After hurricanes, Florida neighborhoods see steady housing demand, wealthier residents

A new peer-reviewed study, which analyzes Florida housing markets battered by hurricanes, finds that affected areas tend to gentrify slightly in the years following a storm: the average income of new buyers increases while long-term demand stays stable. The finding that housing demand didn’t decrease—and, perhaps counterintuitively, attracted wealthier inhabitants—was particularly surprising to the authors, especially given Florida’s reckoning with hurricane adaptation and resilience measures in the face of climate change. [Source: Eurasia Review]

Moving to florida to save on taxes? Be prepared for a sticker shock.

Florida's population grew the fastest of any state in 2022, according to data from the Census Bureau, signaling that more Americans are flocking to the Sunshine State for year-round warmth and dreams of saving thousands a year on taxes. However, when taking into account other costs, residents might not be saving as much as they think — if at all. As more people have moved to Florida over the past several years, housing prices have surged, and income hasn't kept up. In 2022, five of the 20 most competitive cities for housing in the U.S. were in Florida, with Miami coming in at number one. [Source: Entrepreneur]

How will Florida condo safety law impact housing?

In the early morning hours of June 24th, 2021, a 12-story building with 136 condominiums in Surfside, Florida, partially collapsed without warning. The Champlain Towers South went down in a matter of minutes with 101 residents inside. Only three people survived. The disaster riveted the nation, and even international experts came in to Florida to help with recovery efforts. The questions began: What happened and what can be done to avoid such a disaster in the future. [Source: Forbes]

Redfin CEO predicts ‘terrible consolidation’ in the real-estate sector, but says it will ultimately be good for the industry

The real-estate sector is in crisis amid the housing downturn. Expect more pain to come before things start to normalize, one housing chief says. “There’s going to be a terrible consolidation,” Glenn Kelman, CEO of real-estate brokerage Redfin RDFN, +4.39%, told MarketWatch in a recent episode of Barron’s Live. But he added a caveat: “I do think it’ll be good for the industry.” [Source: Market Watch]

'Everybody must do their part': South Florida homeless advocate worries about the new year

It's a new year but, homeless advocate Gloria Lewis believes the homeless are still dealing with some of the same old issues and she is at her wit's end. For about a year now she has been helping Monica Lakind and her two teenage children who are autistic. "Every time she calls all I can do is give her money because I cannot connect to her too much because I cannot handle her pain," Lakind said. "To watch her suffer like this and to call me and say, 'I don't have food,' to call me and say, 'I can't pay for the hotel.'" [Source: WPBF]

ALSO TRENDING:

› What housing crunch? Miami named among best Florida cities to live [Miami Herald]
Despite the high cost of housing, Miami ranked among the best cities to live in Florida, a recognition some think will draw more residents to the Magic City. Business magazine Forbes ranked Miami as the sixth-best place to live in Florida in 2023, according to its latest ranking. Forbes recognized Miami for its Caribbean and Latin American influences, colorful architecture, diverse job opportunities — from aviation and healthcare to hospitality — and population size.

› 2022 ranks as third-best year of single-family permits since 2000 in Northeast Florida [Jacksonville Daily Record]
The number of new single-family building permits closed strongly in December, helping to make 2022 the third-best year since 2000, according to the Northeast Florida Builders Association. A total of 1,052 permits were issued in Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties in December, bringing the year’s total to 13,802. That number is surpassed by 17,753 in 2005 and 16,138 in 2021.

› After catching up to its neighbors, Fort Lauderdale faces a new challenge: The housing slowdown [Mansion Global]
Known as a spring-break destination since the 1960 movie “Where the Boys Are,” a comedy about four college girls letting loose in Fort Lauderdale, the resort town is transforming itself into a year-round, urban community rife with glitzy developments. That transformation began around 2016 when Fort Lauderdale, long a modest, middle-class destination with dive bars for shoeless and shirtless tourists, attracted developers looking for lower-priced land on the same coastline as its more glamorous neighbors.

› 'It's going to be different': Real estate agent weighs in on the future of Fort Myers Beach [Fox 4 Now]
Before Hurricane Ian, the southwest Florida housing market was hot. Now, a Fort Myers Beach real estate agent says it's getting even busier as people decide whether to rebuild or sell their home. It begs the question: could we see more high rises, investors or will Fort Myers Beach keep its quintessential feel? "It was soul crushing to do this," said Kelly Ross, who has her home on the market. "It'll be interesting to see what everybody's doing."