WASHINGTON, D.C. ---Florida's population growth rate dropped by more than one-third last year, according to new numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau. MiamiHerald.com posts an Associated Press story with the details:
According to figures released Thursday, the state's population increased by 1.1 percent to 18.3 million. Over the previous 12-month period, the growth rate was 1.8 percent.
Florida was the 19th-fastest-growing state -- dropping from 2006 when it was No. 9 in the nation.
The Sentinel's version buries the money quote---from Census Bureau demographer Greg Harper---in the 11th paragraph, and without a word of followup:
"If there's one state that's a little surprising, I would say it's Florida," said [Harper].
Christina Rexroad at sptimes.com (St. Petersburg Times) took a closer look at the Census Bureau's American Community Survey and saw something more profound---a reason Florida population growth is skidding to a stop:
Florida has the largest percentage of renters spending 30 percent or more of their income on rent and utilities, according to the ...Census Bureau.
A rough formula that allocates 30 percent of the family income for housing---including insurance, utilities and taxes---is a rule of thumb planners, financial analysts and bureaucrats use to measure regional economic health.
According to the Census Bureau survey, 52 percent of Florida's 2.1-million renter households pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing, beating out also-rans California, Massachusetts, Nevada and New York.
Nationwide, only 46 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent for housing. Rexroad doesn't ask, but we will: who would want to move to the state where:
Median wages in Florida are $28,570, or about $3,000 less than the national average, according to the state Agency for Workforce Innovation. But the median price of a home, $222,100, is about $14,000 more than the national median.
On a longer-term scale, Florida also has slipped. Estimates dating back to April 2000 have Florida's population growing 14.2 percent, or 2.3 million people, to rise from 16 million people in 2000. Where it previously was the third-fastest-growing state over a seven-year span, this year Florida has slipped to seventh. Its long-term growth was eclipsed by Nevada (28.4 percent), Arizona (23.5 percent), Utah (18.5 percent), Georgia (16.6 percent), Idaho (15.9 percent) and Texas (14.6 percent).
"the bursting housing bubble squelched expansion in some of the nation's fastest-growing states..."
And Roberts focuses on another practical measure of population growth---realignment in Congressional districts after the 2010 census:
If nearly decade-long trends endure, Texas will gain as many as four Congressional seats and Florida’s delegation will grow by two, while New York and Ohio will lose two seats each, said Andrew A. Beveridge of Queens College of the City University of New York.
Cox News' Marilyn Geewax at PalmBeachPost.com took a look at the latest Standard & Poore/Case Shiller Home Price Indices released Wednesday to find yet another wet blanket:
The respected measurement showed Miami surpassing Tampa as the big city where values were falling fastest in October. But the news was gloomy across the board, even in formerly healthy markets.
"No matter how you look at these data, it is obvious that the current state of the single-family housing market remains grim," said Robert Shiller, one of the economists who developed the home price report.
PalmBeachPost.com delved a little deeper:
October single-family home prices on the Treasure Coast fell to a median of $201,000 from $242,400 in October 2006, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. The 17 percent drop was the highest-percentage decline in the state. Prices for existing single-family homes in Palm Beach County were off 5 percent, down to $348,300 from $365,600 in the same month a year ago.
The Tallahassee Democrat and Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville have yet to weigh in on the issue.
MIAMI, Fla. --- Will Lennar---one of the nation's largest corporate home builders---lead Florida---and the rest of the nation---out of the housing collapse before it wrecks the economy? Lennar is dumping land---lots of it---at 40 cents on the dollar.
Late last night Michael Hinman at bizjournals.com/tampabay(Tampa Bay Business Journal) reported that Lennar sold Metro Development Group of Tampa 8,300 home sites---almost 4,000 acres of land in seven Fla. counties. Neither party disclosed the bargain basement terms. And that's not all: On Monday, Michael Corkery at WSJ.com(Wall Street Journal) reported that Lennar and Morgan Stanley Real Estate formed a joint venture---MSR Holding Co.---to which Lennar then sold more than 11,000 home sites in 32 communities nationwide for $525 million---half of the reported net book value of $1.3 billion.
Last year, Lennar took a precharge loss of $500 million for land inventory or land under options to purchase. From July through September of this year Lennar told the SEC it had a homebuilding operating loss of $787.7 million and an overall loss of $513.9 million on revenues of just $2.3 billion. or the same period last year, Lennar reported $206.7 million profit on revenues of $3.9 billion---that's a 44 percent drop. But this year's strategy may be even more effective.
