Saturday, August 25, 2007

Passin' On Paradise: South Florida's High Cost of Living is Driving People Away

From today's Miami Herald: "Recruiting workers and keeping them has become increasingly challenging for South Florida employers, as home prices have soared out of reach even for many two-income households."

Scary Stats:
  • Incomes rose here by 28% between 2000 and 2006. The $39,900 median income has been "all but gobbled up by the rise in property taxes and insurance alone."
  • Property tax on a median-priced home rose to $8,011 last year from $3,505 in 2000.
  • Between 2000 and 2006 the median home price rose 172 percent to $375,800 in Miami-Dade.
  • Only 1 in 10 homes sold in Miami-Dade was affordable to a family earning the median income.
  • Turnover of prosecutors at the Miami-Dade state attorney's office is approximately 20% per year because they can't afford to live here.
  • To recruit doctors and research scientists, the University of Miami is kicking in up to 50% of the purchase price of a home-- up to $300,000-- in exchange for a stake in the property. When an employee sells the property, the university shares in the equity appreciation.
  • Nurses and other skilled medical workers can't afford to live here. Baptist Health has bought a large Kendall apartment complex which it is renovating to offer as discount rentals for hard-to-fill positions such as nurses.
As MVB has been saying for over a year now, it's scary out there and getting worse.

UpDate (9/12): Today's Miami Herald reports that nearly a quarter of south Florida homeowners spend at least half of their income on housing. Miami-Dade had the highest rate in the U.S. (24.9% spend 50% of income on housing).

UpDate (9/20): And it keeps getting worse. Today the Miami Herald reported south Florida housing costs rose 8.4 percent in July and August-- the fastest rise in 25 years-- while overall costs rose 3.7 percent.

UpDate (5/15/08): Today the Miami Dade County Commision will vote on whether or not to increase funding the North Terminal by another $64.3 million in order to finish the baggage handling system ($43.5 million) and the automated people mover ($20.8 million). How can they say no? And so it goes.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can assure that the turnover at the Miami SAO is higher than that.

Miami-Forum said...

Excellent post! I'm a Financial Analyst and I've been working in Accounting for about 7 years. I figured I'd be living comfortable by now. But I'm barely be able to pay my bills each month.

Verticus Erectus said...

Dude, if a Financial Analyst can't make it here, what hope do I have? I can't even balance my check book. Holy crap!

Miami-Forum said...

Put some google adds on your site ... I'll click them ... J/K

But seriously, its hard to balance anything if the bills are more than the income!

I've been here for the last 8 years or so. When I first moved to Miami, I was renting a nice apartment in Doral for $530. Now that same apartment goes for $1,100.

I'm currently looking for an apartment ... I'm trying to find one in the Central Miami area and even the overpriced complexes are mostly filled.

Verticus Erectus said...

Man, I hate to hear this stuff. I think we need government intervention before its too late. In "Paradise" you shouldn't have to live like that.

Anonymous said...

Don't look to the government. Soon anyone working for the government who dares to make over 50000 a year will be laid off. Those college-educated, experienced workers will have to leave Dade to find a job that pays enough to pay a mortgage. Have fun down here in S. FL once the middle class is gone.