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Florida mobile home parks face real estate crunch

Florida mobile home parks face real estate crunch

In the hunt for housing affordability, mobile home parks have been an oasis. But developers are eyeing them, increasing rents and forcing some residents to leave. Mobile home parks – from Homestead to Hialeah to the Keys – are caught in the squeeze between rising real estate values and housing that has remained affordable, especially for those living on smaller paychecks or fixed incomes. Read more from WLRN and WJCT.

Tampa, Orlando among fastest growing cities in US

When it came to population growth last year, cities in central Florida grew by stadiums. Metro Orlando grew by 60,000 residents last year, almost as large as the number of people who can fit into the city's Camping World Stadium, where college football bowl teams face off each winter. The Tampa area grew last year by 51,000 residents, more than the number of fans who can fit into Tropicana Field, where the city's Tampa Bay Rays play baseball. [Source: AP]

Florida History: The rise and fall of real estate in South Florida

Boom. Frenzy. Free-for-all. Pick your metaphor. None come close to the madness that was Florida’s 1920s real estate boom. With World War I over and prosperity spreading, with the railroads bringing investors literally by the trainload, with car ownership and road construction growing exponentially, and with enforcement of Prohibition all but a joke, the hottest investment in America was a place that had gone from a worthless swamp to “America’s Riviera.” [Source: Palm Beach Post]

Orlando 'Zombie House' flippers find it harder to locate homes left for dead

The Orlando-based “Zombie House Flipping” show is in the middle of its third season with some changes and challenges — both to how its watched and the business behind it. With the new season, real estate investing TV stars Duke, Keith Ori, Justin Stamper and Ashlee Casserly-Greenberg are also up against an increasingly competitive market for home flipping — where properties are hard to find and profits tight. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Gen Xers buying homes to share with adult children

One in 6 gen Xers purchased a multigenerational home, overtaking younger boomers as the generation most likely to do so; with 52 percent of those ggeen X buyers indicating that they did so because their adult children have either moved back or never left home. This is according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2019 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends study, which evaluates the generational differences of recent homebuyers and sellers. [Source: ]

STAT OF THE WEEK
$23.4 million
The federal government is sending Central Florida $23.4 million in various federal housing grants including programs to increase affordable housing, reduce homelessness, revitalize communities and provide suitable homes for individuals with HIV/AIDS. [Source: Florida Politics]

ALSO TRENDING:

› LandSouth expanding Jacksonville HQ
LandSouth Construction announced it is expanding its Jacksonville corporate headquarters at 4233 Pablo Professional Court north of Mayo Clinic. The company plans to add 5,000 square feet of workspace comprising 21 offices and 10 cubicles. The project is expected to be completed by September.

› Developer finishes 10-story Coral Gables condo with 65% of the units under contract
The Astor Companies completed Merrick Manor, a 10-story building with 227 condominium units, the largest condo developments delivered in Coral Gables in nearly a decade. Astor received a temporary certificate of occupancy for the building at 301 Altara Avenue, a short walk from the outdoor shopping mall Shops at Merrick Park.

› Homes sales in St. Johns County lower in March; building stays hot
Sales activity in the St. Johns County real estate market were down in March while home prices and building saw an increase. The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors report for March showed that sales were down more than 11 percent compared to March 2018 and down about 2 percent year-to-date. NEFAR stats do not cover all of St. Johns County.

› Southwest Florida foreclosures rise over year
Foreclosure filings declined in Southwest Florida in first-quarter 2019 from the previous three-month period, tracking with the national trend. But unlike the U.S., local foreclosure activity accelerated when compared over the year.