Hurricane Ian: Level of destruction to property market “unfathomable”

“I’ve been in the business for 40 years and I’ve been through other hurricanes and other major storms. The general view is that real estate values will drop post the hurricane.”

Still reeling from the effects of the catastrophe, Cohn said insurers and mortgage firms were now fully involved in assessing damages, pointing out that Fort Myers in Lee County, where most of the deaths occurred, had been “decimated”.

Asked how long it would take for Florida as a whole to recover, she said the less badly hit areas would “hopefully see a better life again” within a year.

“People are slowly getting back to doing business in Florida, while we’re also trying to help our friends and neighbors to rebuild. If we act together as a community, we’ll get back there faster than we could have imagined.”

She said the market would stabilize as people who have lost homes will need to be rehoused. Florida was also an area with low inventory, which would prevent a major crash in the housing market.