According to investor analyst Reggie Middleton at SeekingAlpha.com, Lennar's new deal with Morgan Stanley "bought...an extra year before bankruptcy." But some of us watching the florida housing market closely think Lennar may be leading the way out of the housing morass. Corporate home builders---Lennar included---played a major role in Florida's housing bubble and subsequent collapse. Their co-conspirators included the U.S. Federal Reserve Board and U.S. lenders, who spread it around to greedy speculators, equally greedy land owners, contemptible Florida legislators, corrupt local housing officials and just plain stupid local elected officials who pillaged the Florida economy. And over-reaching, under-thinking home buyers were willing pot-stirrers. Everyone got in on the action, including, just as it all peaked, Microsoft's Bill Gates (heh heh).
Well, almost everyone. Most working families who don't already own a home can't afford to buy one in Florida, and as the James Thorner at UnRealEstate blog(St. Petersburg Times) reports, that has even the Florida Chamber Foundation grumbling:
Median home prices have surged 60 percent statewide since 2003, with even larger increases in key markets such as Miami. The median home now costs 6.4 times the average annual salary in the State, compared to a 4.6 ratio in 2003. Housing in Florida is now less affordable than it is nationally and increasingly out of reach for essential services workers and other middle-income earners in the State.
Our orgy of economic expansion has left us with an artificially inflated real estate market so severe that most Floridians today can't afford to buy their own home at market price. Worse, no one else can either, so employers---schools, hospitals and police agencies, not to mention tech companies---are having a tough time recruiting and retaining workers.
For the anti-growth crowd, that's a perfect storm. And there are plenty of signs Florida's perpetual growth is slowing.
Slower growth might be a good thing. But our 'perfect storm' will leave hundreds of thousands of working families exposed to the elements. That can't be good. So what's the answer?
To paraphrase James Carville, 'It's the affordability, stupid.' Wages and income aren't going to keep pace with housing's artificial inflation. If we're to see sanity restored, values have to come down. That's going to hurt a lot of people, especially those who bought homes over the past three years. It's also going to hurt most of those corporate home builders.
It's in that regard that Lennar may be leading us out of the housing catastrophe. Lennar's bargain basement land sales are flooding the market with home sites. Substantially lower-priced home sites. And that has an impact on the rest of the market.
When the price of home sites drops to the $15,000-$30,000 range, we'll see more housing priced in the $150's. No, that's still not 'affordable' to low income families without assistance, but it's a lot closer to 'affordable' than we've seen in a decade. Now if we could just get the Fed, U.S. lenders, speculators, and especially Fla. legislators, local elected officials and local housing authorities to make similarly radical assessments of their strategies, we might could solve this affordable housing crisis after all.
In my capacity as editor of Florida Workforce Housing Network, I interviewed senior Tallahassee lobbyist and affordable housing expert Dr. Jeffry Sharkey, CEO of Capitol Alliance Group in Tallahassee. The topic: why is property tax reform so important to affordable housing? His answer wasn't the obvious one:
12 QUESTIONS: Tallahassee lobbyist Dr. Jeff Sharkey on Tax Reform, Affordable Housing
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --- Yesterday Florida House and Senate leaders decided their special session 'tax reform' differences are so complex they need another weekend to think them over. While legislative observers debate whether the special session (and tax reform in Florida) has broken down completely, we asked a senior Tallahassee lobbyist about tax reform and affordable housing.
Dr. Jeffrey Sharkey heads the Capitol Alliance Group, a lobbying firm headquartered in Tallahassee. Dr. Sharkey worked closely with the late Rep. Mike Davis, R-Naples, to craft most of Florida's recent affordable housing legislation. He is a longtime advocate of affordable housing in Florida.
1. Why is property tax relief for affordable housing any more important than property tax reform per se?
Dr. Sharkey: Many property appraisers determine the value of affordable rental properties using a "market rate evaluation" approach. In effect, this methodology over-assesses the property's value. Since these properties operate on restricted rent levels set by HUD---indexed on the income of the resident---the real assessed value of the property should be based on a rental income approach.
