New construction is giving homebuyers more choices and negotiating leverage across the South, including Florida, as builders add supply even while buyer demand has moderated, according to a Florida Realtors report on HomeServices of America’s 2026 Mid-Year National Housing Outlook. The shift is increasing competition among sellers and raising the stakes on accurate pricing and local market guidance, the report found.
In some Southern markets, the report found, buyers now have more room to negotiate over prices, closing costs, repairs and other contract terms. But seller expectations haven’t fully adjusted to match: nationally, 83% of sellers still expect to receive their asking price or more, even though 34.2% had already reduced their list price as of February, according to the report.
Florida’s price declines track new construction
The regional findings line up with trends Florida Realtors has tracked separately. Florida Realtors Chief Economist Brad O’Connor has said some of the state’s largest price declines are occurring in the areas with the most new construction. The mix varies by market: new homes account for a larger share of sales in places like Lakeland and Cape Coral, while the price gap between newly built and existing homes differs widely across the state.
That means agents need to help buyers compare more than list prices alone, weighing builder incentives, financing offers, property features and location, according to the report. Florida Realtors has also reported separately that growing inventory is creating more choices for buyers overall, while markets with tighter supply continue to see stronger price growth β meaning a buyer’s leverage in Lakeland or Orlando can look very different from a buyer’s leverage in Miami.
For sellers, the report said, the shift makes the initial listing-price decision more consequential than it has been in recent years: overpricing in a market where builders are competing on incentives and negotiating room risks a longer time on market and a larger eventual price cut, rather than simply testing the market at the top of a range.
A regional trend with local variation
HomeServices of America, the real estate brokerage arm of Berkshire Hathaway’s HomeServices network, produces the twice-yearly outlook from data and reporting across its network of affiliated brokerages nationwide. The mid-year update reinforces a theme the company flagged earlier in 2026: that builders’ willingness to compete on price and incentives, rather than a broad drop in buyer demand alone, is reshaping negotiating dynamics in fast-growing Southern markets.
What it means
The verified facts: national and regional survey data from HomeServices of America showing sellers slower to adjust pricing expectations than the market’s underlying supply-demand balance would suggest. Florida Realtors’ extension of that finding β tying specific Florida price declines to areas of heavy new construction β is attributed analysis from its own chief economist, not an independently audited causal study. What to watch: whether seller price-cut activity, already at 34.2% nationally in February, continues rising as the newly built supply Florida Realtors has tracked keeps expanding. See RealtyWire’s related coverage of home price cuts climbing to 20% of listings in July and Florida construction permits falling in the first half of 2026 even as some counties saw a surge.
