The Florida land boom was the speculative real-estate surge whose collapse worsened financial losses before the 1929 Wall Street Crash. During the early and mid-1920s, investors rushed to buy Florida property, often planning to resell contracts at higher prices rather than develop land.
Promotional campaigns, easy credit, population growth, and expectations of permanent prosperity pushed prices sharply upward. Transportation bottlenecks and legal disputes eventually weakened the boom. Hurricanes in 1926 also damaged property and confidence, while the collapse of the market left many speculators unable to complete purchases.
The Florida bust did not cause the 1929 stock-market crash by itself. It was an earlier example of speculative excess during the same decade. The episode is often confused with the later stock collapse because both involved leverage and rapidly rising prices, but the Florida boom centered on land rather than listed shares.