Weekly Landlord Intel: February 24, 2026
New eviction filing data, insurance premiums rising sharply in Florida and California, and IRS Section 199A guidance for rental property owners.
This Week in Rental Real Estate: February 24, 2026
Mortgage rates ended the week at 6.08%, approximately flat from the prior week as markets awaited the Fed's preferred inflation measure, the PCE deflator, due Friday. Fed Chair Powell's congressional testimony this week struck a cautious tone — signaling no rate cuts are imminent despite improving inflation data. The Fed funds rate remains at 3.50-3.75%, and futures markets are pricing in fewer cuts in 2026 than were anticipated at the start of the year.
New Eviction Data: What the Numbers Show
Princeton University's Eviction Lab released its annual data for 2025, showing eviction filings at approximately 84% of pre-pandemic levels nationally — still below 2019 baseline but trending upward for the second consecutive year as emergency rental assistance programs have fully expired. States with the highest eviction rates: South Carolina, Delaware, North Carolina, Virginia, and Nevada, where filings exceeded pre-pandemic averages. States with notably low rates relative to historical norms: New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California, where robust tenant protections and slower court processing continue to suppress filing rates. The data underscores significant geographic variation — landlords in high-eviction states should maintain rigorous screening and maintain healthy reserves; landlords in slow-eviction states should ensure they understand their local process and do not allow delinquencies to compound over months.
Insurance Market Update: Rising Premiums Hit Landlords
Landlord insurance premiums have risen an average of 18% over the past two years, with catastrophic increases in Florida (35-50% in some counties), Louisiana (25-40%), and California wildfire-adjacent areas (20-60%). Several major carriers have exited the Florida and California markets entirely, leaving landlords to rely on state-backed last-resort insurers at significantly higher premiums. Landlords in high-risk states should review their coverage annually, shop multiple carriers, and factor rising insurance costs into rent pricing and acquisition underwriting. A property that cash-flowed well with $2,400 annual insurance may be marginally negative at $4,000. This is not a minor line item adjustment — it is reshaping the economics of rental ownership in several major states.
Quick Hits
The Department of Housing and Urban Development released updated fair market rents for 2026, with increases averaging 4.2% nationally and significantly higher in Florida, Texas, and coastal markets. Section 8 landlords should review their rents against the new FMRs and submit increase requests if applicable. The IRS released final regulations on the Section 199A qualified business income deduction for rental activities, clarifying that a rental activity qualifies for the 20% deduction if the taxpayer maintains contemporaneous time logs showing at least 250 hours of rental services annually. Landlords who have not been tracking their time should start immediately to preserve this deduction for the 2026 tax year.