affordable housing and rents just took a major hit here (Miami: houses, construction)

[wondermint2]

Forty Carrots Expansion Reaches Milestone for New Mental Health and Parenting Education Campus

For full article:

https://www.srqmagazine.com/srq-dail...ucation-Campus

Forty Carrots Family Center’s Generations of Change Expansion Campaign reaches another milestone as its new building for expanded Mental Health and Parenting Education services takes shape as the roof goes on.

Since 2020, Forty Carrots has increased child and family mental health services by over 70%, and the expansion will allow for a 100% increase in Mental Health and 30% in Parenting Education services over the next several years.

The Generations of Change expansion includes a new 6900 sq ft building on 1.72 acres at 1350 Cattlemen Rd.

It offers a Child and Family Therapy Center with 6 therapy rooms, intake office, waiting area and Parenting Education Center equipped with flexible capacity with moveable wall and observation capabilities, virtual program rooms, administrative offices, and program staff workspaces.

The addition of the Cattlemen property allows the existing buildings on S. Tuttle Avenue to expand early education and house administrative offices. To learn more about the Generations of Change Expansion Campaign or how to donate, visit www.fortycarrots.org.

[wondermint2]

Local non-profit addressing need for vulnerable population

For full article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/real...4ebf8b9b&ei=28

Harbor 58 is a local non-profit organization helping kids who are aging out of the foster care system.

But Harbor 58 is working to expand beyond their financial literacy and life-skills classes.

Organization president Missy Parmenter says they are in the process of building 12 housing units, which would provide transitional housing for 18 months with a safety net for the young adults before they live completely independently.

“These kids have been stuffed into group homes, they’ve been looked at as a statistic their whole life. We want to pause and take time to give them a quality program,” Parmenter says.

The housing will be rent-free, but the young adults will pay an adjustable program fee, with the last payment being equivalent to a shared month’s rent in the area with a roommate.

The organization is working on submitting their final plans for the villas to the county, and hopes to break ground shortly after they get approval.

[wondermint2]

Lack of affordable housing affecting Sarasota business community | Indicators

For full article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/real...e127b430&ei=32

The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce is home to over 1,300 member businesses that represent over 60,000 employees in the region.

An issue that has been around for quite a while, but is now reaching a fever pitch is the lack of affordable housing options that we have in the Sarasota region. This is quite possibly one of Florida's – and specifically Sarasota's – most dangerous economic issues that could tremendously affect the growth trends of our area and state.

About nine months ago we surveyed our business members to get a gauge on the effects that this issue was having on our members and business owners. The respondents were a cross-section of industries and business and we had a response of over 250 businesses that shared their feedback. The key themes that businesses reported back were the following: Struggling to retain current staff, inability to attract new hires, decreased employee morale, declining productivity and the fact that rising wages are not keeping up with the cost of living.

Over 73% of respondents reported that the lack of affordable housing was causing moderate to severe disruption to their businesses.

[motordavid]

Interesting links, though not 'unknown' data or opins, and I have not read a reasonable or practical opin piece on 'how to alleviate' the 'affordable housing' situ, in any media I follow...

Nearly every expanding population area in the US could be inserted in place of 'Sarasota', and be applicable.

The 'causes' are obvious, as are the effects; the 'fixes' are non-existent in terms of 'affordable housing' in most areas of US, imo.

Not throwing my hands up, and I am not unsympathetic to 'work force' econ problems, but none of us have an answer, including the 'experts' in any media.

[wondermint2]

White House Announces New Actions on Homeownership

For full article:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-...homeownership/

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is releasing new data showing major federal investment in homeownership, and announcing key new actions to accelerate progress.

[1rainman]

I'll translate that into plain English: more money for indians, blacks and veterans to get loans but nothing for the rest of us.

[wondermint2]

Here's how much you need to make to afford a typical home in Tampa

For full article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/real...b98eddd1&ei=53

Looking to put down some roots in a new Tampa home? You may need to be making a six-figure salary.

That's according to a new study from Redfin, which analyzed the 100 most populous U.S. cities to see how much money people need to earn to afford a home in each place.

In this case, "afford" means the homebuyer spends no more than 30% of their income on a monthly mortgage payment.

According to the study, Tampa homebuyers need to earn at least $103,613 a year to afford a typical home in the area. That's 17.3% higher than hopeful homebuyers needed to make last year.

The income needed to afford a home in Tampa isn't far off from the national average of $114,627. That's up 15% from a year ago and up more than 50% since the start of the pandemic.

Redfin also says the median home sale price in Tampa is $379,900 with a median monthly mortgage payment of $2,590.

Those rising prices are a result of the "one-two punch of sky-high mortgage rates and rising home prices," the study says.

