Billionaire: ‘Wealth Exodus’ to South Florida Will Continue

 FEBRUARY 20, 2023

By Natalie Wong and Felipe Marques

Developer Stephen Ross says New Yorkers are moving to Florida for jobs, not just retirement, due to tax issues, security concerns and Florida’s “ease of living.”

NEW YORK – Billionaire Stephen Ross, founder of the firm that developed Manhattan’s Hudson Yards, is pushing deeper into South Florida in a bet that wealth will continue migrating from the Northeast. Related Cos. is seeking opportunities for real estate projects outside of West Palm Beach and Miami, where the firm has already established a presence, Ross said in an interview.

“People are looking from the Northeast and relocating for jobs – not retirement – and companies are looking” for offices, Ross said. “It’s tax issues, and there’s the security issues. There’s just the ease of living.”

In the past two years, major technology, finance and law firms have moved or expanded to South Florida, drawn by the lower taxes and warmer weather. Ken Griffin’s Citadel is relocating its headquarters to Miami from Chicago, while companies including Apollo Global Management Inc. and Blackstone Inc. have taken space in the region.

One of Related’s mixed-use projects in West Palm Beach, dubbed The Square, has attracted the likes of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management. Other financial companies have signed leases at One Flagler, also in West Palm and set to be ready in 2024. Last year, Related unveiled plans to build one of the tallest skyscrapers in Miami.

Meanwhile, cities such as New York and San Francisco are struggling with vacancies and dwindling demand for offices. In Manhattan, Related is pitching a casino resort for the second phase of its $25 billion Hudson Yards project, on a site once slated for offices and housing.

“New York will continue to grow, but it has its challenges, and a lot of people who don’t have to be there are looking not to be there,” Ross said. “It’s changing, it’s getting younger, the older people are moving out, the wealthier people are moving out.”

Still, Ross acknowledged that younger workers are still largely attracted to big cities like New York.

“We have huge investments, we’re still doing tremendous developments in New York,” he said. “But I think Florida is going to capture an awful lot of people.”

© 2023 Penton Media

5 Florida Metros Lead in Buyers’ Online Searches

 FEBRUARY 27, 2023 - By Kerry SMITHFacebook

1 in 4 buyers searching for a home via Redfin’s website considered homes in other metros. Florida remains a top choice, and Miami returned to the No. 1 spot.

SEATTLE  – More U.S. buyers are considering out-of-city moves. Overall, fewer buyers are in the market this year and total numbers are down; but of those still searching, a higher percentage are looking outside their home city.

Redfin says a record one-quarter (24.9%) of its website users nationwide looked outside their metro area in January to find a new home as remote work and elevated housing costs drove homebuyers to seek other options.

One year ago, 22.8% of buyers searched in outside metro areas; before the pandemic, it was 18%.

Of the top 10 “desired cities” in the study, five are in Florida with Miami taking the No. 1 spot for the first time since August 2022. Other Florida cities on the top 10 “desirability” list include Tampa, Cape Coral, Orlando and North Port-Sarasota.

January inflow interest in Florida cities

1. Miami: 7,200 inflow searches compared to 11,400 in 2022
2. Sacramento, Calif: 6,200 compared to 7,200 in 2022
3. Las Vegas: 5,700 compared to 6,900 in 2022
4. Phoenix: 5,500 compared to   9,900 in 2022
5. Tampa: 5,200 compared to 7,500 in 2022
6. Dallas: 4,400 compared to 7,300 in 2022
7. Cape Coral: 4,200 compared to 5,500 in 2022
8. Orlando: 3,800 compared to 1,700 in 2022
9. North Port-Sarasota: 3,800 compared to 5,300 in 2022
10. Houston: 3,700 compared to 2,900 in 2022

The typical Miami home sold for $470,000 in January compared with the $383,000 national median, but they still tend to be less expensive than the places people are coming from. The typical home in New York, the top origin for homebuyers relocating to Miami, sold for $650,000 in January.

“A lot of buyers have flocked into coastal Florida from out of town over the last several months,” says Elena Fleck, a Redfin agent in Palm Beach. “Buyers moving in from places like New York and San Francisco are helping the local market recover from last fall’s housing downturn. They’re not nearly as fazed by high mortgage rates because homes here are so much less expensive than their hometowns, and they get larger lots, pools, nice weather and lower taxes.”

