Florida Condos and the 2027 Reserve Change
Program and regulatory figures verified September 18, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
Florida has more condo units, and more old ones, than anywhere else. Both halves of that matter here.
Why Florida sits at the centre of this
Scale and age. Across the top 15 US metros there are 3,817,400 condo units and 2,151,400 of them, 56.35%, predate 1990. The Miami metro alone accounts for 600,100 units, and 392,500 of those were built before 1990.
Age is not a judgement about a building. It is a reasonable proxy for the things Full Review looks at: accumulated deferred maintenance, reserve funding that has not kept pace with replacement costs, and the special assessments that follow both.
Two layers at once
Florida owners are absorbing agency changes on top of state requirements that already pushed associations toward structural inspections and reserve funding. The practical effect is that Florida boards have been raising assessments and commissioning studies for a while, and the agency change lands on communities that are in many cases already mid-adjustment.
That cuts both ways. Some Florida associations are better prepared for the 15% requirement than associations elsewhere, precisely because state law already moved them. Others are carrying large assessments that create their own review problems.
What got easier in Florida
Worth stating, because it is genuinely good news and it gets lost. The same lender letter retired the PERS review requirement for new condo projects with attached units in Florida, effective immediately. And the geographic restrictions that applied specifically to Florida were retired along with the Limited Review process on August 3, 2026.
If a Florida project will not qualify
Purchase financing to 80% of value on a primary residence, and 70% on a second home, is available on projects that do not meet agency standards, without a condo questionnaire. Florida second homes are a large share of what we see, and the 70% tier is the relevant one there.
Terms and eligibility are at financing a non-warrantable condo. The dated rule timeline is at what changed and when.
We are a lender. Association budgets, reserve studies and governance decisions belong to the board, its management company and association counsel. What we can tell you is what those decisions do to an owner's ability to finance or sell.
Frequently asked questions
Why are so many Florida condos non-warrantable?
Scale and age. The Miami metro alone holds 600,100 condo units and 392,500 of them were built before 1990, the largest pre-1990 cohort of any US metro. Older buildings are where deferred maintenance, thin reserves and special assessments concentrate, and those are what Full Review examines.
Can I finance a Florida second-home condo in a project that failed review?
Often yes, to 70% of value at 720 or better credit, without a condo questionnaire. Second homes are a large share of Florida condo purchases and that tier is the one that usually applies.
Did anything get easier for Florida condos?
Yes. The same lender letter retired the PERS review requirement for new Florida condo projects with attached units, effective immediately, and the remaining Florida-specific geographic restrictions were retired with the Limited Review process on August 3, 2026.
Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about financing, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax, accounting or association-governance advice. Agency project standards change; association budgets, reserve studies and governance decisions belong to the board, its management company and association counsel. Loans are subject to borrower and property qualification, and not all projects or borrowers will qualify.