The Florida Policy Project has partnered with the Florida State University DeVoe L. Moore Center and the Reason Foundation to create a new housing supply model aimed at helping officials address shortages across the state.
The model finds that Florida is short about 55,000 single-family homes and more than 66,000 rental units, shortages that increase demand and drive housing prices higher.
The newly created model tracks surplus and shortage trends across the state to allow policymakers, residents and other stakeholders to better understand where issues exist and inform best practices moving forward.
The model shows that some of the worst housing shortages are in three cities ranked among the least affordable[1] in the nation: Miami-Dade and Fort Lauderdale[2] in South Florida, and Tampa in West Central Florida.
The model shows that Hillsborough County, home to Tampa, has a housing shortage of more than 8,000 homes, split nearly equally between owner and rental housing. Miami-Dade’s shortage sits at just over 7,000, while Broward County — home to Fort Lauderdale — has a shortage of more than 10,000 single-family and rental units.
The new housing model[3] found persistent barriers driving the crisis, including permitting delays, restrictive zoning policies, limited flexibility in housing options and political gridlock.
Permitting delays, researchers found, stall development projects for months, and even sometimes years. That drives prices higher for builders, who then pass costs on to consumers.
Zoning issues and a lack of housing option flexibility are also cost drivers, with restrictive zoning favoring lower-density development at the detriment to higher density options that can increase stock. And other more nontraditional options, such as accessory dwelling units and duplexes, are still limited.
The interactive housing shortage map now available allows users to explore housing trends across the state, track whether their community has a housing surplus or deficit, and identify possible opportunities for better planning and policy.
The Florida Policy Project is a group founded by former Sen. Jeff Brandes to develop practical policy recommendations to address the state’s most pressing challenges.
“Our goal is to empower residents and elected officials to work toward solutions that expand supply, reduce costs, and preserve community character,” Brandes said. “We believe this tool will provide decision makers and Florida citizens real, live data so they will make the tough decisions to propel Florida as the leader in housing affordability.”
That’s important because, according to the housing analysis findings, the maximum affordable home price for the median single-family household is about $258,000, while the median listing price now exceeds $440,000.
In order to be able to purchase a home at the median price point, a household at the current median income would need to boost their income by 50%. That suggests that lower-income households are priced out of the housing market, while homeownership remains an option in most cases only for wealthier residents.
“The median single-family home in Florida is too expensive for far too many families today. If the state wants to continue growing and prospering, housing supply and affordability are critical issues that must be addressed,” Reason Foundation Vice President Adrian Moore said.
“Our goal with this project and tool is to empower residents and elected officials to work together toward solutions that expand the supply, reduce costs, and preserve the community’s character.”
The Reason Foundation is a nonprofit think tank that advocates for free market policy solutions.
The DeVoe L. Moore Center conducts interdisciplinary research on state and local regulatory issues and focuses on policies that shape communities and economies.
References
- ^ among the least affordable (www.wusf.org)
- ^ Fort Lauderdale (www.cbsnews.com)
- ^ new housing model (florida-housing-data-project.reason.org)