© 2023 Florida Realtors®

Why Do Home Prices Rise as the Market Deflates?

 FEBRUARY 24, 2023

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Why Do Home Prices Rise as the Market Deflates?

By Michael Butler, Rebecca San Juan

MIAMI – Many prospective homebuyers sent a strong message at the start of 2023: They are done trying to buy homes in South Florida, as annual sales nosedived in January in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

For residents patiently waiting to buy a bigger house here or move to a different neighborhood for better quality of life, the regional housing slowdown after two years of rapid growth is expected to bring price relief later this year, real estate experts said.

In Miami-Dade, total existing home sales plummeted by 47% in January, to 1,402 transactions from 2,645 sales a year ago, according to Miami Association of Realtors’ monthly sales report released Tuesday. Broward, meanwhile, experienced a similar crash in closed home deals. Closings fell by 39%, to 1,552 sales from 2,559 in January 2022.

Still, sellers in both counties remained stubborn, therefore home prices rose last month compared with a year ago. In Miami-Dade, the median sales price of a single-family home was $545,000, up from $520,000 in January 2022. The midpoint price of a condominium was $400,000 compared to $360,000 a year ago.

In Broward, single-family home prices last month jumped to $540,000 from $500,000 in January 2022, and condo prices were $269,900, a boost from $240,000.

“Prices are robust,” said Eli Beracha, real estate professor and director of Florida International University’s Tibor and Sheila Hollo School of Real Estate. “Normally we see lower deals and prices. The reason why we see that is because there’s not much inventory. Because interest rates went up so fast, there are fewer sellers who are choosing to upgrade.”

A decline in regional January home sales activity reaffirms what experts like real estate analyst Jack McCabe predicted – that we would see a gradual correction in the South Florida housing market that’s been overheated for the past couple of years. However, the demand for a very tight supply of homes for sale continues to boost year-over-year prices.

The big question is will demand slack enough for annual home prices to fall?

Monthly trends show the market going south but in a zig-zag fashion. Although sales have been falling since October, midpoint prices advanced between December and last month.

Today, Miami-Dade has four months of inventory of single-family homes and condos. Broward has three months of inventory of single-family homes and 3.1 months of supply of condos. In both counties, those inventory levels fall below a balanced market of six to nine months of inventory.

No matter, the housing cooldown that’s finally underway comes as good news for buyers waiting on the sidelines. Although prices remain higher compared to last year, month-to-month sales prices show a consistent decline in South Florida. In Miami-Dade, median sales prices have fallen from $575,000 in October 2022 for single-family homes and from $395,000 in November 2022 for condos.

Prices continue to fluctuate monthly in Broward, too.

Certain condo sellers are finally caving in and accepting offers 15% below the asking price, said David Siddons, a real estate agent with Douglas Elliman. Sales prices are expected to fall for condos priced between $500,000 and $3 million since most buyers within this part of the market are either investors or people who depend on financing.

“All of the sellers are going to have to wake up,” Siddons said. “Some sellers are not just moving.”

The forecast for housing prices remains clouded with uncertainty. Although monthly prices have been volatile in Miami-Dade since last fall, Siddons said he expects them to remain strong. Why? Many single-family home buyers keep coming from out of state – think New York and California – and many of them continue to buy South Florida houses and condos with cash.

In fact, nearly half of home deals in January – just over 40% – were cash purchases in Miami-Dade and Broward, much higher than the 29% national average.

South Beach resident Christina LaBuzetta moved into her new condo in June 2022. She has lived in this highly desirable part of Miami Beach since the early 2000s, and considers much of the real estate there and throughout Miami to be “overpriced.”

“It’s very hard,” she said. “Imagine the people that work in the hotels and restaurants. They must have a hard time because of the long commutes from where they have to live. It’s too expensive here for somebody that’s living on a working wage.”

Like many Miami-Dade residents, LaBuzetta is concerned about the city’s protracted housing affordability crisis and what it means for the area’s economic future.

“It’s the economy of supply and demand,” she said. “It’s what we’re living with.”

While prices may slightly drop year-over-year at some point in 2023, Beracha predicted they won’t fall by much. He said South Florida needs between five to 10 years’ worth of new housing construction at the pace homes are being built today. And higher interest rates since early last year have slowed home building.

