The Dream of a Florida Retirement Is Fading for the Middle Class

[question everything]

(snip)

The experiences of both couples reflect a new reality about the Sunshine State: Its older population is transforming as the state’s costs of living balloon. Wealthy individuals make up a growing share of people at or near retirement age arriving in Florida from other states, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, while many working-class and middle-class older people who feel priced out are moving elsewhere.

The new patterns of migration are helping reshape Florida’s identity, swapping its long-held reputation as a paradise for retirees of all stripes for one that primarily caters to the well-heeled. The decades-old promise of an affordable sun-drenched sanctuary is fading in the face of high home prices, insurance premiums and property taxes, among other costs.

The cost of owning even a modest condo has increased because of recent laws aimed at shoring up condo safety and finances in the wake of the 2021 building collapse in Surfside, Fla.

Mobile-home parks that once provided a cheap option are becoming pricier, as large companies acquire them and raise rents on the land beneath, according to advocates for residents. Or they are disappearing altogether when builders buy them and convert them to costlier housing.

More..

https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/luxury-homes/the-dream-of-a-florida-retirement-is-fading-for-the-middle-class-a29a5687?st=H6Hvdj&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink


free

[dem4decades]

1. Florida, one of the last places i want to go to.

[Skittles]

2. it has never appealed to me, either

nope

[ms liberty]

3. I grew up in Tampa. I love Florida and would have gone home in a heartbeat. But.

They would have to make some serious changes for me to go home now.

[RockCreek]

4. What about all the Canadians trying to sell their second homes?

Any effect on real estate?

[buzzycrumbhunger]

5. The Repukes have ruined it here

Overdevelopment, crowding, impossible traffic with endless road repairs, hedge fund landlords, unattainable mortgages so that we can’t afford rentals *or* mortgages, and fascists everywhere you turn.

And yes, the Canucks have bailed and won’t be back, but it’s not helping the housing situation.

I hate to say it, but no state income tax was always a big plus—but the fact that it attracts the oligarchs negates that several times over.

I’d love to run to Scotland (family ties, but third-generation doesn’t give me a free pass), but I’d sure as hell run to Canada if I could. Should’ve trolled the singles groups when I was still young enough to snag a guy. *sigh*

[Buddyzbuddy]

6. Unless you're MAGA/Republican why would you consider it?

Something's been very wrong ever since Bush v. Gore.
No offense to the sane Floridians intended.

[Marie Marie]

7. Never been my dream.

[BigmanPigman]

8. I'm reminded of a Murphy Brown episode

when the staff went to a retreat in FL. Murphy said, "I've never been to Florida and I always prided myself with this fact". That's how I feel. I still have family and friends there but I will NOT visit them, ever. Been there, done that and it was always a "blah" experience for many reasons.