Florida Construction Loans: What It Costs to Build and Finance in 2026

Before a Florida builder pours a slab, 3 public documents have already set much of the budget: the county's permit and impact-fee schedule, the wind and flood maps behind the Florida Building Code, and the Notice of Commencement the county clerk records. Each one also sets part of the timeline, and on a construction loan, time is interest.

This guide starts with what Florida builders are actually declaring on their permits in 2026, metro by metro, from the Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey. It then covers the Florida rules that move cost and schedule, and how those facts flow into a loan's size, draws and exit. Our construction loan guide covers the program itself, and the ground-up draw schedule covers how draws work in any state.

Florida builders declared $343K per new house in the first 8 months of 2026

Every month, local permit offices report each new residential permit to the Census Bureau: how many buildings, how many units and the declared construction value. From January through August 2026, Florida permitted 76,599 single-family homes with a combined declared value of $26.27B. That works out to $343K per home, up 4.9% from $327K over the same months of 2025, while the number of homes fell 1.3%. The national figure for the same period was $326K.

The metro picture varies far more than the statewide average suggests:

Source: Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, year-to-date CBSA and state files through August 2026 and August 2025, estimates with imputation. Value per home = declared single-family valuation ÷ single-family units.

How to read the value column. Permit valuation is the construction value the builder declares on the permit. The Census Bureau's respondent guide states that it excludes the cost of land, and the survey's methodology warns that permit valuations often differ from true construction cost. It also understates finished cost: lot, impact fees, design, financing and builder margin all sit outside it. Treat it as a consistent yardstick for comparing metros and years. It is no substitute for a contractor's bid.

The arithmetic is simple to check. The CBSA file lists, for each metro, buildings, units and valuation (in thousands of dollars) for structures with 1 unit, 2 units, 3–4 units and 5 or more units. North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota reports 7,006 single-family units and $2,438,946K of valuation for January to August 2026; $2.439B ÷ 7,006 = $348K.

2 patterns stand out. Southwest Florida's permit pipeline shrank the most: Cape Coral–Fort Myers permitted 28.3% fewer homes than a year earlier. And parts of the Atlantic coast moved up in declared value, with Port St. Lucie up 24% per home and Deltona–Daytona up 12%. Part of any change in value per home is mix (larger or more expensive houses being permitted), and the survey cannot separate mix from price.

Single months are noisy. In August 2026 alone, Tampa's 1,282 single-family permits carried $458K of declared value each, against $339K in August 2025. The 8-month totals above are the steadier read.

Small multifamily permits fell faster than single-family

Builders of duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes are a smaller group, and their permit counts moved more sharply. Statewide, Florida permitted 1,973 units in 2- to 4-unit buildings from January to August 2026, down 26% from 2,665 a year earlier. Declared value per unit in those buildings rose to $258K from $234K. Buildings with 5 or more units fell 28%, to 30,751 units.

Orlando is the exception, with 356 units against 123. For a builder planning a 2- to 4-unit build-to-rent project, fewer competing permits in most metros means less new supply competing for the same tenants when the units deliver.

Contractor pricing per square foot lines up with Florida's permit values

The Census Bureau's survey of new housing characteristics tracks the contract price of homes built by a general contractor on the owner's lot, which excludes the lot itself. For homes started in 2025 in the South region, which includes Florida, the median contract price was $157 per square foot and the average was $180. The median new single-family home completed in the South in 2025 had 2,162 square feet.

Those 2 sources agree closely. Florida's 2026 declared value of $343K per home, spread over the South's median 2,162 square feet, comes to about $159 per square foot. A builder whose bid lands far from that range should know why, whether that is finish level, a pile foundation on the coast, or HVHZ-rated windows.

Residential construction inputs cost 7.8% more than a year ago

Materials have moved faster than permit values. The Producer Price Index for goods used as inputs to residential construction, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and carried on FRED, read 349.0 in August 2026 against 323.8 in August 2025, a 7.8% rise. Nearly all of it came in 2026: the index stood at 323.0 in December 2025.

For a construction loan, that number belongs in 3 places:

• Bid dates. A contractor price from last winter was set on materials that now cost about 8% more. Ask for a bid dated within 60 days of closing, or a fixed-price contract.
• Contingency. The draw schedule article recommends 10% to 15% on ground-up work. On a build priced before 2026, sit at the high end.
• Interest carry. A material delay on a 12-month build stretches the term and adds interest on every dollar already drawn.

