Housing cost in South Florida has increased by a good margin over the last couple of years. It has made it more difficult for the South Floridians to invest in Housing. Generally, a South Floridian spends about thirty percent of his income in housing. In fact, South Floridians spend the bigger part of their income in housing than on any other thing. Almost everything is costly in South Florida. Income is not increasing as much as expected. Hence, it is quite challenging to lead lives with limited budget against gradually increasing expenses. Hence, people who financed in housing are struggling to meet the expenses after the period of recession. As a result, there are innumerable South Floridians who are now housing-burdened.
According to the data released by the South Florida Regional Planning Council, only 47% of South Floridians were housing burdened in 2000. But the rate gradually increased and touched the 62% mark during the years of 2006-2010. Despite the fact that employment rate has increased in recent years, the number of high paid jobs have decreased. It shows that even if income has increased by small margin, it is too difficult or challenging for a South Floridian to cope with the rising expenses.
Most of the people from South Florida are either black or Hispanic. It is known to all that the Black or Hispanic do not earn as much as the Whites earn. Besides, about 12% of the people fighting against poverty are Black and Hispanic. This is another reason why it is quite a challenge for the South Floridians to meet housing expenses.
To conclude, long term planning and strong efforts are needed for making housing more affordable for the South Floridians. Besides, jobs should be created that can afford housing expenses. At the same time, the overall economy of the area should be improved. Poverty should be driven away. Increased per capita income will also help the South Floridians to go ahead and finance in housing.