The pro forma for affordable rental properties is established prior to the construction of the property. It uses an estimated NOI [Net Operating Income, or rent revenues minus vacancy and operating expenses] based on the restricted rent levels. Property taxes are estimated and budgeted based on those income-restricted rents, as if that were the true valuation of the property.
Oftentimes, assessors make no distinction between affordable and market rate properties. So when property appraisers over-assess those properties, there isn't sufficient cash flow from the rent to pay the inflated valuation. This creates serious financial pressure on the property. As property values and property taxes have skyrocketed over the past two years, this problem has only become worse. There is a history of law suits between housing developers and property appraisers over this very issue and we have been working on educating property appraisers and changing Florida law to help them assess these properties properly.
2. You're saying that methodologies used by local tax assessors create another roadblock for affordable housing developers?
Dr. Sharkey: Property taxes are a significant portion of the annual expense for affordable rental housing. If the assessment is not done on a rental income approach, it increases ad valorem costs. Those increased ad valorem costs will quickly deplete any operating reserves a property has available. Since the rent cannot be increased beyond the levels set HUD, there is no revenue to pay for this increased cost.
If affordable housing developers can not expect predictability with respect to the assessment of affordable properties, the added risk may keep them from deciding to develop on affordable housing in that community.
3. Is this over-assessment problem statewide or is it more prevalent in certain areas?
Dr. Sharkey: Ten years ago, the problem was fairly widespread statewide, principally because many local property appraisers were not familiar with the financial structure and the rent restrictions involved in financing affordable rental properties. Over the years, thanks to continued dialog, education, and frankly, some law suits, most of the property appraisers began to understand that over-assessing these properties would lead to a financial disaster for the property. Thus many of them adopted the rental income assessment approach. There are still a few counties where the problem exists, but we feel the property tax relief legislation will dissolve those.
4. Does it affect both rental and home ownership housing?
Dr. Sharkey: Most of the problem with affordable housing property assessment has focused on clarifying assessment of rental properties. However, as more and more non-profit organizations have developed home ownership property with layered financing and public/private partnerships, there has been some confusion about assessment of non-profit owned properties. The property tax relief package addresses both rental and home ownership property taxes.
5. The legislature has addressed this issue before, has it not?
Dr. Sharkey: Yes. We've attempted to fix the assessment of affordable rental income property four or five times since 1996 by fine-tuning the statutory language. Part of the problem has been that despite our legislative efforts, some property appraisers argued that changes needed to be made to the constitution rather than the statutes in order for the changes in state law to be considered constitutional. Because of that, the legislature has included changes to the Florida constitution in addition to statutory changes in the property tax relief legislative package under consideration during the special session.
6. How do property appraisers and local governments feel about the recommended changes to the assessment of affordable housing?
Dr. Sharkey: For the most part, I think they feel very positive. Almost all local government officials finally realize that affordable workforce housing to essential to the health and sustainability of their community, therefore they want this housing to be financially solved and the appropriate ad valorem assessment is the key to making that a reality.
7. Realizing this is still up in the air, what does the current affordable housing portion of the property tax relief legislative proposal attempt to do?
Dr. Sharkey: It has five components.
1) It clarifies how community land trust properties should be assessed; 2) It clarifies that property owned by non-profit organizations should be exempt from taxation; 3) It directs property appraisers to utilize a rental income assessment approach on any and all state, federal, and locally funded rent restricted properties; 4) It sets up an annual affordable housing certification process to be classified as affordable housing properties for assessment purposes; and 5) It adds a classification of affordable housing into Florida's constitution to ensure that property appraisers utilize the approach set forth and the proposed statue.
8. What property, and what income levels would the proposal affect?
Dr. Sharkey: The income levels defined in the statue that we covered under the property tax relief proposal would include very low, low, and moderate incomes.
9. Are there any particular legislators championing the effort in the legislature? Who, in your opinion, are the affordable housing heroes?
Dr. Sharkey: Of course, Representative Mike Davis, who recently passed away, provided the majority of the leadership last session on this property tax relief issue. There are many others in both the House and Senate that have taken up this initiative including Representative Dean Cannon, Representative Frank Attkisson, Representative Mike Grant, Senator Mike Haridopolos, Senator Mike Bennett, Senate President Ken Pruitt, and Senator Ted Deutch. Almost everyone in both the House and Senate has been supportive.