“We still have a severe housing shortage,” FIU’s Beracha said. “The housing shortage is not going to be resolved any time soon.”

© 2023 Miami Herald. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Average Mortgage Rate Jumps to 6.5%

  By Matt Ott

It’s the highest average for the 30-year, fixed-rate loan since Nov. when it peaked at 7.08%. Last week it averaged 6.32%; one year ago it averaged 3.89%.

WASHINGTON – The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate jumped this week to its highest level since November. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the benchmark 30-year rate rose to 6.5% from 6.32% last week. The average rate a year ago was 3.89%.

The average long-term rate reached a two-decade high of 7.08% in the fall as the Federal Reserve continued to raise its key lending rate in a bid to cool the economy and quash persistent, four-decade high inflation.

At its first meeting of 2023 earlier this month, the Fed raised its benchmark lending rate by another 25 basis points, its eighth increase in less than a year. That pushed the central bank’s key rate to a range of 4.5% to 4.75%, its highest level in 15 years.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted at the time that some measures of inflation have eased, but appeared to suggest that he foresees two additional quarter-point rate hikes this year. Minutes from that meeting released Wednesday mostly corroborated that view, but a series of strong economic reports in recent weeks has some analysts forecasting more than two rate increases this year, to a range of 5.25% to 5.5%.

While the Fed’s rate hikes do impact borrowing rates across the board for businesses and families, rates on 30-year mortgages usually track the moves in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing loans. Investors’ expectations for future inflation, global demand for U.S. Treasurys and what the Federal Reserve does with interest rates can also influence the cost of borrowing for a home.

The big rise in mortgage rates during the past year has battered the housing market, with sales of existing homes falling for 12 straight months to the slowest pace in more than a dozen years. January’s sales cratered by nearly 37% from a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported on Tuesday.

For all of 2022, NAR reported last month that existing U.S. home sales fell 17.8% from 2021, the weakest year for home sales since 2014 and the biggest annual decline since the housing crisis began in 2008.

Higher rates can add hundreds of a dollars a month in costs for homebuyers, on top of already high home prices.

The rate for a 15-year mortgage, popular with those refinancing their homes, climbed this week to 5.76% from 5.51% last week. It was 3.14% one year ago.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Spring Buying Season Finds Fairly Stable Market

 By Kerry Smith

According to Zillow’s Jan. market analysis, four Florida metros saw higher year-to-year price gains than the nation yet also higher month-to-month price decreases.

SEATTLE – On the cusp of the 2023 spring home buying season, the market appears somewhat stable, according to Zillow. Home sales are ticking up and price declines leveling off as buyers prepare for the spring sales season.

However, sellers have not joined the fray in great numbers, and the inventory of for-sale homes remains low.

The typical U.S. home value was nearly flat from December to January, slipping just 0.1% to $329,542, or 4.1% below the peak value set in July 2022, Zillow claims. Still, prices have increased 6.2% year-to-year, and they’re 39% higher than before the pandemic.

According to the latest report, Zillow’s home-value estimate tool finds that the four Florida metros studied showed stronger price increases year-to-year than the rest of the nation. However, they also showed a greater month-to-month price drop than the rest of the U.S.

How Zillow adjusted Florida home values

• Miami-Fort Lauderdale: Up 12.8% year-to-year, down 0.2% month-to-month, December to January
• Tampa: Up 8.2% year-to-year, down 0.5% month-to-month
• Orlando: Up 8.4% year-to-year, down 0.8% month-to-month
• Jacksonville: Up 9.3% year-to-year, down 0.9% month-to-month
• National numbers: Up 6.2% year-to-year, down 0.1% month-to-month

According to Zillow, buyers are returning to the market but fewer homeowners are listing their homes. The company had 230,000 new listings in January but claims it was “by far the lowest total in Zillow records that begin in 2018” – 17% fewer than the previous record low in January 2022 and 30% lower than the 2018-2021 average of about 330,000.

The 825,000 homes on the market in January was the second-lowest total in several years, and about 450,000 fewer than were ever on the market in January 2020.

