Florida Real Estate – Making Housing Affordable

There is a lot of talk about the next big boom heading to the Florida real estate market. Have you heard?

So much of Florida real estate, especially near the beaches, has appreciated so highly that it is hard for working families to buy a home. For the past years, I have heard from numerous sources that the greatest opportunity is near the Emerald Coast communities in the Florida Panhandle. Much of the workforce for these communities have been pushed to rural areas and to cities as far away as Dothan, Alabama.

So what is this big opportunity that we will see in the Florida real estate market? I suspect that we will begin to see significant development over the next few years of homes that can be purchased for less than $200,000. Affordable housing is needed to fill a Florida Panhandle demand that I have heard to be in excess of 10,000 homes! Now that is a growth market.

The only “hitch” that is stalling this next boom in the Florida real estate market is funding. It is so hard to build affordable housing with the cost of land, sticks, bricks and labor so high. That is where some key programs offered by the government can come into play, luring investors and developers alike. A few key programs that I think will make the difference include:

• The Multi-Family Mortgage Revenue Bonds (MMRB) Program
• The CWHIP Program
• The State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP)
• The State Apartment Incentive Loan Program (SAIL)
• The Predevelopment Loan Program
• The Home Ownership Pool Program (HOP)
• The Housing Credit Program
• The First Time Homebuyer Program
• Florida Enterprise Zone

With just a little help from these programs and some wise investors, the Florida real estate market will be moving forward again, with the emphasis on affordable housing. I do not believe it is a matter of “if,” rather it is a matter of “when.”

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Joe Manausa is a real estate investor and the Broker and Co-Owner of Century 21 First Realty. He can be reached via e-mail through the Tallahassee Real Estate Website or catch his latest writings on the Tallahassee Florida Real Estate Blog , or by calling (850) 386-2001.

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