10. Are Democrats or Republicans leading the affordable housing tax relief effort?
Dr. Sharkey: Both parties are involved in solving the problem, very much so. Most Democratic and Republican members of the legislature understand the value of affordable workforce housing. They believe that property tax relief is important to keep affordable housing properties in their communities financially liable. The fact that affordable housing is included in this special session legislation on property tax reform is an indication of how important it has become to the economic and social well being of the state.
11. What will the affect of the proposed legislation be on affordable rental and ownership property?
Dr. Sharkey: I believe that finally it will stop any law suits between developers and property appraisers over misguided property assessments on rental income and ownership properties which will help ensure financial stability for these properties
12. Who has been most responsible for these legislative initiatives, and what can we do to help further those efforts?
Dr. Sharkey: I think the bipartisan support in this year's legislature for property tax relief and funding for affordable housing is a testament to all of the great education provided by affordable housing advocates and stakeholders around state. Florida has a huge affordable housing problem, but Florida also has an increasingly influential affordable housing advocacy movement. We need to continue to educate and thank our local legislators for their support for affordable workforce housing. We e we have a lot more to do in this arena and we will need their help as we move forward.
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. ---Eliot Kleinberg at the Palm Beach Post reports that neighbors opposed to a CWHIP-financed 116-unit town home project with a three-story, 30,000-square-foot medical office building plan to pack the Delray Beach city council chambers tonight and play their 'porno' card to stop it.
Someone's been watching to much TV. Ascot's project partner is the City of Delray Beach, which waived building, paving, irrigation and plan review fees for Ascot's affordable housing units.
Besides, Ascot's den of iniquity is a smart idea, if a bit more market-driven than purposeful---one of the not-so-unintended consequences of the CWHIP program (Fla.'s new Community Workforce Housing Innovative Pilot program):
Delray Beach-based Ascot Development bought 10 acres of... former grove... for $4.5'million in 2005...
Ascot plans to offer 32 of the [116] units for $225,000 to $275,000, to people from professions such as teaching, nursing and firefighting. The firm is set to receive a $5 million state [CWHIP] grant for the affordable housing units.
Some residents in area subdivisions have hired a lawyer to fight the project, and a troop of 150 showed up at last month's P&Z session with their tennis shoes on. Ascot co-founder and partner Teri Gevinson summoned her best PR sense, or hired some:
"It's another attempt by the neighbors to not allow the same people who are teaching their children, saving their lives in the emergency room, or putting out a fire that could possibly happen in their house, to live in their neighborhood," ...Gevinson said. "It's really sad for the city I live in, and it's embarrassing."
And, she said, "I see no reason why the NIMBYs are going to win." NIMBY is an acronym for "Not in my back yard."
For their part, the NIMBYs are out for developer blood. Kleinberg reports they'll try to paint Gevinson's 47-year old partner and Ascot co-founder Garrett M. Bender as a sleaze-meister. Is seems he once ran an online financial services company similar to PayPal whose clients included Disney, Sony and a British Virgin Islands-based enterprise that uploaded porn videos for Japanese customers.
Midtown Delray's project overview from the 2006 CWHIP Annual Report:
Midtown Delray located in Palm Beach County was awarded $5,000,000 in CWHIP funds. The proposed development consists of 32 town home units. Affordability for these units will be maintained through a Community Land Trust which will own the land and provide a ground lease to the homeowner. Midtown Delray is part of a larger development that consists of 124 residential units and a 20,000 square foot medical facility. The proposed development is adjacent to an elementary school and a fire station.
The public-private partnership for Midtown Delray consists of the developer, Midtown Delray, LLC, the City of Delray Beach, Delray Beach Community Land Trust and Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce. The development will be able to utilize a variety of financing options, including SHIP and Community Development Block Grant funds, available to affordable housing developments located in Delray Beach. Additionally, the City of Delray Beach has adopted a policy for the waiver of building, paving, irrigation and plan review fees for affordable housing units, which will provide a savings total of $1,200 in permit fees for each homebuyer. Palm Beach County has existing land use policies that require development of affordable housing near transportation areas and employment facilities. The county allows for mixed land uses where households can live, obtain services and work in the same area.
An expedited review process is provided and density bonuses are allowed for affordable housing developments.
And just to wring every drop of irony from this story, USA Today recently proclaimed Delray Beach as "the next South Beach."
