Central Florida is home to four of the top 10 counties with sinkhole reports, and they can have a detrimental effect on a property value.
Florida is prone to sinkholes and recent cases have highlighted the problem.
Last week, a 37-year-old man was swallowed up by a sinkhole as he slept in his Hillsborough County home. A second sinkhole just opened up Tuesday a mile and a half away.
"Oh God, it's scary. You never know what could happen," said neighbor Katie Vargas. "It happened to that man, it happened to our neighbor."
According to FloodInsights, which is a part of CoreLogic, a group that gathers statics and data for insurance companies, the list below just released Tuesday shows the top 10 counties in Florida for reports of Sinkholes. These numbers have been gathered over the last 30 years.
6,174 |
Pasco |
3,789 |
Hernando |
2,557 |
Hillsborough |
649 |
Marion |
477 |
Citrus |
291 |
Orange |
232 |
Seminole |
231 |
Polk |
179 |
Lake |
152 |
Pinellas |
There have been almost 15,000 reported sinkholes in the top 10 counties.
Marion, Seminole, Lake and Orange counties made the list.
But Pasco, Hernando and Hillsborough counties make up a big chuck of those numbers with more than 12,500 reports coming out of just those three counties.
“People should be more awar, in the state of Florida and the kind of soil we have, so having someone come and check it would probably be a good idea,” said Osceola County Property Appraiser Katrina Scarborough.
Real estate experts said a sinkhole nearby makes it tough to sell and get insurance for your home.
“It definitely stigmatizes the property,” said Rob Arnold, a real estate investor and realtor at Sand Dollar Realty Group.
Depending on the size of the sinkhole, it can also affect nearby homes in your neighborhood, particularly the ones adjacent to the sinkhole.
Arnold said he has bought and sold over 30 sinkhole properties in the last five years.
"My rule of thumb on price is that you take the retail value of the property," Arnold said, "what it would sell for if it wasn’t damaged, discount it by about 30 percent and minus out whatever the repairs would be.”
There was massive sinkhole in 1981 in Winter Park.
Clarissa Howard, Director of the City of Winter Park Communications Department sent this statement about that sinkhole:
"The sinkhole that opened near the intersection of Comstock and Denning in May 1981 was the largest sinkhole at that time in Florida. It swallowed a quarter-million cubic yards, including five Porsches, half an Olympic-size swimming pool, the home of Mrs. Rose Williams for whom the lake is named (Lake Rose) and disrupted telephone and power services. It quickly became an attraction for both tourists and scientists."
The Orange County Property Appraiser's Office sent News 13 a list of 10 examples of how the price of a home was affected by a sinkhole:
Land Value Before |
Land Value After |
Building Value Before |
Building Value After |
Percent of Change in Land |
Percent of Change in Building |
Notes Date |
60,000 |
12,000 |
142,829 |
131,932 |
80% |
8% |
11/28/2011 |
45,000 |
15,750 |
266,137 |
159,682 |
65% |
40% |
1/8/2009 |
49,920 |
49,920 |
102,557 |
45,615 |
0% |
56% |
11/25/2008 |
16,403 |
14,762 |
80,843 |
36,098 |
10% |
55% |
9/25/2008 |
47,300 |
47,300 |
65,318 |
73,432 |
0% |
-12% |
9/25/2008 |
120,000 |
120,000 |
153,073 |
150,730 |
0% |
2% |
9/5/2008 |
70,000 |
70,000 |
105,680 |
94,915 |
0% |
10% |
2/27/2007 |
739,500 |
591,600 |
547,023 |
369,161 |
20% |
33% |
8/2/2006 |
36,784 |
18,392 |
56,496 |
42,571 |
50% |
25% |
9/14/2000 |
64,800 |
64,800 |
84,556 |
44,846 |
0% |
47% |
7/4/2000 |
More helpful information about sinkholes, including answers to common questions, can be found on the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection website.