For five years, "people move to Florida every day" worked as a sales argument, a recruiting argument and a price projection. It is still true. But the number changed so much that anyone still running the 2021 speech is describing a state that no longer exists.
The figure, unsoftened: net domestic migration into Florida — people arriving from other states minus those leaving — went from roughly 208,000 a year during the pandemic to about 22,000 in 2025, per the Florida Chamber's analysis. That is not a slowdown. It is a different scale.
Where people are arriving from now
Here is the shift almost nobody has folded into their pitch. In 2025, 89% of Florida's net migration growth came from other countries, and only 11% from other US states. The composition flipped.
That changes very concrete things about the daily work: how you serve that buyer, in what language, with what expectations about the process, and with what financing — an international buyer may have no US credit history, and their transaction has moving parts a buyer from Ohio's does not.
High-income migration, on the other hand, is holding. IRS data shows Florida gained $20.6 billion in adjusted gross income from taxpayers relocating from other states; California was the largest source of outflow at $11.9 billion. Fewer people, carrying more money: that pushes specific segments, not the whole market.
What changes when the buyer arrives from another country
Worth grounding this, because "international buyer" sounds like luxury and usually is not. What actually changes inside the transaction is this:
- Credit history. It may not exist in the US, which pushes toward specific programs or toward cash. You want a lender who works that profile lined up BEFORE you need one, not found in a panic with an accepted offer on the table.
- Tax identification. Many foreign buyers need an ITIN for parts of the process, and getting one takes time.
- Withholding on the sale side. If the seller is a foreign person, a federal withholding applies that blindsides anyone who did not see it coming, handled with the title attorney and an accountant. It is not the agent's filing, but it is absolutely the agent's job to know it exists and flag it early.
- The calendar. A remote signing across time zones does not get solved with "swing by the office Thursday." This is where e-signature inside the file stops being a convenience and becomes the only way to close without flying anyone anywhere.
None of those four is exotic. They are simply four more things that jam if nobody looks at them until day 25.
Why this matters more than it looks
Because there are public and private decisions built on the assumption that the wave continues. State projections run on the order of 895 net new residents a day in 2026, easing toward roughly 689 a day by 2035, per Florida TaxWatch. Those are still big numbers — Florida remains the country's top destination — but they describe a curve flattening, not accelerating.
For a broker, the translation is simple: growth is not going to do the work for you anymore. In 2021 being available was enough. Today you go find the transaction.
Three concrete things I would do with this
- Audit the language your operation runs in. If nine of ten new arrivals come from outside the country, working in two languages stops being a courtesy and becomes market coverage. Not translating the flyer — making sure the call, the contract and the follow-up happen in the client's language.
- Watch local moves, not the statewide headline. People relocating within Florida — county to county, big house to smaller one — are a larger share of the business than three years ago, and none of it shows up in interstate migration statistics.
- Stop selling growth and start selling service. "This appreciates because people keep arriving" no longer holds up against the data, and an informed client will notice.
What I would not say
I would not say Florida is emptying out, because it is not: the balance is still positive and it still leads destination rankings. I would also not say the wave is unchanged, because that is not true either. The honest version — it grew less, it changed origin, and the money arriving concentrates in fewer transactions — is harder to fit into a social post and considerably more useful at a negotiating table.
Migration data publishes on a lag and gets revised. When the next cycle lands, this page gets updated; the revision date sits under the headline.