[hug631]

I was talking to a friend and he told me that he is moving to Port St. Lucie...he said that prices of houses there are still low, 200-275K(comparing to the ones in L.I. ny) any comments on this area, schools, hurricane activity? I thought ALL Florida was out of control as far as house prices.

[bamboosmom]

Those prices are low compared to NY. As long as you make a decent salary I say go for it. I too am originally from NY, Queens to be exact. Hurricanes can hit there also. I just depends on mother nature and the Bermuda highs.
PSoldtimer can help you out about anything! He gives some great info. And is pretty honest about stuff.

[iamcrzymom]

Port St. Lucie also has a huge inventory of vacant homes, upwards of 1000, due to investors buying and getting caught with their pants down in the current market. You can probably get a pretty good deal there. Most of the area has above ground power lines and no sidewalks. You will also find brand new beautiful homes built on the same street as an old wood frame pink or blue house. The area is growing quickly and while there isn't much to do there now they are working on bringing more to the area. Port St. Lucie actually just lost a deal where a Connecticut company was planning on moving its corporate headquarters to their city. The company changed its mind after the announcement, citing pushback from the employees and the poor quality of the schools. Definitely do your homework before you buy...You can check out information and read news about the area on the tcpalm.com website. It is the newspaper for the treasure coast and has a forum where residents post comments on the stories. It's pretty interesting.

[aprilflower]

I'll jump in and try to answer a few, if I may. I was born and raised in the Stuart/Port St Lucie area and may have a little insight :-}

As far as prices, median for the area was just posted in the local paper at around $270~ish, I don't remember the exact # but it was only down around $3k from last quarter. I erm know of someone who can't be named due to restrictions on this board that has a home for sale in the low $250s, CBS 4 yrs old, inground pool, etc - so there ARE nice homes just waiting to be snapped up. And waiting, and waiting...Inventory is at an all-time high here, but truly sellers aren't lowering much. Most of the inventory has been either built or repaired to the latest hurricane codes, so you can feel secure in that. Homeowner's insurance rates aren't the best, BUT much less than coastal areas. We're close enough to drive to the beach but far enough away to dodge that bullet. I think that once we make it thru this year unscathed, the insurance rates will level a bit, and home prices may even stabilize or rise just a bit (my opinion only though).

In my 35 years in the area, the only other "major" storm we got besides the last 2 years of activity was Hurricane David in the late 70s. And that one iirc just glanced past PSL and was more damage a little south of us. It's hard to predict what areas will be lucky and which will get the storms, best motto is to prepare as if they're coming and rejoice when they don't. We were unlucky the last 2 years, but so far this year (knock on wood) we've been just fine. When the hurricanes DID come, I was very very surprised at how quickly things got back up and running. It was an inconvenience for certain, and I never knew just how many things I could cook on a gas grill, lol, but most businesses were back up (on a limited basis at least) within days, and there's such a sense of community here that we all got thru it together.

Truly the weather here for the most part is extremely temperate due to the gulf-stream breezes coming off the coast. In this heat wave the country's had, I don't think we've gone past 98 degrees yet, and we've really only got another month of "unbearable summer" to go and then it starts to ease off the humidity a smidge. Our usual summer weather is: hot and humid in the morning, dripping by lunch, a few afternoon thunderstorms to cool it off, then back to a warm evening. By October you can feel a bit of a nip in the air, and we're lucky if we get to December with some nights down into the 50s, it mostly stays in the 70s thru March/April and then it creeps up again. But nothing unbearable, and almost ALL homes and public places have central A/C, so other than the electric bills, there's usually no suffering :-P

The community here is wonderful, I have to say that if I DO move away from here I don't think I'll ever find a town with the same spirit or mixture. All races, religions, ages, all living and working together. There is a great sense of tolerance here that I worry I won't be able to find in any other small town in the south.

The schools, to be honest, could be better. They weren't the best BEFORE the housing boom, and now the school district is finally catching up to the rest of the country. We've opened at least 4 new schools in the county this year, and from what I understand the whole school system is getting ready to be overhauled and improved upon. There are several biotechnology firms expressing interest in moving their home bases here, and one manufacturing plant actually declined to move here due to the school system - HUGE eye-opener to the powers that be, and now the schools are top priority - if the schools don't improve, the big money firms won't come, so you can bet there are plans underway. The Treasure Coast area is being touted as the future "Research Coast", and I think that will come to pass.

