Punta Gorda’s waterfront charm and historic downtown have long drawn people to southwest Florida, but the community is now facing a painful reality: rising costs tied to storm recovery, insurance, and property taxes are pushing homeowners toward the foreclosure line faster than anywhere else in the state.
New data from ATTOM Data reveals that Florida is leading the nation in foreclosure filings, and Punta Gorda is hitting particularly hard with 1 in 416 housing units currently facing foreclosure proceedings. The surge represents a 14% increase in foreclosures across the country year-over-year—a troubling signal that the post-pandemic housing market is catching up with those who’ve been treading water since the last crisis.
Lisa Salvato and her neighbor Marlee both fell in love with Punta Gorda for the reasons many do: the walkable streets, friendly neighbors, and the irreplaceable sense of community. But both recognize that recent storms have fundamentally altered the equation for many residents. When you’re layering repair costs and insurance premiums on top of property taxes that keep climbing, the monthly mortgage payment becomes just one bill among many that’s impossible to juggle. The result? Homes going on the market, families leaving town, even as new arrivals still discover what makes the area special.
Joseph Ciarla, broker and owner of Anytime Realty, puts it plainly: rising costs across the board—energy bills, insurance, taxes—have made the past two to three years financially brutal for property owners. It’s not a simple story of people overextending themselves; it’s a compounding crisis where circumstances have moved the goalpost faster than anyone anticipated.
The good news, according to real estate agent Stefanie Wilfong Steely of Starlink Realty, is that lenders often have alternatives to foreclosure. A short sale, for instance, can protect a homeowner’s credit far better than a foreclosure on their record. The key is speed. The moment trouble appears on the horizon, reaching out to your lender to explore refinancing options or other solutions makes all the difference. Credit damage and potential loss of a home can often be prevented—but only if you act before the situation spirals.
It’s worth noting that while the current foreclosure surge is real and affecting communities like Punta Gorda, ATTOM’s CEO confirmed the numbers remain well below the catastrophic levels seen during the 2008 housing crisis. That’s cold comfort to those losing their homes, but it signals the market hasn’t unraveled entirely. What it does show is that for many hardworking Floridians, the math simply doesn’t work anymore.
