Originally published by the Tampa Bay Times on March 19, 2020.
The coronavirus pandemic is hitting Florida’s real estate and construction industry with the destructive force of a hurricane, except maybe worse, because hurricanes usually strike only part of the state.
That’s the observation of veteran Tampa attorney Robert Stern, who co-leads the real estate and lending transactions group at Trenam Law.
“This is an economic hurricane, and it does impact the entire state, not just a specific swath,” he said. Stern told the Tampa Bay Times he sees “five profound impacts” on Florida’s real estate industry, which the National Association of Realtors estimates accounted for $227.3 billion, or nearly 22 percent of Florida’s gross state product, in 2018.
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