Floridians, Get Ready

The long-feared correction appears to be under way ....

This from the St. Petersburg Times

Home values on the way down

Last week, a new report said the cost of owning a home in Florida rose at nearly twice the national rate over the past five years, consuming an ever larger share of homeowners’ incomes. The Census Bureau said Floridians last year spent 22 cents of every $1 of income on housing, up from 19.6 cents per dollar in 2000. Nationally, Americans spent 20.9 cents per buck last year on housing. Residents in only nine other states spend more, based on income percentage, than wage-challenged Floridians.

And its not just the price of the home ...

What didn’t show up in the dated Census figures are the runaway costs in Florida of property insurance, real estate taxes and utilities within the past year. A lot more Floridians now find the formula — housing costs + mortgage + taxes + insurance — pushes them well over the 30 percent comfort zone of income devoted to a home.


And right next door to Destin, Panama City is hit hard

Of 20 larger metro markets in Florida, the median sales price of a home in 12 markets dropped (worst: Panama City, down 15 percent) and increased in only eight (best: Ocala, up 14 percent).