ORLANDO, Fla. --- Across Florida, many of the same production home builders who rode the pricing explosion 'to infinity...and beyond' back in 2005 are positioning their homes for a new generation of post-bubble buyers who favor 'affordable' over old-school buzz words like 'luxury,' 'gated' and 'resort style.'
"Florida's housing industry is facing its biggest challenge ever. We've focused on location, we've focused on size, we've focused on features and we've focused on design. If we're going to turn the housing market around, we need to focus on good old fashioned value," said Metheny.
Lennar ranks as one of the nation's three largest home builders and the biggest builder in the Tampa Bay region, with 26 communities and prices that start from the $130's. The median sale price in Tampa last year was $252,500.
"Centex has retooled its entire production, from site acquisition to model home design to features and amenities in order to price its home more affordably without reducing quality," Barody said.
Centex boasts it now has 10 communities in the Orlando region that offer new single family homes priced from the $140s to the $190s. And they aren't ugly either---the Durango, right, at Sullivan Ranch in Mount Dora, offers 1,708 square feet in a three-bedroom, two-bath 'twin villa' (duplex) design that's priced at $146,900---half the Orlando region's $294,000 median sale price in 2006.
The most distinguishing trend at the annual Marion County Fall Showcase of Homes in Ocala is the downward price shift. Marion County's median sale price in 2006 was $195,950. The fall Parade---which continues through this weekend---features 41 homes by 23 builders. And prices?
Contrast that with MCBIA's spring Parade, when nearly a third of the 60 homes were priced $500,000-plus, including one for $3.6 million, and only 25 homes were priced below $300,000, the lowest at $158,145.
It's not just home builders who are climbing on the 'affordable' wagon.
Realtor Hemley Gonzales in Miami has launched affordableproperties.com, a nationwide real estate sales web site that only features homes priced under $500,000. While Gonales' franchise is a bit more sizzle than steak, his lip service, at least, is on the right track---the 2006 median sale price in Dade and Broward counties was $345,000 and $339,000, respectively.
"Realtors who work primarily with affordable properties and owners of such real estate are in dire need of an effective and affordable marketing solution. Not every individual representing or selling these types of properties can spend $500 - $2,500 dollars every month to promote a single listing on a local scale, let alone a national platform. That's why we aim to be worth every penny of our service!" explains the company's CEO and founder, Hemley Gonzalez.
"It is time for a $175,000 single family home in Texas, a $57,000 condo in Dayton Ohio and a $287,000 townhouse in Oregon to receive the same attention as a $7 million waterfront estate in Florida" adds Gonzalez.
To be sure, not everyone has gotten the 'affordable' message. Yet.
Margie Krpan, deputy director of the Builders Association of North Central Florida in Gainesville, is busy coordinating the final weekend of BANCF's annual Fall Parade of Homes, but she doesn't know anything about prices.
"We don't keep track of the prices of Parade homes," Krpan told us. That's one way to deal with sticker shock---denial. But, Krpan quickly explained, the 625-member BANCF has never listed prices for its Parade homes.
"I've been associated with the Builders Association for 21 years and we have never listed prices, to my knowledge," she said.
In DeLand, pro home builders Bob Fitzsimmons, Mike DeAngelo and Geri Davis---former executives at Masterpiece Homes for more than 12 years until Orleans Homebuilders bought out Masterpiece, canned them and dropped the Masterpiece name earlier this year---have found the best and highest value for their home-building talents:
Gallery Homes will concentrate its efforts in West Volusia initially, [Fitzsimmons] said, but still hopes to build 50 homes by the end of 2008. Within five years, he anticipates building about 150 homes a year.
Gallery Homes offers three basic floor plans, each available in two architectural styles, ranging in price from $104,900 to $131,900, not including the lot. The company will build on one of the scattered lots it owns in the DeLand area -- five are currently in inventory, and more are being sought -- or on a prospective buyer's lot.
Also, Gallery Homes finalized a contract this week to build its first subdivision, which will have 55 lots. Highlands will be built southwest of North Ridgewood and West Minnesota avenues.
Land clearing and construction of the infrastructure already has begun, Fitzsimmons said.
"We'll have homes starting in the $150,000s, with three bedrooms, two baths and two-car garages," he said. "It will probably be January before homes start going in."