© 2023 Florida Realtors®

NAR: U.S. January Home Sales Down 0.7% as Prices Rise 1.3%

 By Kerry Smith

The U.S. has now seen home sales drop 12 months in a row, even as median sales prices continue to rise along with the number of for-sale homes on the market.

WASHINGTON – It’s officially one full year – 12 months in row – for home sales declines in the U.S., according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).

Month-over-month sales were mixed among the four major U.S. regions NAR tracks. The South and the West saw increases, while the East and Midwest experienced declines. Year-of-year, all four regions recorded declines.

Total existing-home sales – completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – slid 0.7% from December 2022 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.00 million in January. Year-over-year, sales retreated 36.9% – down from 6.34 million in January 2022.

“Home sales are bottoming out,” says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Prices vary depending on a market’s affordability, with lower-priced regions witnessing modest growth and more expensive regions experiencing declines.”

Total housing inventory registered at the end of January was 980,000 units, up 2.1% from December and 15.3% year-to-year (850,000). Unsold inventory sits at a 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace, unchanged from December but up from 1.6 months in January 2022.

“Inventory remains low, but buyers are beginning to have better negotiating power,” Yun says. “Homes sitting on the market for more than 60 days can be purchased for around 10% less than the original list price.”

The median existing-home price for all housing types in January was $359,000, an increase of 1.3% from January 2022 ($354,300), as prices climbed in three out of four U.S. regions while falling in the West. It marks 131 consecutive months of year-over-year increases, the longest-running streak on record.

Properties typically remained on the market for 33 days in January, up from 26 days in December and 19 days in January 2022. Still, a majority of new listings (54%) were on the market for less than a month.

Almost one in three buyers were first-timers (31%) in January, a percentage unchanged since December but up from 27% in January 2022.

All-cash sales accounted for 29% of transactions in January, up from 28% in December and 27% in January 2022.

Individual investors or second-home buyers, who make up many cash sales, purchased 16% of homes in January. That number is also unchanged from December but down from 22% in January 2022.

Distressed sales – foreclosures and short sales – still make up a very small portion of the market and were 1% of sales in January, unchanged both month-to-month and year-to-year.

According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.32% as of February 16. That’s up from 6.12% from the previous week and 3.92% one year ago.

Single-family and condo/co-op sales: Single-family home sales declined to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.59 million in January, down 0.8% from 3.62 million in December and 36.1% from one year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $363,100 in January, up 0.7% from January 2022.

Existing condominium and co-op sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 410,000 units in January, unchanged from December but down 43.1% from the previous year. The median existing condo price was $320,000 in January, an annual increase of 5.2%.

“Realtors help consumers realize the American dream of property ownership, both residential and commercial,” says NAR President Kenny Parcell. “A Realtor possesses trusted expertise and a thorough understanding of local market conditions that prove valuable throughout the entire real estate transaction.”

Regional breakdown: Existing-home sales in the Northeast retracted 3.8% from December to an annual rate of 500,000 in January, down 35.9% from January 2022. The median price in the Northeast was $383,000, up 0.3% from the previous year.

In the Midwest, existing-home sales slid 5.0% from the previous month to an annual rate of 960,000 in January, declining 33.3% from one year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $252,300, up 2.7% from January 2022.

Existing-home sales in the South rose 1.1% in January from December to an annual rate of 1.82 million, a 36.6% decrease from the prior year. The median price in the South was $332,500, an increase of 3.4% from one year ago.

In the West, existing-home sales elevated 2.9% in January to an annual rate of 720,000, down 42.4% from the previous year. The median price in the West was $525,200, down 4.6% from January 2022.

© 2023 Florida Realtors®

Florida closed single-family sales fell 32.5%, inventory rose, but still low.

 By Marla Martin

Florida Realtors: January closed single-family sales fell 32.5% as inflation, higher interest rates eroded demand, but for-sale inventory rose 134.2% to a 2.8-months’ supply.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Continuing trends from the final few months of last year, Florida’s housing market started 2023 with higher median prices and more inventory (active listings) in January compared to a year ago, according to Florida Realtors®’ latest housing data.

However, inflation and still rising interest rates above 6% continued to erode buyer demand: Closed sales of single-family homes statewide last month totaled 14,766, down 32.5% year-over-year, while existing condo-townhouse sales totaled 6,078, down 40.7% from January 2022, according to data from Florida Realtors Research Department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations. Closed sales may occur from 30- to 90-plus days after sales contracts are written.

