04:00 PM EDT, 10/28/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Florida's housing affordability crisis has been exacerbated by rising property taxes fueled largely by pandemic-era migration and partly by intensifying climate disasters, Redfin (RDFN) said Monday.

The state that was recently battered by hurricanes Helene and Milton houses three of the five major US metros where property taxes have logged the biggest increases since 2019, according to the real estate brokerage's report.

The two biggest tax hikes over that period occurred elsewhere, in Indianapolis, where homeowners are paying nearly 67% more than 2019 levels, and in Atlanta, with a nearly 66% increase. Florida rounds out the top five with gains of about 60% in Jacksonville, 57% in Tampa and 48% in Miami.

"Florida was alluring for remote workers during the pandemic because of its relatively affordable housing. Somewhat ironically, the state's population boom has driven up home prices, and property taxes along with it," said Elijah de la Campa, a senior economist at Redfin. "Home prices that are much higher than in pre-pandemic times and the disaster-driven surge in (homeowners association) and insurance costs are now pricing homebuyers out of the market."

Home demand has already simmered in Florida, and Redfin's economists expect ongoing declines as homes are no longer "affordable enough to make up for increasingly destructive natural disasters," the company wrote.

In Indianapolis and Atlanta, climbing home values and inflation largely contributed to the rise in taxes, according to Redfin.

Nationwide on a dollar basis, property taxes are up nearly 30% since 2019 though tax rates across the US have ticked down to 0.67% from 0.77% over the period, the report showed. The lower effective rate reflects home value growth exceeding tax rates set by local governments, according to Redfin.

Only two metros of the 50 tracked in the real estate brokerage's report have smaller tax bills now than in 2019, Las Vegas and Pittsburgh.

Price: 10.08, Change: +0.09, Percent Change: +0.90