NEW YORK—Guy Carpenter & Co. L.L.C. said Monday that Florida property catastrophe reinsurance rates are up 15% for June 1 renewals vs. a decline of 15% a year ago.

Some reinsurers anticipated that the rate increase would be nearly 20%, but Guy Carpenter said the 15% rise is consistent with the overall rate trend for this year, which saw increases of 10% to 14% for U.S. national reinsurers at April 1 renewals.

“In fact, given the unique characteristics of the Florida market, a 15% rate increase suggests that capacity conditions have not appreciably worsened through 2009 and that the market has, in fact, stabilized to a certain degree,” Lara Mowery, property specialty leader for New York-based Guy Carpenter, said in a statement.

According to a Guy Carpenter briefing on Florida’s renewals, reinsurance capacity was more limited at renewals this June 1 than in 2007 and 2008. While capital was limited due to the financial crisis, rates did not spike as much as they did in 2006 following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund saw a $2 billion decline in its temporary-increase-in-coverage-limits layer and liquidity needs, which led to a 5% to 10% increase in demand for private reinsurance, according to Guy Carpenter. Additionally, firm-order terms rose 10% to 14% year-over-year for lower layers of coverage and 14% to 18% percent for higher layers.

Meanwhile, Guy Carpenter said pricing shifted back to 2007 levels on a risk-adjusted basis, adding that lower-layer firm-order terms increased an average of 11% this year compared with declines of 11% and 15% in 2008 and 2007, respectively.