When I moved to Florida 23 years ago, I honestly thought I was at the end of the world. During my dog’s 11 o’clock walk, the brightness of the stars was so overwhelming, I would ask the dog, “Where have we moved to?” Since he had no opinion, I just needed to move on and get to know this new foreign place with its laid-back culture and clean air.
Now after all of these years, I not only appreciate where I am but love it as well, and apparently many others are also. In September, it was reported by the Miami Herald that approximately 950 people a day are moving into the state of Florida, a startling number. Most are from the Northeast and other congested COVID-19 hotspots around the country, and for many, this is not a second temporary home to escape to; it’s permanent.
Florida is not alone with the influx of new residents – many small cities and towns are being overwhelmed with new, well-heeled residents buying up any and all available properties, pushing up values and depleting inventory. Most of them are looking for wide-open spaces, larger homes and a safe and friendly environment. Even younger people who have been forced to leave big cities because of COVID-19 or job loss are reconsidering a more peaceful lifestyle from the high life they originally moved to the cities for, most of which has been eliminated for the foreseeable future.
Home sales in Manatee County are at an all-time high, as well as in the rest of the country. Nationally home sales rose 2.4% in August from a month earlier, increasing the 24.7% surge in July which was the strongest monthly gain ever recorded going back to 1968, according to the National Association of Realtors. None of this is expected to change soon. The Federal Reserve says it expects to hold rates low for at least three more years. Large numbers of Americans will continue to work from home even after a vaccine is developed, and even if sales volume begins to taper off in late 2020, it’s unlikely to diminish too much, according to economists at Zillow.
The end result of this is a shortage of homes which we’ve been talking about for some time, pushing up competition and increasing housing prices. Even with the historic low mortgage rates, the increase in sale prices is canceling out the purchasing power of buyers trying to keep up. Some buyers and their representatives are offering an escalation clause in their purchase agreements. This protects a buyer’s offer in the event another potential buyer comes in over their offer by automatically adding an agreed-upon percentage over the new offer.
It sure looks like people are still pouring into our state, and why not? The Northeastern cities are having serious financial problems and high unemployment with smaller populations and much higher budgets and taxes. Florida’s unemployment rate in August was 7.4% – incredible progress considering April’s was 13.8%. Now with the state opening up almost completely, that number will likely be lower going forward.
Florida is looking more and more like a utopia every day. Certainly gone is my end of the world view. So, watch out for those out-of-state plates and listen to your canine friends; they get it. Stay safe.
