North Port Ranked Second Most Affordable Community Nationally (Sarasota, Warm Mineral Springs: sales, real estate market)

[wondermint2]

CNN/Money Has ranked North Port, FL the second most affordable community nationally - according to home prices:

Want to buy a house cheap? Try North Port | HeraldTribune.com

[Picshooter]

It may have good prices on housing, but there's more to living in an area than the price of a house.

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by Picshooter

It may have good prices on housing, but there's more to living in an area than the price of a house.

North Port has Warm Mineral Springs - which many people claim is the "fountain-of-youth". What more could you want than that? -

[Picshooter]

I think today's fountain of youth is a job

Originally Posted by wondermint2

North Port has Warm Mineral Springs - which many people claim is the "fountain-of-youth". What more could you want than that? -

[Sunshine Rules]

Originally Posted by Picshooter

It may have good prices on housing, but there's more to living in an area than the price of a house.

That reminded me of a recent thread here on this forum from a resident of North Port:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/sarasota-bradenton-venice-area/1666267-city-north-port-new-tax-letter.html


North Port was badly hit by the real estate market bust, which lead to a large number of foreclosures, which has substantially contributed to the affordable prices mentioned in the article. There are still a number of abandoned homes in some stage of foreclosure, and the city government is trying to cope with both the disrepair of these homes and lower revenues due to the lower appraised values of homes as a result of the high number of distress sales and foreclosures.

There have been articles in the Sarasota paper about North Port government's struggles with budgets vs needs of the community for services such as fire, police, trash service and road repairs. Reuters put out a very in depth, informative article back in April analyzing North Port's financial outlook. The article stated that Fitch had downgraded North Port's credit rating because the city has had 6 straight years of deficit operations, using reserves to make up the budget deficits. The city is facing major infrastructure needs (including a referendum for $46 million for road repairs), pension funding issues and service needs. The article also mentions that the wealth levels of North Port are below the state average and unemployment levels are above the state average.

Fitch Downgrades North Port, FL's Implied ULTGO Rtg to 'A+'; Outlook Stable | Reuters

Part of the problems are created by the physical size of North Port's city boundaries. North Port was originally plotted by a large development company. It covers the 5th largest land area in the state of FL and includes a state forest within the "city" boundaries. Much of the area outside of specific subdivisions and defined areas does not have access to municipal water or sewer.

North Port is certainly an affordable option for some people specifically wanting more of a small town feel vs a larger, urban area such as Sarasota. But be sure to do the research on any community you are thinking of purchasing a home in. If the positives outway the negatives for your individual needs, then that community may be a good option for you. One size does not fit all.