are raising rates across multiple states. Allstate has implemented rate hikes in Illinois recently, as well as California, New York and New Jersey.

In Illinois, Allstate rolled out a 12.7% increase in rates, the Chicago Tribune Reported. At the end of 2023, the company raised rates in California by 30% on average, while New Jersey saw rates go up by 20% and New York residents’ rates went up by 14.6%, Insurance Business Magazine reported.

State Farm also plans to raise homeowners insurance rates, particularly in Illinois. For new policies opened in March, homebuyers will see rates rise by 12.3%, according to the Chicago Tribune. For renewals, customers won’t see rates rise until May. In terms of dollars and cents, policies will go up by about $138, on average.

If you’re considering switching insurance providers, consider using Credible, where you can get free rates quotes from a variety of companies without affecting your credit score.

1 IN 5 HOMEOWNERS THINKING OF SELLING IN THE NEAR FUTURE: ZILLOW

Have a finance-related question, but don’t know who to ask? Email The Credible Money Expert at mailto:[email protected] and your question might be answered by Credible in our Money Expert column.

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Warren Buffett’s top stock picks come with 15% income bonus in new ETF

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Invest like Buffett: VistaShares CEO on new ETF that follows the investor

In a year that hasn’t been kind to many big-name stocks, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is standing near the top. Berkshire shares have posted a 17% return year-to-date, while the S&P 500 index is down 6%.

That performance places Berkshire among the top 10% of the U.S. market’s large-cap leaders, and the run has been getting Buffett more attention ahead of next weekend’s annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. It’s also good timing for the recently launched VistaShares Target 15 Berkshire Select Income ETF (OMAH), which holds the top 20 most heavily weighted stocks in Berkshire Hathaway, as well as shares of Berkshire Hathaway. 

Berkshire is currently the biggest holding in the ETF, at 10.6% of the fund. Other top holdings in the ETF from among the ranks of Berkshire’s biggest bets include Apple, American Express, Kroger, VeriSign, Bank of America, Citigroup, Visa and of course Coca-Cola, a long time favorite of the man known as the Oracle of Omaha.

“It’s a really well-balanced portfolio chosen by the most successful investor the world has ever seen,” Adam Patti, CEO of VistaShares, said in an appearance this week on CNBC’s “ETF Edge.”

Berkshire’s outperformance of the S&P 500 isn’t limited to 2025. Buffett’s stock has tripled the performance of the market over the past year, and its 185% return over the past five years is more than double the performance of the S&P 500.

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Berkshire Hathaway is one of 2025’s top performing stocks.

In addition to this long-term track record of success in the market, Berkshire Hathaway is getting a lot of attention right now for the record amount of cash Buffett is holding as he trimmed stakes in big stocks including Apple, which has proven to be a great strategy. The S&P 500 has experienced extreme short-term volatility since President Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20. Even after a recent recovery, the S&P is still down 8% since the start of Trump’s second term.

“The market has been momentum driven for many years, the switch has flipped and we’re looking at quality in terms of exposure, and Berkshire Hathaway has performed incredibly well this year, handily outperforming the S&P 500,” said Patti.

Berkshire Hathaway famously doesn’t pay a dividend, with Buffett holding firm over many decades in the belief that he can re-invest cash to create more value for shareholders. In a letter to shareholders in February, Buffett wrote that Berkshire shareholders “can rest assured that we will forever deploy a substantial majority of their money in equities — mostly American equities.”

The lack of a dividend payment has been an issue over the years for some shareholders at Berkshire who do want income from the market, according to Patti, who added that his firm conducted research among investors in designing the ETF. “Who doesn’t want to invest like Buffett, but with income?” he said.

So, in addition to being tied to the performance of Berkshire and the stock picks of Buffett, the VistaShares Target 15 Berkshire Select Income ETF is designed to produce income of 15% annually through a strategy of selling call options and distributing monthly payments of 1.25% to shareholders. This income strategy has become more popular in the ETF space, with more asset managers launching funds to capture income opportunities and more investors adopting the approach amid market volatility.

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More Americans buy groceries with buy now, pay later loans

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People shop for produce at a Walmart in Rosemead, California, on April 11, 2025. 

Frederic J. Brown | Afp | Getty Images

A growing number of Americans are using buy now, pay later loans to buy groceries, and more people are paying those bills late, according to new Lending Tree data released Friday

The figures are the latest indicator that some consumers are cracking under the pressure of an uncertain economy and are having trouble affording essentials such as groceries as they contend with persistent inflation, high interest rates and concerns around tariffs

In a survey conducted April 2-3 of 2,000 U.S. consumers ages 18 to 79, around half reported having used buy now, pay later services. Of those consumers, 25% of respondents said they were using BNPL loans to buy groceries, up from 14% in 2024 and 21% in 2023, the firm said.

Meanwhile, 41% of respondents said they made a late payment on a BNPL loan in the past year, up from 34% in the year prior, the survey found.

Lending Tree’s chief consumer finance analyst, Matt Schulz, said that of those respondents who said they paid a BNPL bill late, most said it was by no more than a week or so.

“A lot of people are struggling and looking for ways to extend their budget,” Schulz said. “Inflation is still a problem. Interest rates are still really high. There’s a lot of uncertainty around tariffs and other economic issues, and it’s all going to add up to a lot of people looking for ways to extend their budget however they can.”

“For an awful lot of people, that’s going to mean leaning on buy now, pay later loans, for better or for worse,” he said. 

He stopped short of calling the results a recession indicator but said conditions are expected to decline further before they get better.  

“I do think it’s going to get worse, at least in the short term,” said Schulz. “I don’t know that there’s a whole lot of reason to expect these numbers to get better in the near term.”

The loans, which allow consumers to split up purchases into several smaller payments, are a popular alternative to credit cards because they often don’t charge interest. But consumers can see high fees if they pay late, and they can run into problems if they stack up multiple loans. In Lending Tree’s survey, 60% of BNPL users said they’ve had multiple loans at once, with nearly a fourth saying they have held three or more at once. 

“It’s just really important for people to be cautious when they use these things, because even though they can be a really good interest-free tool to help you kind of make it from one paycheck to the next, there’s also a lot of risk in mismanaging it,” said Schulz. “So people should tread lightly.” 

Lending Tree’s findings come after Billboard revealed that about 60% of general admission Coachella attendees funded their concert tickets with buy now, pay later loans, sparking a debate on the state of the economy and how consumers are using debt to keep up their lifestyles. A recent announcement from DoorDash that it would begin accepting BNPL financing from Klarna for food deliveries led to widespread mockery and jokes that Americans were struggling so much that they were now being forced to finance cheeseburgers and burritos.

Over the last few years, consumers have held up relatively well, even in the face of persistent inflation and high interest rates, because the job market was strong and wage growth had kept up with inflation — at least for some workers. 

Earlier this year, however, large companies including Walmart and Delta Airlines began warning that the dynamic had begun to shift and they were seeing cracks in demand, which was leading to worse-than-expected sales forecasts. 

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