🌴 What's the Deal with Florida This April?
Monthly update on Florida happenings, real estate news, and mortgage rates for April 2026.
🌴 What's the Deal with Florida This April?
Your monthly update on what's happening in the Sunshine State — from fun happenings to real estate news.
5 Fun Things Happening in Florida 🎉
SUN 'n FUN Aerospace Expo – Lakeland, FL (April 14–19)
The 52nd Annual SUN 'n FUN Aerospace Expo is one of the largest airshows in the United States, drawing over 200,000 visitors to Lakeland Linder International Airport across six days. The 2026 edition features performances by the USAF Thunderbirds, F-22 Raptor Demo Team, and F-18 Rhino Demo Team, plus a night airshow with fireworks on Saturday, April 18. Hundreds of exhibitors, hands-on STEM activities, workshops, and an opening night country music concert round out the experience. Children 12 and under are free to attend.
Minto U.S. Open Pickleball Championships – Naples, FL (April 11–18)
Billed as the biggest pickleball party in the world, the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships draws approximately 55,000 fans to the USOP National Pickleball Center in Naples. The event features elite professional competition alongside amateur divisions for players of all ages and skill levels across 64 courts. Live music, food, and beverages add to the festival atmosphere throughout the week.
Conch Republic Independence Celebration – Key West (April 17–26)
Key West's most colorful annual event celebrates the Conch Republic's 44th 'birthday,' commemorating the Florida Keys' tongue-in-cheek symbolic secession from the United States in 1982 after a U.S. Border Patrol roadblock was set up on U.S. 1. The 10-day celebration includes over 20 events: kick-off parties, a pirate ball and costume contest, movie screenings, quirky races, and a sea-to-sea parade. It's one of the most uniquely Floridian events on the calendar.
Gamble Rogers Folk Festival – St. Augustine (April 10–12)
More than 30 years old, this beloved festival honors late Florida folk musician James Gamble Rogers IV with performances on four stages over three days at the St. Johns County Fairgrounds in Elkton. The 2026 lineup includes AJ Lee & Blue Summit, John Jorgenson Quintet, and Verlon Thompson, among other artists. Single-day tickets start at $35, and on-site camping is available for the full folk experience.
Worm Gruntin' Festival – Sopchoppy (April 11)
The tiny Panhandle town of Sopchoppy celebrates its distinction as the Worm Gruntin' Capital of the World at this wonderfully quirky one-day festival. Worm grunting is the practice of driving a wooden stake into the ground and vibrating it to coax earthworms to the surface for use as fishing bait. The festival features live demonstrations of the technique, a 5K Wiggle Worm Fun Run, a gummy-worm-eating contest, and live music all day — and admission is free.
Venice Sharks Tooth Festival – Venice (April 11–12)
Venice, Florida is known as the Shark Tooth Capital of the World, and this annual festival celebrates that sandy distinction with fossil-hunting demonstrations, vendors, live entertainment, and family activities along the Gulf Coast. The beaches around Venice are famous for the abundance of fossilized megalodon and other shark teeth that wash ashore. The festival draws tens of thousands of visitors who try their hand at finding teeth on the beach.
Delray Affair – Delray Beach (April 2026)
Now in its 62nd edition, the Delray Affair is one of the largest outdoor art and craft festivals in the southeastern United States, presented by the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce. Dubbed the 'Greatest Show under the Sun,' the event fills Atlantic Avenue with hundreds of artisan vendors, food, live entertainment, and a marketplace blending traditional and contemporary works. The event is free to attend and celebrates the thriving arts culture of South Florida's Palm Beach County.
Word of South Festival – Tallahassee (April 24–26)
Word of South is a unique three-day literary and music festival held at Cascades Park in Florida's capital city, exploring the creative relationship between authors and musicians. The 2026 headliner is Earth Wind & Fire, who have sold over 100 million albums and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Featured authors include former St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny and other notable writers, with many 'mu-aushup' pairings placing authors and musicians together on stage.
Old Florida Celebration of the Arts – Cedar Key (April 11–12)
Dating back to 1964, this beloved small-town arts festival on the Gulf Coast island of Cedar Key showcases work from approximately 100 artists set against the backdrop of a historic fishing village. Attendees can rent golf carts and explore the island, enjoy seafood and drinks prepared by local nonprofits, and support a community that showed remarkable resilience after Hurricane Idalia. The event is free to attend and is one of the most authentically 'Old Florida' experiences available.
South Walton Beaches Food and Wine Festival – Destin/30A Area (April 2026)
This upscale food and wine event along the Emerald Coast brings together renowned winemakers, celebrity chefs, and wine seminars culminating in a Grand Tasting event available on Saturday or Sunday. Guests receive a tasting booklet outlining featured wines to help navigate hundreds of selections from producers around the world. The festival also features a Cottage Artisan Market with local artisans and crafters in one of Florida's most scenic beach settings.
