Five years after Surfside, we keep hearing the same prediction: Florida’s condo market is doomed. There is just one problem with that story. Condos are still selling, buyers are coming back, inventory is falling, and developers are still putting billions of dollars into new towers. The collapse of Champlain Towers South was an unimaginable tragedy that killed 98 people and demanded change. But it did not expose some new problem created in 2021. It exposed an old one: for decades, many condominium associations kept monthly fees artificially low by postponing repairs, underfunding reserves and pushing tomorrow’s expenses onto tomorrow’s owners. Surfside did not destroy the South Florida condo dream. It forced us to finally confront what it costs to protect it.

The New York Times recently revisited Florida condo owners dealing with the reforms, and some of their stories are undeniably difficult. One owner has been paying an additional $338 a month since 2023 for structural work. Another owner in Surfside received a nearly $39,000 assessment for renovations and may now face another assessment related to a sprinkler project that could cost her building approximately $2 million. Insurance costs have risen as well. These are real financial hardships, and nobody should dismiss them. But here is the uncomfortable question we also have to ask: Were those repairs suddenly necessary because Florida passed a law, or were many of those expenses accumulating for years while associations avoided funding them? 

That is the story I believe gets lost in the discussion about the “condo crisis.” Before Surfside, condo boards were not required to maintain sufficient reserves for many major future expenses. Lower reserves meant lower monthly association payments, which looked great on a listing sheet, until the roof, concrete, balconies, garage or other critical building components actually needed major work. Structural oversight was also remarkably limited: according to the Times, only two Florida counties required structural reviews before Surfside, and enforcement could be loose. Today, Florida condominium buildings taller than two stories that reach the applicable 30-year threshold must undergo inspections and continue those inspections every 10 years. Associations must address structural deficiencies and put money aside for future restoration. That may make condo ownership more expensive, but “cheap” was never truly cheap if the real cost was simply being deferred.

And the process is doing exactly what it was designed to do: finding problems. Since 2024, 54 condominium buildings have been identified as structurally unsafe, although most did not require evacuation, and roughly half of applicable condominium buildings have completed their initial inspections, according to data cited by the Times. Associations are also becoming far more aggressive about collecting the money necessary to fund their obligations. Condo-association liens in Florida more than doubled between 2022 and 2025, reaching 9,443, according to the article. That statistic sounds frightening until you recognize what it represents: the era when associations could continually vote against adequately funding buildings is becoming much harder to sustain. There are still problems with board politics, delays, inexperienced volunteer board members and owners fighting over projects. The Times documents renovations that have taken much longer than promised. Regulation cannot eliminate human dysfunction. But it can make ignoring structural and financial problems much more difficult.

And there is something else in the article that deserves much more attention. After paying all that money, one of the owners interviewed by the Times can now actually see the improvement. She has her parking garage back. The cracks in walls and beams have been repaired. Her building looks better. That, to me, is where the South Florida condo story is heading. We are painfully moving from a market where two seemingly identical condos could have dramatically different financial and structural conditions hidden behind the same ocean view, toward one where buyers, lenders and owners have much more information about reserves, inspections and the actual condition of the building. Yes, some older buildings that spent decades underfunding themselves will suffer. Some owners will sell. Some buildings may ultimately be redeveloped. But stronger buildings with responsible associations should eventually be more financeable, more transparent and more attractive to buyers. That is not the destruction of a market. That is the maturation of one.

Most importantly, the actual sales numbers do not support the narrative that buyers have abandoned condos. In July 2026, South Florida condo and townhome sales increased 8.2% year over year, and they are up 6.8% year to date. Miami-Dade condo sales jumped 11.4% in July, Palm Beach County surged 18.5%, and sales were higher year to date in all five South Florida counties tracked by MIAMI REALTORS. Look at individual markets and the picture gets even more interesting: year-to-date condo sales were up approximately 13% in Miami, 13% in Miami Beach, 18% in Aventura, 4% in Fort Lauderdale and 17% in West Palm Beach. Miami-Dade alone recorded 1,026 existing-condo sales in July, and its condo market has posted year-over-year sales gains in nine of the last 11 months. Condo inventory there also fell almost 12% from a year earlier. That is not what a collapsed resale market looks like.

And perhaps the strongest vote of confidence is literally rising out of the ground. If developers believed South Florida condominium living had no future after Surfside, why are they still building towers? One current Miami new-development tracker counts 99 active condo projects representing more than 21,000 residences, including 54 projects already under construction with more than 12,000 units. Separately, South Florida’s branded and ultra-luxury development pipeline across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach has been estimated at more than $15 billion. Projects continue to rise from Brickell and Downtown Miami to Edgewater, Miami Beach, Sunny Isles, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach. Combine that construction with condo sales climbing again, and I see a very different future than the doom-and-gloom narrative. Surfside did not kill South Florida condos. It ended an era when too many buildings could kick maintenance and reserves down the road. What emerges on the other side should be safer buildings, stronger associations, better-informed buyers and ultimately a healthier condo market. And that is a South Florida condo market I would much rather invest in.