Floridians Paying More For Housing
Monday, September 28, 2009 at 10:06am
Despite the fact that the home prices have taken a deep dive, Floridians are finding that housing is still unaffordable. What's more, people are spending more of their money on mortgages or rent.
The government standard tells us that a home should cost 30 percent or less of annual (combined) household income (HHI). In this case, housing costs include mortgage payment or rent, taxes, insurance, and utilities. However, over 40 million Americans spent more than 30 percent of their HHI on housing --this includes both mortgage payers and renters. Predictably, the total number of homeowners dropped, while the number of renters increased. The bottom line: housing is downright unaffordable.
The government reasons that owners and renters that pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing costs are over the "unaffordable housing" limit. In Florida, nearly three in five homeowners are included in this "unaffordable" bracket, one of the highest in the country after California.
But, it seems as if the percentage in this equation has changed. In 2008, the people paying 30 percent or more has stabilized. It looks as if more people are willing to spend a larger percentage on housing than in the past. So, the combination of this coupled with the housing market crash makes higher mortgage/rent spending inevitable. For example, a study by USA Today and the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University shows that 25 percent of renters are paying one-half or more of their annual income on rent!
"Although housing affordability for newly purchased homes has improved, overall affordability for renters or owners is unchanged or worse because of the economy," says Daniel McCue, research analyst at Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies. "People are still hurting."
You can still find some affordable housing in Central Florida by visiting our
Foreclosure page or visit our
Communities page ad learn about the best neighborhoods around Central Florida.
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