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. --- Florida Workforce Housing Network is a 'community blog.' That means anyone can join for free to post their own news, opinions, comments or announcements for whomever visits this site (100 people daily, on average). And each visitor is invited to register, log on and argue an opposing viewpoint, or more recent figures, or errors of epistemology.
In the 'blogosphere'---which is like the mainstream media only most of us don't get paid or edited---it's common to toot your own horn. Actually, it's kind of a rule. The 'transparency' thing. The cross-linking thing. The no one else wants to do it thing.
In the past year, though, housing prices have been declining, and some of the state's biggest builders, including Lennar, KB Home, and D.R. Horton, have launched affordable housing strategies. "As Florida mortgage foreclosures soar, opportunities for lower-cost housing are imminent," Webster says. "Will that be enough to solve the problem? I doubt it."
In Broward, for instance, the median household income of $58,400 is enough to qualify for a $200,000 mortgage, but the median single-family home price in June was $382,000.
Webster claims he said eminent---you know, sounds like 'standing above others in quality or position.'
Floridians are buying up homes in North Carolina -- and Florida builders are hot on their heels. But the Sunshine State's brand of development is creating tension in the hills.
April Callihan is editor of Florida Workforce Housing Journal and managing director of mynewfloridahome.org.
HUDSON, Fla. --- Here's a very bright, brand new idea that's bound to see some replay across the state: beachfront (sort of) mobile homes (well, not really) over garages (state law) that are priced at under $70,000 (plus lot lease, just like manufactured homes).
TriBird Development of Hudson is replacing the 43 homes in the old Hudson Springs Mobile Home Park with 43 modular homes. Like any other modular home, these are secured on concrete foundations - only the foundations in this case are nearly 14 feet tall and double as stucco-finished garages painted to match the homes.
The living space in the homes is relatively small, about 540 square feet, so TriBird is marketing the units as vacation villas and refers to the park as a "fisherman's paradise." The garages, the company says, could be a place to store boats.
Prices range from $69,900 to $79,900, depending on how close they are to the canal that provides access to the Gulf of Mexico. Buyers would also have to pay $400 to $500 a month to lease their lots.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --- Fla. House Speaker Marco Rubio plans to take time out from the legislative special session in Tallahassee on Thursday to honor Fla. Rep. Mike Davis, R-Naples. The afternoon memorial event will be followed by an evening fundraiser to benefit Rep. Davis' favorite causes.
Clearly, one of those 'favorite cause' beneficiaries ought to be affordable housing. Davis ranked as Florida affordable housing's biggest voice in the legislature, authoring most of the recent affordable housing legislation, including the high-profile CWHIP ('Community Workforce Housing Innovative Pilot Program') grants that will shell out $64 million this year to help finance new ideas.
While some---count us among them---will argue the legislature's efforts have been ineffective at best and more likely counter-productive, Davis earned the appreciation of a whole industry---and thousands of low-income Florida families---for making them considerably less so.
Moreover, he earned the esteem of almost all his colleagues and most who met him for his frankness, fairness and deep-seated sense of honor. We dare you to find anyone who doesn't speak of him in hallowed terms. He was definitely one of the good guys, and he was good at it too---no easy achievement in Tallahassee these days.
TAMPA, Fla. --- One of the nation's most prolific home builders is selling new, 1,371-square foot town homes in Zephyrhills northeast of Tampa priced from the $130's, according to a company news release.
Lennar's Eiland Park Town Homes is a gated community located near S.R. 54 and Eiland Blvd. with its own swimming pool and cabana, picnic area, gazebo, volleyball court and playground.
Mark Metheny, right, president of Lennar's North Tampa division, says two new new model town homes that open in Nov. feature GE appliances and ceramic tile floors. Two and three-bedroom town homes at Eiland Park come in three floor plans that range in size from 1,371 square feet to 1,531 square feet.
Arguably, Lennar has taken the most aggressive approach to 'affordable' homes among Tampa Bay- area builders. As Dan DeWitt reported in the St. Petersburg Times on Sept. 4, Lennar sold off inventory homes at Hernando Oaks in Brooksville---the community "that pioneered the idea of selling luxury homes in Hernando County" with some double-deep discounts:
The couple ended up paying $110,000 and $115,000 for two houses, each of them selling for more than $60,000 less than the market value, according to the Hernando County Property Appraiser's Office.
