【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, May 4, 2022】As population growth drives demand, Florida real estate prices have skyrocketed, making it the most unaffordable place in the nation to live. (Florida Image from US News)

Population growth drives housing demand. According to CBS News, the most unaffordable place in the United States to live is Florida.

Sally Starkey, a 33-year-old publicist, thought it would be easier to move from Chicago to Naples, Florida; her husband found work near Naples, where they learned about the place from the relatives and friends who were on vacation frequently in Naples and became familiar with this place, and looked forward to starting a new life before leaving for Naples.

"We thought finding a place to live would be no problem," Starkey said.

But she was wrong. After looking at more than a dozen apartments, they decided to rent a townhouse with no views north of Naples but did not find it until two weeks before their scheduled move out of Chicago.

Their new residence, a two-bedroom suite, is renting for $3,500, more than 20 percent more expensive than Chicago's rent.

The experience of the Starkey’s reflects the current situation in the United States. With the expansion of the homebuying group, the prices of renting and buying houses have soared in recent years, which has put a heavy burden on millions of workers and the middle class; the inflation growth after the COVID epidemic has also been mixed into the equation making the housing burden even more stressful.

Rent in various places has recently increased by double digits, and Florida's growth rate has been expanded due to the impact of population movement after the epidemic; Florida's population growth ranks second in the United States, second only to Texas, with 300,000 people moving into Florida from 2020 to 2021.

Realtor.com, a real estate information website, pointed out in February this year that Miami is the most affordable place to live in the United States. The average monthly rent in the local metropolitan area is $2,930, which is equivalent to double the median salary of locals; in the past year, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa is home to the fastest rental growth in the nation.

"The Sun Belt housing market, especially Florida, has been at the top of the list for the past few months," said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.

The website points out that most of Florida's housing market demand is driven by out-of-state demand, with 20% of Miami's housing demand coming from New York City, 8% from Washington, and 15% of Tampa's housing demand from renters in Washington and New York.

While rental prices in Florida are at record highs, they are still cheaper than other places like New York and the Bay Area, said John Boyd, owner of Boca Raton, Fla., a business location firm.

Although Florida's housing market is booming, long-term residents, especially low-income industrial workers, and the elderly, are gradually overwhelmed.

"The first 15 years were great, it felt like a vacation, but the second 15 It's been a miserable year."

The 70-year-old recently moved to a cheaper apartment after her landlord raised her rent, and she plans to soon move to Washington or Pennsylvania, which is closer to her children.

(Source: Information Compiled from the Web)

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