According to Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor, the decline in sales is not surprising since interest rates remain twice as high as a year ago; however, he notes the January drop in sales “is the smallest year-over-year decline we’ve had since last October.”

O’Connor also pointed out that the level of closed statewide sales for existing homes and condo-townhouse properties in Florida in recent months is tracking just below the level of sales the state experienced four years ago, prior to the pandemic.

“High mortgage rates are not only affecting homebuyers,” he says. “They’re also discouraging some potential sellers from listing their homes for sale, as well – particularly those who would be selling their primary residence and would therefore have to finance their next home at these higher rates.

“As a result, the level of new listings we’ve seen in recent months has been below normal and that trend also continued into January. New listings of existing single-family homes for sale were down 4.8% compared to a year ago. Over in the townhouse and condo category, the year-over-year decline in new listings was more modest at 2.4%. It’s important to remember that while these high interest rates are discouraging some potential sellers from listing their homes for sale, that’s not the case for all sellers.”

In January, the statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes was $389,990, up 4% from the previous year; for condo-townhouse units, it was $310,000, up 8.8% over January 2022. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

“The ratio of active buyers to active sellers is the most important factor determining housing prices,” O’Connor says. “When this ratio is high, you have widespread bidding wars that drive up prices. That’s what we experienced from mid-2020 until the midpoint of last year. With mortgage rates dousing our hot demand levels over the course of the past year, that ratio has fallen – and therefore price growth has cooled off. However, because these high mortgage rates have discouraged potential buyers and potential sellers, this shift in the ratio of active buyers to active sellers has only resulted in the slowing of overall home price growth, not a full reversal.”

“While we’re seeing positive signs that for-sale inventory is beginning to increase in many local markets across the state, we have quite a way to go before we are back to pre-pandemic inventory levels – which keeps upward pressure on prices,” says 2023 Florida Realtors® President G. Mike McGraw, a broker-associate with RE/MAX Central Realty in Apopka. “Also, it’s important to remember that Florida had a shortage in housing supply even before the pandemic – so returning to those levels still means we’re falling short of a balanced market for buyers and sellers.”

Statewide inventory in January was higher than a year ago for both existing single-family homes, increasing by 134.2%, and for condo-townhouse units, up 90%. The supply of single-family existing homes was at a 2.8-months’ supply while existing condo-townhouse properties were at a 3.1-months’ supply last month.

To see the full statewide housing activity reports, go to the Florida Realtors Newsroom and look under Latest Release or download the January 2023 data report PDFs under Market Data.

© 2023 Florida Realtors®

Real Estate Investing Down 45.8% Year-to-Year

 By Kerry Smith

Given a mild drop in home prices in some metros, more investors are taking a wait-and-see attitude. And flippers who use short-term loans are dealing with higher costs.

SEATTLE – Investor purchases of U.S. homes fell a record 45.8% year-over-year in fourth quarter 2022. The higher cost to borrow money and a wariness over declining home values made real estate investing less attractive, according to a report from Redfin.

The second-biggest decline in investor purchases occurred in 2008, when they slumped 45.1% during the subprime mortgage crisis.

But it’s not just investors. Overall U.S. home purchases fell 40.8% year-to-year in 4Q 2022.

In Florida, half the metro areas Redfin tracks saw a larger percentage drop in investors; in the other three metros, the investment decline was less than the national average. Still, all Florida metros saw fewer real estate investors compared to 4Q 2021.

4Q 2022 real estate investment changes in Florida

• Fort Lauderdale: Down 37.3%
• Jacksonville: Down 57.1%
• Miami: Down 35.4%
• Orlando: Down 51.8%
• Tampa: Down 50.7%
• West Palm Beach: Down 11.4%
• National: Down 45.8%

In a quarter-to-quarter comparison (4Q 2022 to 3Q 2022) investor purchases slumped 27% – the largest quarterly decline on record aside from the beginning of the pandemic. That’s comparable with the 28.1% quarterly drop in overall home purchases.

Since investor share of purchases dropped in tandem with non-investors purchases, however, the overall share of homes owned by investors remained about the same. Investors purchased 17.8% of all homes in the metros tracked by Redfin in the fourth quarter, comparable with 17.6% in the prior quarter and down from 19.4% a year earlier.