Some luxury homes at Hernando Oaks are priced as high as the $400's.
LEESBURG, Fla. --- Tavares-based JG Properties plans to unveil the first of 11 new homes under development at Dream Lake in Fruitland Park and priced so that median-income families can afford to buy them during two open house events this weekend for Realtors and potential home buyers.
John D. SanFelippo, owner of Tavares-based JG Properties, said he plans to showcase both new homes at an open house for Lake County Realtors on Friday, Sept. 28, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 202 Forest Ave. and 504 Penn Ave. in Fruitland Park.
The following day---Saturday, Sept. 29---JG Properties plans to show off the new homes at an open house for prospective home buyers from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
SanFelippo and Realtors Susan Snell of Exit Realty Tri-County in Mount Dora and Joe Savoy in Apopka are giving each participating Realtor prizes worth more than $100 each and a chance to win one of five $100 cash bonuses to be awarded. The prizes---10 tickets each to Bonkerz Comedy Club in Altamonte Springs and Universal Studios Orlando, along with four VIP Champagne Table passes to Tabu Night Club in downtown Orlando, with a complimentary bottle of champagne---are very generous, SanFelippo said, but that's for good reason.
"Realtors work very hard, and we wanted to provide something of real value to them," SanFelippo said. "With 10 tickets, a Realtor can treat the whole office to a night out," he added.
Prospective home buyers who visit Dream Lake on Saturday will receive a pair of tickets to Bonkerz Comedy Clubs (value $16) along with luncheon and refreshments in one house and dessert in the second, SanFelippo said.
Dream Lake is the first of several 'infill' projects JG Properties plans to build in Lake County that feature affordable pricing. SanFelippo, who recently graduated from a three-month course in Community Real Estate Development at the University of South Florida in Tampa, said he is already looking for a new site that can start development next year.
The two new Dream Lake homes---a four-bedroom, two-bath home priced at $168,000 and a three-bedroom, two-bath home priced at $164,500---rank among the most affordable new homes in Lake County. To make it even easier to buy, JG Properties will contribute up to three percent of the purchase price toward closing costs, SanFelippo said.
"Demand for affordable homes has increased tremendously as housing prices outpaced the ability of most families to afford to buy a new home," SanFelippo said.
"Lake County is a wonderful place to live, but it's harder than ever to afford to buy a home here," said SanFelippo.
By designing more efficient homes---both Dream Lake homes measure under 1,400 square feet of living space---and carefully selecting materials like floor tiles, lighting and bath fixtures and appliances, SanFelippo said he is able to deliver a high-quality traditionally-built home at an affordable price.
"Now that the home building industry has slowed, more builders are looking at the affordable market," SanFelippo said. "When the market picks up again, most of them will go back to building $300,000 houses, but we plan to focus on the affordable segment as long as we build homes," SanFelippo said.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --- Yesterday Florida House and Senate leaders decided their special session 'tax reform' differences are so complex they need another weekend to think them over. While legislative observers debate whether the special session (and tax reform in Florida) has broken down completely, we asked a senior Tallahassee lobbyist about tax reform and affordable housing.
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. --- 
ORLANDO, Fla. --- Across Florida, many of the same production home builders who rode the pricing explosion 'to infinity...and beyond' back in 2005 are positioning their homes for a new generation of post-bubble buyers who favor 'affordable' over old-school buzz words like 'luxury,' 'gated' and 'resort style.'
Centex boasts it now has 10 communities in the Orlando region that offer new single family homes priced from the $140s to the $190s. And they aren't ugly either---
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. --- Florida Workforce Housing Network is a 'community blog.' That means anyone can join for free to post their own news, opinions, comments or announcements for whomever visits this site (100 people daily, on average). And each visitor is invited to register, log on and argue an opposing viewpoint, or more recent figures, or errors of epistemology.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --- Fla. House Speaker Marco Rubio plans to take time out from the legislative special session in Tallahassee on Thursday to honor Fla. Rep. Mike Davis, R-Naples. The afternoon memorial event will be followed by an evening fundraiser to benefit Rep. Davis' favorite causes. 
TAMPA, Fla. --- One of the nation's most prolific home builders is selling new, 1,371-square foot town homes in Zephyrhills northeast of Tampa priced from the $130's, according to a company news release. 
LEESBURG, Fla. --- Tavares-based 
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