On a St. Petersburg condo resale, a buyer can sign a contract and still not have the clock running on their right to walk away. Florida law gives a resale condo buyer 7 days to cancel in writing, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays. That window opens only after the contract is signed and the buyer has received the required current documents. The right ends at closing, and it can't be waived.
Two of those documents come from Florida's post-Surfside condo laws. One is the milestone inspection summary. The other is the association's structural integrity reserve study, or a statement that the association hasn't completed one. Those papers now do much of the work of pricing a St. Pete condo. They are also the best explanation for a county price report that looks contradictory at first glance.
The August Numbers Point in Two Directions
The most recent monthly Pinellas County report, produced by Florida Realtors from MLS data and published by the Pinellas REALTOR Organization, covers August 2026 and was released September 16. The next release is scheduled for October 16. Florida Realtors reports townhouses and condos together. Here is how that segment looked:
| Pinellas townhouses and condos | August 2026 | August 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $275,000 | $260,000 | +5.8% |
| Average sale price | $359,926 | $460,894 | −21.9% |
| Closed sales | 463 | 495 | −6.5% |
| Dollar volume | $166.6 million | $228.1 million | −27.0% |
| Active listings | 3,529 | 3,743 | −5.7% |
| Months of supply | 6.4 | 8.0 | −20.0% |
| Median time to contract | 74 days | 68 days | +8.8% |
| Median percent of original list price received | 91.7% | 91.2% | +0.5% |
July 2026 showed the same tightening without the drop in the average. The median was $272,000, up 8.8% year over year, while the average was essentially flat. Active listings fell 7.3% to 3,675, months of supply sat at 6.7, and the median time to contract was 69 days.
Supply is shrinking, not piling up, and the typical sale price is rising. But the average fell by about a fifth, and dollar volume fell four times faster than the number of closings. Each sale, on average, carried a lot fewer dollars. A median and an average move apart like this when the mix of what's selling changes. Something moved at the top or the bottom of the market.
These are countywide figures, and they combine townhomes with condos. They show the shape of the market. They don't break out St. Petersburg alone or sort buildings by age, and no data in this report links the shift directly to the condo laws. What the law does provide is a clear way to divide the inventory into tiers, and those tiers line up with what the numbers show.
How the Law Sorts Buildings Into Tiers
Florida's condo safety rules came in stages. SB 4-D passed in a May 2022 special session, SB 154 followed in June 2023, then HB 1021 in 2024 and HB 913 in 2025. The only 2026 law touching these sections was SB 104, a reviser's bill that corrected cross-references and typos. It didn't create a new inspection regime.
Under the current rules, a building's age and height decide what it has to do.
- Milestone inspections apply to residential condo buildings with three or more habitable stories. The first comes at 30 years, then every 10 years after that. Local authorities can set the first one at 25 years in certain circumstances.
- Structural integrity reserve studies, or SIRS, apply to every residential condo building with three or more habitable stories, regardless of age. They must be redone at least every 10 years and include a recommended reserve funding schedule.
- Reserve funding can no longer be voted away. For budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, owners generally can't waive or reduce reserves for SIRS components. One narrow exception applies when a milestone inspection was completed within the prior two calendar years. A majority can then pause or reduce contributions for up to two consecutive annual budgets so the money can go toward repairs that inspection recommended. A new SIRS is required before contributions resume.
HB 913 made it easier to coordinate studies and finance repairs, but it kept mandatory funding of SIRS components as the general rule. A new tower and a 1970s mid-rise can sit a mile apart on the same waterfront, but they now carry very different obligations. In August 2024, a condo consultant interviewed by the St. Pete Catalyst said buildings over 30 years old, especially older stucco buildings, were where his concern lay. In his view, newer buildings were less of a worry.
What the Old Tier Costs the People Who Own There
Older buildings pay for this through assessments and fees. In January 2025, WFLA reported on owners at Point Brittany in St. Petersburg who described rising assessments and repairs that had been delayed for a long time in one of the buildings on the property. That report doesn't break down how much of that cost came from the safety laws and how much came from insurance and general repairs. Either way, a buyer stepping into that kind of building inherits the whole bill.
That cost doesn't show up in the list price. It shows up in the monthly fee and in whatever the reserve study says still needs to be funded. Sellers seem to be absorbing some of it. In August 2026, the median Pinellas townhouse or condo sold for 91.7% of its original list price, and it took a median of 74 days to reach a contract.
What the New Tier Looks Like Downtown
At the other end, St. Petersburg is adding a new layer of high-priced condos that will need reserve studies but are decades away from a first milestone inspection. The Residences at 400 Central is a 46-story tower with 301 condominiums, developed by Red Apple Group. St. Pete Rising reported that as of December 3, 2025, the city had allowed occupancy on the first 25 floors and initial move-ins were starting, while the upper floors were still under construction. FOX 13 reported that prices there start at $1 million. According to St. Pete Rising, Kolter Urban's Art House, with 244 units, began phased closings under a temporary certificate of occupancy for floors 10 through 32. It was reported as more than 85% sold, with remaining homes priced from $1.3 million to over $7 million and full completion expected in early 2026.
Towers like these can explain the split in the county numbers, but that's an interpretation. The data doesn't prove it. When a handful of $1 million-plus closings land in one month, they pull the average up sharply and barely touch the median. A year when fewer of those closings fall in a given month would make the average drop even if typical prices held steady or rose. That pattern matches an August average down 21.9% alongside a median up 5.8%. The report doesn't say which buildings closed in either month. What it does show is that one countywide number now covers several separate markets.
Where the Paperwork Shows Up in Your Contract
This brings things back to the cancellation clock. The buyer's 7-day window starts only once the required current association documents are in hand. Among the items the seller has to make available, three tie directly to building condition:
- The inspector-prepared milestone inspection summary, if applicable.
- The turnover inspection report, if applicable.
- The association's most recent SIRS, or a statement that the association hasn't completed one.
The resale contract also has to include the statutory disclosure and cancellation language. For a buyer, those documents show which tier a unit really belongs to. For a seller, how quickly they're gathered decides how soon the contract becomes firm. A seller who orders association documents after accepting an offer pushes that start date back.
The calendar matters too. Most owner-controlled associations faced a December 31, 2025 deadline for SIRS. Associations with a milestone inspection due on or before December 31, 2026 may complete the SIRS together with that inspection, but no later than December 31, 2026. That deadline is less than three months away. Over the next few months, some St. Pete buildings will turn in a final study for the first time, and the next resale package from those buildings may look different from the last one.
The City of St. Petersburg has a Milestone Inspections page that explains the requirements and links to a map showing building status. That map is a good first check on any building before you write an offer.
Quick Answers
Does the rising median mean St. Pete condos are a safe bet again? The median shows that a typical sale in the combined Pinellas townhouse and condo segment closed higher in August 2026 than a year earlier. It says nothing about any single building. A building's reserve study and inspection history tell you far more.
Do newer buildings skip all of this? No. SIRS requirements apply to residential condo buildings of three or more habitable stories regardless of age. Milestone inspections are what start at the 30-year mark.
What if the association hasn't finished its SIRS? The seller provides a statement saying so in place of the study, and the buyer's cancellation window still depends on receiving the required documents. How that affects the price of a particular unit is something to work through with your agent and the association, unit by unit.
When will newer numbers be available? Florida Realtors has scheduled the next Pinellas monthly release for October 16, 2026.
If you're comparing St. Petersburg condos, KT Tershowski can help you request the milestone summary and reserve study before you make an offer and read through them with you, so you know which tier a building is in before your 7-day clock starts. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
