Issue Brief: Mortgage-Free Households in Southwest Florida

June 12, 2025 / RERI Research Team

With rising homeowner costs, a lack of affordable housing, and worsening climate concerns in the region contributing to higher insurance costs and worries over the future of the real estate market, many Southwest Florida residents are unable to live mortgage-free. Although it is normal for homeowners to own a mortgage, especially for first-time homeowners, being mortgage-free suggests a household has more disposable income compared to those that are paying a mortgage. Regions like Southwest Florida offer valuable insights into homeownership trends, shedding light on the challenges of achieving mortgage-free status. Thus, understanding the trends and patterns of previous years becomes valuable for homeowners, policymakers, and businesses alike.

In this issue brief, we look in-depth at mortgage-free households in Southwest Florida. The data for this brief comes from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year microdata, downloaded from IPUMS USA. We define “mortgage-free” households as owner-occupied units where the household does not report a mortgage, while “with mortgage” owner-occupied households are those that report having a mortgage or deed of trust. A small third category, “contract to purchase,” includes owner-occupied households buying their home through an agreement other than a standard mortgage, often a rent-to-own or seller-financed arrangement. This definition captures both the financial obligations and ownership status of primary residence households in the region. Because IPUMS only provides information for areas with at least 100,000 population, information for Glades and Hendry counties was unavailable in this analysis.

The following findings reflect 2023 data. We find that Southwest Florida had a higher share of mortgage-free owner-occupied households compared to the Florida average, reflecting a regional trend of debt-free homeownership. We also find that age played a major role, with older householders more likely to own their homes outright. In addition, we observe that homeownership without a mortgage was more prevalent among lower-income and white non-Hispanic owner-occupied households, and geographically more concentrated in coastal and outer suburban ZIP codes.

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Issue Brief: Mortgage-Free Households in Southwest Florida

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