Real Estate News
Florida Short About 121,000 Housing Units, New FSU Study Finds
A new housing supply model from Florida State University's DeVoe L. Moore Institute finds the state is missing an estimated 55,000 single-family homes and more than 66,000 rental units. The most severe shortages are concentrated in Miami-Dade (12,700+ units), Broward (10,233), Hillsborough (8,360), and Duval (6,941) counties. Researchers cite permitting delays, restrictive zoning, and political gridlock as key barriers to new construction. An interactive housing shortage map has been released alongside the report.
Florida Median Home Price Holds at $412K with Inventory at 4.8-Month Supply
The median single-family Florida home price was $412,000 at the end of February 2026, representing a modest 0.7% year-over-year decrease and sitting about 4.2% below the all-time high of $430,000 set in April 2024. Available inventory stands at a 4.8-month supply — below the 6-month threshold considered a balanced market — as many homeowners with low locked-in mortgage rates choose not to sell. Most Florida homes are spending roughly 59 days on market before going under contract.
Florida Homeowners Insurance Rates Begin to Drop as Market Stabilizes
Governor DeSantis announced that Citizens Property Insurance policyholders will see an average statewide premium reduction of 8.7% beginning in Spring 2026, with some South Florida policyholders seeing cuts up to 14%. The relief is driven by landmark 2022–2023 legal reforms that eliminated one-way attorney fees and assignment-of-benefits abuse, reducing litigation costs and attracting 17 new insurance companies to the state. Over 330,000 Citizens policyholders across all 67 counties will see rate decreases, marking the insurer's first rate cut since 2015.
Southwest Florida Housing Slowdown Called a 'Correction, Not a Crash'
At the 2026 Market Trends event in Fort Myers — attended by approximately 1,300 real estate professionals — industry experts declared that Southwest Florida's housing slowdown is a post-pandemic market correction, not a crash. Median sale prices in the region declined 3%, 2%, and 5% in the last three years after pandemic-era gains of 12%, 25%, and 20%. Analysts say the steepest part of the downturn may have already passed, though buyer's market conditions are expected to persist for several more years.
Florida Leads Nation in Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities
Florida continued to dominate the nation's top-selling master-planned communities in 2025, even as overall new-home sales slowed slightly from a year earlier, according to John Burns Research and Consulting. The top 50 master-planned communities nationally sold approximately 32,800 homes in 2025, down 4% from 2024 but still above pre-pandemic levels. Florida's warm climate, lifestyle amenities, and continued in-migration keep its large planned developments among the most active in the country.
Florida Ranked 2nd Least Competitive Housing Market in 2026
A new Construction Coverage analysis using Redfin data ranked Florida as having the second least competitive housing market in the country in 2026, reflecting the significant post-pandemic cooldown from its pandemic-era boom. As of January 2026, Florida home prices were just 1.1% higher year-over-year and home sales were down 8.3% compared to the prior year. The rapid price increases of 2020–2022, combined with rising mortgage rates and higher carrying costs including insurance, have dampened demand and cooled competition statewide.
Manalapan Oceanfront Mansion Sells for $35.1 Million in South Florida Luxury Deal
One of South Florida's most notable recent residential sales was a 15,900-square-foot oceanfront mansion in Manalapan that sold for $35.1 million — well below its original $56 million asking price. The property at 1280 South Ocean Boulevard features eight bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a theater, wine cellar, spa, and a two-bedroom guesthouse. The seller was Rebecca and Antonio Arcaini, with the buyer entity recorded as Pitchoune Life, LLC, represented by Miami Global Realty.
Florida Lawmakers Push Aggressive Housing Reforms in 2026 Legislative Session
Florida's 2026 legislative session features some of the most aggressive housing policy reforms in the post-pandemic era, including a fourth iteration of the Live Local Act, new zoning mandates, and increased rural housing funding. The governor's budget includes $170.8 million for the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP), $72.9 million for the State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) program, and $50 million for the Hometown Heroes Housing Program, which assists teachers, nurses, and other workers in purchasing homes. Proposed legislation would also legalize more housing types and streamline development to help ease affordability challenges statewide.
🏦 Mortgage Rate Watch
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate currently averages approximately 6.37%–6.40%, according to the most recent data from Freddie Mac (6.37% as of April 9) and Bankrate (6.40% as of April 14, 2026). Rates have ticked down slightly from a recent high of 6.46% the prior week, driven by a bond market rally tied to evolving trade policy developments, and are meaningfully below the 7%-plus levels seen in early 2025. However, rates remain above the 2026 low of 6.09%, and forecasters at the MBA and Fannie Mae expect rates to hover near 6.0%–6.3% through year-end, with continued uncertainty tied to Fed policy and global trade conditions.
Source: Freddie Mac PMMS (April 9, 2026) / Bankrate (April 14, 2026)
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