Canadian Snowbirds Still Want Out of Florida—but They’re Struggling To Sell Their Homes

Some Canadian snowbirds who flocked to South Florida for the balmy weather are starting to feel frozen out amid the ongoing tariff dispute with the United States. And some of those who have put down roots in Florida are struggling to offload their properties.

In 2025, Canada's oldest real estate company, Royal LePage, found that 54% of Canadians surveyed were considering selling their stateside homes within the next year, with the main reason being the current political administration.

"The polarizing political climate in the United States is prompting many Canadians to reconsider how and where they spend their time and money,” Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage, said in a statement.

South Florida real estate agent Elaine Veasy, with Dalton Wade, tells Realtor.com® that out of 24 households in her Cape Coral community, two are from Canada.

"A lot of it depends on their politics," she says about whether the Canadians she knows want to bail on the Sunshine State. "One neighbor is very liberal, and he's like, 'Yep, I might have to sell.' The other one isn't, so he is like, 'Nope!'"

But she insists that Canadians are still looking to buy area homes.

At a recent open house she hosted for a new custom-built four-bedroom luxury house in Cape Coral with Gulf access, four groups of interested buyers came through. Three of them were Canadian, she says, including one with nine family members.

"The family comes down every winter and are tired of renting," she says. "They didn't even blink at the price," which was $1,835,000.

According to Realtor.com data, the median home price in the Cape Coral–Fort Myers metro area is $399,900, a 7% decline year over year. However, homes aren't lingering on the market as long as last year. The median time frame was 78 days, a 1.3% decline.

Realtor.com data predicts a 10.2% price drop for Cape Coral in 2026.

Other areas expected to see price declines next year include North Port (-8.9%), Tampa (-3.6%), and Orlando (-1.6%). Miami is expected to eke out a bump of +1.1%.

"The Broward condo market as a whole has an 11.7 months’ supply and Miami has 13.9, indicating a buyer's market," Re/Max Town and Country agent Bruce Ailion tells Realtor.com.

"Taxes are high and up, insurance very high and rising, health insurance doubling, credit card debt at record highs, groceries are a challenge. ... The only positive in this mix belongs to those who caught a 2.5% to 4% mortgage.

"But for people who purchased between 18 and 36 months ago and took out maximum loans, many are upside down," he says.

Ailion adds that for those in the market, this presents a good opportunity. He notes that he himself is condo shopping in the area to take advantage of the deals.

"There is a huge buildup of condo inventory for sale in Florida," adds Ponte Vedra Beach agent Cara Ameer, with Coldwell Banker.

"Canadians trying to sell on top of everyone else adds to the pile of inventory, thus lowering prices and creating a race to the bottom, essentially."

Trying to leave South Florida

Donna Lockhart, a snowbird from Ennismore, Ontario, told CBC News she is looking to offload her condo in Charlotte Harbour, Punta Gorda, as she no longer feels welcome in President Donald Trump's America.

"You get a little more anxious the older you get, and I do not like the direction that the United States is going in. If they don’t want us there, we don’t need to be there," she told the outlet.

The problem: She isn't the only Canadian snowbird hoping to bail.

"There aren't that many [buyers] looking. Supply is way above demand," she said.

Another unhappy snowbird, John Willows of Ontario, told the outlet that though he's an avid boater, he can no longer stomach vacationing in the U.S.

"We're in a trade war, and we've got to support our own side," he told CBC News. "I'm bullheaded, and I've just decided, 'Hey, I've had enough.' And just to throw it in their faces, I'm probably going to Cuba instead."

These two aren't the only Canadians souring on U.S. real estate.

Year-over-year data suggests that northern snowbirds are gradually losing interest in stateside vacation homes and investment properties. Online shopping traffic from Canada declined 4.5 percentage points—from 36.6% in the third quarter of 2024 to 32.1% for the same time frame in 2025.

"This retreat coincided with the period during which the U.S. imposed a series of tariffs on Canadian goods, sharply adjusting prior trade relations with the neighbor to the North," says Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu.

In August, Trump raised tariffs on Canadian imports to 35%, but due to an exemption, 85% of all U.S-Canada trade has remained tariff-free. Then in mid-October, a 10% tariff on all timber and lumber from Canada went into effect, in addition to a 25% levy on cabinets and furniture. 

Facebook groups dedicated to Canadians looking to buy or sell Florida real estate were full of contradictory sentiments.

"Hate to say it, but only Boomers have properties in Florida," Kim Biernaskie wrote. "Canadian Gen-Xers do not want to be anywhere near there now or ever. There are countless places to spend a warm winter."

And Canadians are torn on Trump.

"Trump doesn't scare me, Liberal Canadians do," Wayne Hobbs from Ontario said in the same thread.

Despite everything, Canadians remain by far the biggest group of foreign buyers, accounting for nearly a third of international traffic on Realtor.com, says the latest quarterly International Demand report. 

Shoppers from the U.K. come in second at just 6.5% of the traffic, followed by buyers from Mexico at 5.6%. 

"The Canadians are still here," insists Veasy of her Cape Coral neighborhood. "And they're very interested in buying homes."