Fishing, boating, golfing, nature, those are the best things in the area, imo. Shopping isn't bad, though you need to travel to WPB (30min drive) if you want High Fashion or Culture, but we have all of the basics right here. And things are constantly improving. TCPalm.com is the local newspaper, I think you have to register (for free) at the site to view the articles, but worth the hassle if you want to get a feel for the local flavor.

I won't lie. Traffic is horrible. But probably nothing like what you're used to in NY, lol!

To answer your original question about outrageous prices, I don't see the prices in this area rising in the foreseeable future, I think we're where it's going to stay for a while.

Phew! Sorry for the novel! I hope PSLoldtimer jumps in as well and gives some of his insight, he's got a great view on things as well.

Best of luck whatever/wherever you decide!

[sami]

I will discuss the average Florida city or town, not rural. House prices in general are quite a bit less than the New York/New Jersey area. A house for $300,000 in a decent town near Newark NJ would be may be under $200,000 for an equivalent house in Saint Petersburg Florida. There seem to be more bargains than up north IF you are from up north. However property taxes are high. That cheaper Florida home MAY be close to the more expensive northern home. But the worst is homeowners' insurance. Due to hurricanes, the NJ house may pay under $1000 and the FL home may pay over $3000. We pay more for air conditioning and you pay more for heat. While this is not the actual cost of a house, you should know that the cost of living is cheaper here and rents are lower for similiar apartments.

[bamboosmom]

Originally Posted by sami

I will discuss the average Florida city or town, not rural. House prices in general are quite a bit less than the New York/New Jersey area. A house for $300,000 in a decent town near Newark NJ would be may be under $200,000 for an equivalent house in Saint Petersburg Florida. There seem to be more bargains than up north IF you are from up north. However property taxes are high. That cheaper Florida home MAY be close to the more expensive northern home. But the worst is homeowners' insurance. Due to hurricanes, the NJ house may pay under $1000 and the FL home may pay over $3000. We pay more for air conditioning and you pay more for heat. While this is not the actual cost of a house, you should know that the cost of living is cheaper here and rents are lower for similiar apartments.

That is so true. When I hear that Florida is expensive, I have to wonder
I too am from NJ NY and the prices there for a home that is my size down here are about $500,000. That is about a$200,000 difference. I still say you can get more for your money down here, as long as you have a good paying job or retire with a good pension and are financially secure.

[Jammie]

Bam, houses in Fla. are cheaper then they are in several parts of the country. Of course housing in our area is a lot less, but our winters are less then desirable, too. I was so surprised to find that apartments in the Marion/Lake Co. areas are actually no higher then they are where I live. Of course, some of them are, but they have all the amenties (saunas, pools, tennis courts, exercise rooms, etc) We are just really excited about that because we will be able to afford to live down there. So far we've learned that our car insurance will be just a bit less down there. If we ever don't have healthcare through an employer, you have many more companies down there and the premiums are much less then they are here. The rate of our utilities is 135% of the U.S. average and Ocala's is 85%. For us, a house in southern Fla. would be a very big strain, but there are areas of Fla. that are affordable.

[RAINBOWWAVES]

For ppl who left the northeast because it is cheaper here, it was before 03 but when one is on a fixed income, it is now expensive. Water is very high here and unlike NJ, if you go away, you can have it shut off but you still have to pay the service fee. Port Saint Lucie has done so much widening of roads which we feel so unnec. They are also now putting in sidewalks. Lots of 2 and 3 level houses going up...yep, looks like Jersey followed us here.

[lulu]

Now that the water is mentioned, I must say it is cheap here. I live in an old city from the 1920's and the majority of homes have septic tanks. My water bill is only about $40 every 3 months. Our friends further up told us they pay more.

[pslOldTimer]

Thanks for the kind words above. I was out of town for a few days and am just catching up. However, I can't add much. Iamcrzymom did a fine job and when I read the post from Aprilflower, it seemed like I was reading my own words. I couldn't have said it better, and probably wouldn't have put as much feeling into it. Great job and perfect facts!

I'm not sure I read it right -- Rainbowwaves, did you really say that you think the road widening is unnecessary? Gosh, I'd hate to think of what the traffic would be like if the roads were their original widths. Of course, you may not have been here when Prima Vista Blvd. and Port St. Lucie Blvd. were only 2 lane roads with no traffic lights...