Florida's real-estate market is on edge amid back-to-back hurricanes

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In today's big story, another hurricane is set to hit Florida this week, threatening a real-estate market already on edge.

What's on deck:

• Markets: China's stock rally fizzles as lack of fresh fiscal stimulus disappoints investors.
• Tech: Elon Musk's robotaxi pitch this week could decide Tesla's future.
• Business: Meet Jeff Smith, the hedge-fund investor taking on Pfizer.

But first, when it rains, it pours.

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The big story

Hurricane (part 2)

Another hurricane is expected to hit Florida as the state continues recovering from Hurricane Helene.

Hurricane Milton, a Category 4 storm (it weakened from a Category 5, but remains "extremely dangerous"), is on track to make landfall near Tampa Bay by Wednesday. It's the latest hurdle for the state's volatile real-estate market.

Milton's peak wind speeds hit 160 mph on Monday. Heavy rain is expected before the storm arrives, and flooding is anticipated throughout the region. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has issued a state of emergency for 51 counties, and mandatory evacuations have begun in some areas. The mayor of Tampa, Jane Castor, has also issued a stark warning that anyone who remains in the city as Milton approaches will "die."

It's never a good time for a hurricane to hit, but preparing for a powerful storm while you recover from another makes the situation even more challenging.

Helene caused over 220 deaths and as much as $34 billion in damage, according to an estimate from Moody's Analytics. Meanwhile, federal agencies meant to provide emergency assistance, like FEMA and the Small Business Administration, face their own cash crises.

Back-to-back hurricanes represent the latest problem for a real-estate market facing buyer's remorse.

The threat and cost that hurricanes pose mean Florida homeowners have some reevaluating to do if they want to remain in the state, write Business Insider's Jordan Pandy, Dan Latu, and Madeline Berg.

One homeowner told BI she pays $7,000 a year in flood and hazard insurance for her 1,400-square-foot bungalow just south of Tampa. (The policies paid off, her home was deemed uninhabitable after Helene, and she still wants to live there after it's repaired.)

But those high costs, coupled with the annual fear of potentially losing your home every fall, have other residents throwing in the towel. Even a few insurers have called it quits on the state, while others could increase their prices by over 300% in the coming years.

It's representative of the extremes the Sunshine State's real-estate market has faced in recent years. One of the pandemic's hottest markets, some people are now souring on Florida over its climate, costs, and overcrowding. (It's not alone in its post-pandemic comedown, as Texas is facing a similar fate.)

But as much as people want to get out of the state, there will always be those looking to get in. More than 8,000 miles of coastline will do that.

One Florida resident whose home sustained almost three feet of water damage from Helene cut their listing price by 40%. Within hours, their real-estate agent received 25 calls from investors interested in the property.

News brief

Top headlines

• Harris hits '60 Minutes' without Trump. Political scientists weigh in on whether the interview matters.
• Google must allow third-party app stores on Android, Epic Games judge rules.
• The job market is in the 'Twilight Zone,' top economist Claudia Sahm says.
• The Russian arms dealer who was exchanged for Brittney Griner is trying to sell weapons to the Houthis: report.
• This $9 billion hedge fund just joined the raid on big-bank commodity-index traders with a senior JPMorgan hire.

3 things in markets

1. Jittery investors are keeping a lid on China's stock market rally. Stocks surged on Tuesday thanks to pent-up demand from a weeklong trading break — but lost steam after Beijing failed to announce more stimulus measures.
2. What recession? Goldman Sachs cut the probability of a recession in the next year to 15%, largely thanks to a strong jobs report. But the jobs report might have lowered the chances of something else: more rate cuts this year.
3. Greenlight's dispute with its alleged former head of macro keeps getting messier. James Fishback is asking to be awarded at least $5 million from Greenlight's David Einhorn, claiming age discrimination. According to the filing, Einhorn dismissed Fishback's compensation concerns, saying he was being paid "a lot of money for a kid."

3 things in tech

1. Elon Musk's next big pitch. The billionaire will have to convince investors that Tesla is more than just a car company at Thursday's Robotaxi Day, when he'll share updates on his plan for a driverless fleet. The event is part of Musk's master plan to position Tesla as tech company first, car company second — and comes as Tesla's revenues have dipped.
2. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang keeps talking about "sovereign AI." Here's what that means. A sovereign cloud guarantees data is stored locally, only used for intended purposes, and not transferred outside national borders. BI spoke with Vultr, a cloud-service provider, about why the phrase is all the rage.
3. Reading the tea leaves of the adtech exodus. Adtech execs keep leaving, a sign of a new era marked by Big Tech dominance. With Google, Meta, and Amazon looming large, independent adtech companies are forced to compete over scraps. Case in point: Adtech company Pubmatic laid off 1% of its staff last week as it reorients business toward growth areas.

3 things in business

1. Mojitos and an MRI. Millions of American "medical tourists" save between 40% and 90% on medical services by getting health screenings abroad. That's a bad sign for the US healthcare system.
2. The hedge-fund investor taking on Pfizer has a formidable reputation. Pfizer got a wake-up call on Sunday when one of the most feared activist investors on Wall Street revealed a stake in the company. Since 2011, Starboard Value's Jeff Smith has extracted board seats and profits from corporate America — by force if necessary.
3. How to reach potential voters: Porn and podcasts. They may not agree on much, but both Harris and Trump know that podcasts are the new way to reach voters, with each appearing on ultra-popular shows. Elsewhere on the internet, porn sites have become a battleground for male voters. A $100,000 campaign is aiming to tie Trump to Project 2025's efforts to ban porn and imprison its producers.

What's happening today

• Pepsico reports Q3 earnings, Samsung issues Q3 pre-earnings guidance, and Boeing announces Q3 deliveries.
• Donald Trump participates in Univision News town hall with undecided Hispanic voters.
• Kamala Harris has a full day of interviews: She'll appear on "The View" on ABC, "The Howard Stern Show" on SiriusXM, and "Late Night with Stephen Colbert" on CBS.

The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York. Milan Sehmbi, fellow, in London.