In dollar terms, investors bought $31 billion worth of homes in the fourth quarter, down 42.7% from $54.1 billion one year earlier and down 27.5% from $42.8 billion one quarter earlier. The typical home investors purchased cost $425,926, little changed from one year earlier but down 5.8% from one quarter earlier.

A fear of home price declines

Investors piled into the housing market in 2021 due to rock-bottom mortgage rates and surging housing demand. Now they’re retreating amid projections that home prices have room to fall.

Last year’s jump in mortgage rates dampened homebuyer demand. For real estate investors, higher rates also mean it’s more expensive to borrow money, which eats into profits. Rather than investing in real estate in the fourth quarter, many are moving money into other asset classes that offer better returns.

For investors who plan to be landlords, slowing rent growth is making it more challenging to reap large returns.

“It’s possible that investors will start to wade back into the market this year given that mortgage rates have ticked down from their 2022 high – especially if home prices show signs of bottoming,” says Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari. “But it’s unlikely that investors will return with the same vigor they had in 2021.. She calls that “good news for individual buyers,” however.

© 2023 Florida Realtors®

Florida Retakes "Fastest Growing State" Title For First Time In Decades, Bringing New Challenges

 

PSki171 day ago

Palm Beach, Florida.Photo byTessa WilsononUnsplash

It won't come as a surprise to many of the Sunshine State's residents, but Florida became the nation's fastest-growing state as of the conclusion of 2022, according to the U.S. Census. It is the first time the state has held that title for 65 years - dating all the way back to 1957. While the area has always been one of America's growth regions, the pace has accelerated in recent years.

These changes were evident in Florida's real estate market, where prices surged at a rate higher than much of the nation at the end of 2021 and throughout 2022. Home inventories reached crisis levels at the start of 2022, with fewer homes on the market than at any point in the last 20 years. This drove prices even higher, though they have since retreated marginally.

Still, with the state's growth not expected to stop any time soon, the state government is expected to face more challenges in the coming years.

Stresses

Housing affordability was already a worrisome area for Florida prior to the real estate price surge. With the influx of residents pushing prices higher, that concern has only grown. Stories have begun surfacing of seemingly middle-class residents and their families living in cars or approaching total homelessness. In more expensive areas, like Collier County, workers in the area are stating they can no longer afford to live there, threatening the service industry that Florida's tourism-based economy depends on.

Due to its abnormally large retirement-age population, Florida's workforce participation figures are already some of the worst in the nation. In some of the areas with the highest number of retirees, like Collier County, that figure is as low as 47%. This creates a uniquely difficult problem for the workforce: tending to the needs of a large population and an ever-increasing tourist population using a consistently declining number of workers. In the areas where housing costs prohibit many service workers from living nearby, the problems become exacerbated.

Naples, Florida.Photo byJoseph BiscochoonUnsplash

There are also concerns that a larger population could also place an undue burden on the state's medical and educational facilities. For students, who are already lagging behind due to education shortfalls during the pandemic, finite resources being spread among more and more pupils could risk negative impacts on their learning progress. It's not all bad news in that department, however: while Florida's assessment scores dropped, so did the rest of the nation. Florida actually fared slightly better than most despite still trending in the wrong direction.

Of particular concern due to the state's large elderly population is the increasing burden on the healthcare system. Florida's healthcare is already middling in rank and, like many states, was pushed beyond its limits during the global pandemic. The nation's demographics overall are that of an aging population, so some additional strain is expected nationwide. Florida, however, can expect more severe impacts due to the region's constant influx of new retirees while its existing ones continue to get older.

The 1985 Growth Management Act was passed during a period of similar growing pains and took steps to ensure that each locality and county had concrete plans to deal with the expansion of their communities. While some of those measures remain in effect today (most Florida counties do have a growth management department), the demographics and needs of the 1985 population are much different than those of today. The '85 legislation also focused more on environmental protections than it did on pragmatic and practical manners of government operation.

One thing remains certain amidst all this unpredictability: the state will continue growing. What remains to be seen is whether the housing market and state government can accommodate that growth while maintaining living standards for the current population. Only time will tell. In the meantime, expect to see more construction in your area, and soon. 

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PSki17

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