Weekly Special | June 9, 2025

The New Construction Quandary

Tallahassee and Leon County leaders face a defining choice: continue ignoring the home affordability crisis and watch our homeownership rate collapse, or take bold action to fix it.

Here’s how we got here:

In 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act raised the bar for qualifying for a mortgage, cutting about 10% of buyers—mostly first-time homebuyers—out of the market.

That shift hit the housing market hard. With too much inventory and fewer buyers, the market crashed for the first time since before World War II.

As the recovery began, builders stopped targeting entry-level buyers. Instead, they focused on middleand upper-tier homes, leaving affordable housing behind.

Thirteen years later, we’ve built enough homes for everyone—except those at the bottom of the market. The supply of affordable homes has dried up. Prices continue to rise, pushing more residents out of reach of homeownership.

Today, we’re thousands of homes short and building apartments faster than we have in over 50 years.

Is this the future you want—Tallahassee and Leon County dominated by apartment living?

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

Every time there is a new development proposed in Tallahassee, the opposition comes out in force. It’s as if the people who do not own the property have more say about what can be done than it’s lawful owners who want to bring homes. This has to stop.

Support sustainable development. Call your city and county commissioners and tell them we need more affordable homes, not more apartment complexes.

The original one-page Weekly Special PDF is still available.