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

Here's how much you need to make to afford a typical home in Tampa

For full article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/real...b98eddd1&ei=53

Looking to put down some roots in a new Tampa home? You may need to be making a six-figure salary.

That's according to a new study from Redfin, which analyzed the 100 most populous U.S. cities to see how much money people need to earn to afford a home in each place.

In this case, "afford" means the homebuyer spends no more than 30% of their income on a monthly mortgage payment.

According to the study, Tampa homebuyers need to earn at least $103,613 a year to afford a typical home in the area. That's 17.3% higher than hopeful homebuyers needed to make last year.

The income needed to afford a home in Tampa isn't far off from the national average of $114,627. That's up 15% from a year ago and up more than 50% since the start of the pandemic.

Redfin also says the median home sale price in Tampa is $379,900 with a median monthly mortgage payment of $2,590.

Those rising prices are a result of the "one-two punch of sky-high mortgage rates and rising home prices," the study says.

According to Redfin the median price of houses in Sarasota are quite a bit more expensive compared to Tampa. Using the 30% of income threshold that means a person living in Sarasota would need income of $149,700 to live affordable. ($499,000 x .3 = $149,700)

https://www.redfin.com/city/16463/FL...housing-market

Sarasota Housing Market Trends

What is the housing market like in Sarasota today?
In September 2023, Sarasota home prices were down 5.4% compared to last year, selling for a median price of $499K. On average, homes in Sarasota sell after 41 days on the market compared to 24 days last year. There were 156 homes sold in September this year, up from 130 last year.

[wondermint2]

Translation: Short term rentals are taking away from affordable housing. This article is about Tampa but the same thing can be said about Sarasota.

Tampa has one of the highest vacancy rates in the US. Here's why.

For full article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/real...ab78fbd0&ei=46

A recent study shows the Tampa metro has one of the highest vacancy rates in the country — adding to the lack of supply for potential homebuyers.

At the beginning of October, LendingTree released an analysis of the top metros across the United States and the vacancy rate each had.

The study showed New Orleans, Miami and Tampa have the highest vacancy rates in the country. Tampa ranks third and has a 12.15 percent vacancy rate; the average across the Top 50 metros is 7.22 percent, for comparison.

Diving further into the numbers LendingTree released, here's what Tampa's vacancy status look like:

- Total housing units: 1,512,833
- Vacant housing units: 183,758
- Vacancy rate: 12.15%
- Most common reason for vacancy: Housing unit is for seasonal, recreational or occasional use
- Share of vacant housing units empty for most common vacancy reason: 43.89%

[wondermint2]

Hmm this is a really really bad and illegal move by the Feds over at the Social Security Administration. Apparently this is effecting thousands of vulnerable people. We don't want people on Social Security/SSI cheating the system but this is a numbskull move by the Feds. Going against their own stated rules in an attempt to claw money back.

COVID relief payments triggered feds to demand money back from Social Security recipients

For full article:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kir...outputType=amp

As the nation reeled from COVID-19, the federal government sent many Americans a financial lifeline.

But some recipients say the COVID relief payments have triggered financial distress by jeopardizing their Social Security benefits.

The government has demanded they repay much larger amounts — thousands of dollars in benefits for the poor and disabled distributed by the Social Security Administration.

“The government gave this money to them with one hand. They should not be trying to take it back with the other,” said Jen Burdick, an attorney at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia who has helped many people contest repayment demands.

Social Security’s own rules say those checks should not be counted against you for benefit eligibility, but now we’re hearing from people who say they lost their Social Security because of those payments.

Jo Vaughn, a disabled 63-year-old in New Mexico, received $3,200 in federal covid relief. Then came a letter from the Social Security Administration dated Aug. 25, 2023, saying she owed the government $14,026.

The COVID clawbacks show the trauma the Social Security Administration can cause when it claims to have overpaid beneficiaries, many of them highly vulnerable, and then calls on them to pay the money back.

And the collection efforts illustrate the limitations and dysfunction that have come to define the agency.

The payments pushed some beneficiaries’ bank balances above the $2,000 asset limit for individuals on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a program for people with little or no income or assets who are blind, disabled, or 65 or over. The limit, which hasn’t been adjusted for inflation in decades, can discourage people from working or saving more than a perilously small amount of money.

In some cases, when the Social Security Administration belatedly noticed the higher bank balances, it concluded the beneficiaries no longer qualified for SSI, according to the people affected. Then the agency set out to recapture years of SSI benefits it alleged they shouldn’t have received.

Even as recipients appealed the actions, the agency stopped sending monthly benefit checks.

The ripple effects can disrupt health care, too. In most states, receiving SSI makes someone eligible for Medicaid, so halting SSI benefits can jeopardize coverage under the public health insurance program, said Darcy Milburn of The Arc, an organization that advocates for people with disabilities.