We’ve lived in our frame home for almost 18 years and it’s very well insulated against noise. Also, a hurricane or tornado doesn’t care if the home is frame or block. Your roof is the first thing to go and if it goes, your home is done. Also, the 2007 tornado destroyed both frame and block houses in our area. I think block houses are prettier, but Mother Nature doesn’t care. Just buy what you like.

Tornado Village of Mallory 2007

There is a big difference in tornado damages vs hurricane or fire damages.
Tornados are very narrow and short lived. Hurricanes are hundreds of miles wide, travel hundreds if not thousands of miles, can be 150mph, usually involves storm surge, flooding, wind, and tornados. Damage usually involves boats, businesses, roads, homes, and lives. Fires also have a long/wide path and are long in duration.

Either withstands hurricane winds here in Central Florida the same. I've been here 20+ years and have seen block homes torn apart just like stick built. Stick built is built with steel framing inside and outside walls. We upgraded at build to R36 insulation and our heat and ac bills are much lower than neighbors with block homes. Noise? We live on a championship golfcourse and inside hear nothing. We also opted for double pained insulated glass windows and sliders. Siding still looks great, no repainting costs. We came from an area with mostly brick stucco homes, so love the look of our stick built home. Go by what look appeals to you. It's your home. Buy what you want to look at for the rest of your retirement.

I have had both in AZ. Believe it or not I had bad termites with the block home that were visiable inside the home and the frame one only had them on the foundation. The cement blocks over time do disintergrate and start to crumble and flake and you do need to paint quite often as the paint will peel.......both on a wall and on the home here in AZ....at least with siding you dont have the need to paint every few years and that should be done at least every 5 or less being it rains much more there than here in AZ......we just get the heat.........Also stucco will still crack as will the cement precast ones....with the precast homes you are not able to say add a electrical outlet or move a wall from what I understand.......I bought in TV and wanted a block but I ended up with the frame and stucco. The renter that I had in there was a builder in Indiana and said that the house was made very well from what he could see and tell me

When did this all happen?

my area I never saw anything wrong with the siding nor is my home like what you described and it is already 4 year old area!!!!!!

The source of at least one of the posted photos, was the *************.

Most of the damage was around the Cane Garden CC, Sunset Pointe, Sabal & Mallory.

https://www.**************.com/2017/...h-devastation/

https://www.**************.com/2019/...and-lady-lake/

I was in the midst of the 2/2/07 tornado, here are two homes, next door neighbors, block vs frame, I'll take the block.

You Forgot . . .
 

As far as hurricanes go, the roof is the weak spot, not the walls. So, whatever the walls, the roof needs to be held down by straps or some other mechanism.

I had a blockhouse near Tampa that always felt cold in the winter. My wood house here in the Villages seems warmer. When I touched the walls, I could feel the difference in the winter. I suppose a good test would be to wait for a day in Dec or Jan and then put your hand on an inside wall and see if there is any difference between the 2 types of construction. I guess you could take a thermometer to several open houses. Also, the concrete-block house might have more insulation than the wood.

Conditions are changing as the water around Florida has been warming up for the last 10 years as the CO2 effect has reflected earth's heat. Likely, hurricanes will be bigger and more frequent than in the past.

Less likely to have problems with termites in a block home. Block home is definitely better in a bad storm/hurricane. Very little frame construction in hurricane prone areas.

Personally, for $20,000, I could tolerate a lot of snakes. I guess "Snakes on an Airplane" is NOT a favorite movie. MAYBE a screen on the toilet bowl would be in order?