Home values spike in Broward, Palm Beach counties

Replacement values — what it would cost to rebuild a destroyed home or condo — are determined by insurers, using models or software that take into account inflation and other factors.

A home’s replacement value differs from its market value — also called “just value” in property appraisers’ records.

But a look at the increase of the market value of properties within a county can provide an idea of what’s happening with replacement values.

In Broward County, the number of single-family homes and condos with market values of more than

$700,000 increased 46% between

2021 and 2022 from 32,003 to

46,815. In Palm Beach County, the increase was even greater, from

40,606 in 2021 to 67,112 in 2022 — a

65% jump. For the three-year span ending in 2021, by comparison, the numbers in each county increased by 26%.

A Citizens spokesman said the company was unable, in time for the publication of this report, to calculate the number of policies non-renewed over the past year after exceeding the eligibility cap.

Jim Carroll, a Fort Lauderdale retiree, had been paying Citizens

$5,000 to $6,000 a year to insure his house, located on a canal near the Intracoastal Waterway. After Citizens increased his home’s replacement value above $700,000 this year, he was forced to pay almost twice as much for coverage with Lloyds of London, he said in an interview.

Not long ago, only the wealthy could afford a $1 million house, he said.

That’s changed.

Houses in his neighborhood that sold for $500,000 to $600,000 a decade ago are now valued at $1 million or more, he said.

Nic Arfaras lives in Fort Laudedale’s Coral Ridge area. After Citizens said it could not renew his policy because his home’s replacement value increased over

$700,000, his insurance cost went from $7,000 to $31,000. After repairing his roof and making some other needed upgrades, he found a company willing to cover the home for $14,000 a year, he said.

He’d rather still be with Citizens, he said. Going without insurance isn’t an option because he still has a mortgage and lenders require full coverage. “If you have a mortgage, you’re screwed. You don’t have a choice,” he said.