Florida's wind and flood rules set the structure before the finishes

The Florida Building Code applies statewide, and 2 parts of it shape a residential build's structure and cost more than any finish choice.

Wind. Miami-Dade and Broward counties form the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ), which has its own structural provisions. Under the current 8th Edition, homes and most other ordinary buildings (Risk Category II) there are designed for 3-second gusts of 175 mph in Miami-Dade and 170 mph in Broward. The rest of the state designs to the code's wind-speed maps. The 9th Edition (2026) of the code takes effect on December 31, 2026, according to the Florida Building Commission, so a project filing for permits around year-end should confirm with the building department which edition its plans will be reviewed under.

Flood. In mapped flood zones outside Coastal A Zones, the residential code requires the lowest floor at or above the base flood elevation plus 1 foot, or the design flood elevation if higher. In V zones and Coastal A Zones, the bottom of the lowest horizontal structural member must meet the same height. Mechanical and electrical equipment must sit at or above that elevation too, and a licensed surveyor or design professional must seal the as-built elevations. Local floodplain ordinances can require more height, so check the parcel's flood zone before the plans are drawn. Fill, stem walls and taller foundations are budget lines a lender expects to see.

Florida law puts deadlines on permit offices

Permit time is carry time, and Florida has written deadlines into statute. Under section 553.792, once an application is complete and sufficient, the local government must approve, approve with conditions, or deny it within:

The office must tell the applicant within 5 business days what is missing; if it does not, the application is deemed complete. If it misses a deadline without a written notice of specific code deficiencies, it must cut the permit fee by 10% for each business day late, unless the delay is the applicant's or both sides agree to an extension in writing. The master-permit line matters for spec builders who repeat the same plan across a subdivision.

The private-provider option. Section 553.791 lets the property owner, or the owner's contractor with written authorization, hire a licensed private provider for plan review, inspections or both, at any time. 4 provisions shorten a build:

• The local permit fee must drop by the cost the building department saves.
• Inspections can be done in person or virtually, and the building official cannot stop a private provider from inspecting after hours, on weekends or on holidays.
• When the provider is a licensed engineer or architect who seals the compliance affidavit, the building official has 10 business days to issue the permit or list specific code deficiencies. Silence means the permit is deemed approved.
• For 1- and 2-family homes, the official has 2 business days to issue the certificate of occupancy once the provider's certificate of compliance, all other approvals and fees are in.

On a construction loan, each inspection gates a draw. A provider who can inspect on a Saturday can move a draw request up by days at a time, across 5 or 6 draws.

Impact fees are due at permit and capped by state law

Counties, cities and special districts charge impact fees on new homes to fund roads, schools, parks and public safety. The amounts vary widely by jurisdiction and by home size, so pull the current schedule from the county before the budget is final. The Florida Impact Fee Act sets the rules every local government must follow:

• A fee cannot be collected before the building permit is issued.
• A new or higher fee needs at least 90 days' notice and does not apply to permit applications already submitted before it takes effect.
• Increases are phased: up to 25% over 2 annual steps, 25% to 50% over 4 steps, no more than 50% in total, and no more than once every 4 years.
• A government can exceed those limits only with a recent demonstrated-need study showing extraordinary circumstances.

The second rule rewards a builder who submits a complete permit application before a scheduled increase. Impact fees also land early: they are paid at permit, before the first draw funds, so they belong in the borrower's equity plan.

The Notice of Commencement decides who gets paid first

Florida's construction lien law gives contractors, subcontractors and suppliers who are not paid a lien on the property. The Notice of Commencement is the recorded document that starts that clock, and a construction lender cares about it more than almost any other closing document.

• Liens date back to it. Under section 713.07, most construction liens take priority from the date the notice is recorded. A mortgage recorded before the notice keeps priority over those liens for every dollar it later disburses, which is why the mortgage is recorded first.
• The lender records it. Section 713.13 requires a lender to record the notice before disbursing construction funds to the contractor. Posting a copy on the job site remains the owner's job.
• It has a shelf life. A notice is void if work does not begin within 90 days of recording, and it runs for 1 year unless it states a longer period. Payments made after it expires are improper payments under the statute.
• The building department needs a copy. For contracts over $5,000, a copy of the recorded notice must be filed with the permit office before the first inspection (section 713.135).

A 14-month build needs a notice that states a 14-month or longer term. Many lenders also collect lien waivers from the contractor and major suppliers with every draw request, which keeps the priority the recorded mortgage established.

A spec house needs a licensed contractor

Florida's owner-builder exemption, in section 489.103, covers 1- and 2-family homes built for the owner's own use and not offered for sale or lease. Selling or leasing the home within 1 year of completion creates a legal presumption that it was built for sale or lease. A spec build or a build-to-rent rental falls outside the exemption, so the file needs a contractor licensed in Florida, and lenders review that contractor's license, insurance and track record.

Builder's risk has to be bound before a storm is named

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, peaking around September 10, according to the National Hurricane Center. Insurers respond to approaching storms by suspending their agents' authority to bind new policies in the threatened area, which Chubb's published notices describe as a temporary suspension of binding authority across a specified geographic area. A builder's risk policy that is not bound before a watch goes up may not be available until the storm passes.

Many lenders require builder's risk in force before the first draw. On a Florida file, bind it at closing, read the named-storm deductible and any wind exclusions, and confirm the policy period covers the full build plus a margin for delays.

How Florida's rules show up in the loan

Here is a single spec house seen as a lender would size it. The numbers are illustrative, not a quote: a 2,200-square-foot home in a Gulf Coast metro.

The interest line assumes the loan's 2% origination ($10.9K) plus interest at 9.99% on an average drawn balance of $350K over 10 months ($29.1K). Interest accrues only on what has been drawn, so a faster permit and inspection schedule cuts that line directly.

The Sphinx Capital construction program lends 75% to 90% of project cost on qualifying files, with fixed interest-only rates from 9.99%, typical 2% origination and terms of 12 to 36 months. Many lenders also cap the loan at a share of the as-completed value, so the appraisal and the sales or rent comps matter as much as the budget.

The Florida sequence looks like this:

A build-to-rent project's exit is usually a rental loan sized on rent. Florida's property tax reassessment and insurance rules change that math, and the Florida DSCR guide covers them before you commit to the hold.

What to send for a Florida construction file

A Florida file moves fastest when the state-specific items arrive with the standard package:

• Sealed plans with wind-load design, and product approval numbers for windows, doors and roofing
• Survey, flood zone determination and the planned finished-floor elevation
• Permit or permit application status, and the private provider agreement if you use one
• Contractor's Florida license, insurance certificate and signed contract
• Line-item budget showing impact fees, permit fees and contingency, with bids dated in the last 60 days
• Builder's risk quote with named-storm coverage
• Entity documents and proof the entity is active on Sunbiz
• Sales comps for a spec sale, or rent comps for a build-to-rent hold
• Bank statements showing equity and reserves

The borrower file readiness checklist has the general list. A Sarasota, Tampa or Orlando builder who arrives with the permit timeline, the impact-fee figure and a dated bid already in hand has answered the questions that slow most Florida files, and can start a construction application with the budget already defended.

Sources

• Building Permits Survey, CBSA files (beginning January 2024) and state files — U.S. Census Bureau
• CBSA ASCII file documentation — U.S. Census Bureau
• Building Permits Survey respondent reference guide and methodology — U.S. Census Bureau
• Characteristics of New Housing: contract price per square foot and square footage — U.S. Census Bureau
• PPI: Net Inputs to Residential Construction, Goods (WPUIP2311001) — Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), from BLS data
• Florida Building Code, Building, Section 1620, High-Velocity Hurricane Zones: Wind Loads (8th Edition) — UpCodes
• Flood-resistant provisions of the 8th Edition Florida Building Code, Residential — Florida Division of Emergency Management
• Key Commission Milestones (9th Edition effective date) — Florida Building Commission
• Section 553.792, building permit application deadlines — Florida Legislature
• Section 553.791, alternative plans review and inspection — Florida Legislature
• Section 163.31801, Florida Impact Fee Act — Florida Legislature
• Section 713.13, Notice of Commencement, section 713.07, priority of liens and section 713.135 — Florida Legislature
• Section 489.103, contractor licensing exemptions — Florida Legislature
• Tropical cyclone climatology — NOAA National Hurricane Center
• Underwriting suspension notices — Chubb