Flagler County’s unemployment was 4.4 percent in November, up a decimal point from a revised 4.3 percent the previous month, a statistically insignificant change, even as the number of unemployed residents declined slightly. More alarmingly: housing sales hit a seven-year low, while the number of Flagler residents holding jobs continued to decline significantly.
housing
Despite Covid and Housing Crisis, Florida Lawmakers Approve Gutting Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Lawmakers have approved a permanent, massive reduction of money earmarked for the state’s affordable housing fund. Those dollars come from documentary stamp revenues. The legislation is headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk for his signature.
How Wealthy Towns Keep People With Section 8 Housing Vouchers Out
Section 8 vouchers should give low-income people the opportunity to live outside poor communities. But discriminatory landlords, exclusionary zoning and the federal government’s hands-off approach leave recipients with few places to call home.
What You Need to Know About How Section 8 Really Works
The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program is a form of government rent assistance. In 2018, upwards of 5 million people across the country lived in a household that used a voucher to help pay some or all of their rent.
Affordable Housing Push
Challenges Single-Family Zoning
Cities and states facing rising rents, stagnant household incomes and a tight housing supply are beginning to rethink, restrict and in places end zoning that favors single-family homes.
Florida Population Growing by 900 a Day, Equivalent to a City the Size of Orlando Every Year
In Flagler, the population is projected at 112,000 in 2020, rising to 124,000 in 2025, then 134,000 in 2030, and 152,000 by 2040. The figures are significantly lower than those the bureau projected right after the Great Recession.
Palm Coast Issues 1st Building Permits for Apartments in Nearly 5 Years, For Palms at Town Center
The Palms at Town Center is one of two apartment complexes that will total more than 300 units in what Palm Coast is touting as its new “Innovation District.” The developments are getting tax breaks.
Getting a Section 8 Voucher Is Hard. Finding a Landlord Willing to Accept It Is Even Harder.
Most of the landlords whom researchers called said they didn’t take vouchers. Some of those who agreed to show their unit to a voucher holder stood the renter up.
240 Apartments Rising on Palm Coast’s E-Section Rim as Bunnell Approves Higher Height Limit
The apartment complex will be called Shadetree at Bunnell, with rent averaging $1,300 a month, on 30 acres abutting Palm Coast’s E-Section. The Bunnell Planning Board quietly approved an exception so the buildings could be exceed the city’s height limit.
Flagler County Supportive of Broadening Discrimination Protection in Housing for LGBT
Barbara Revels, who chairs the county commission, is proposing an amendment to a housing ordinance to extend non-discrimination protection to individuals for sexual orientation.
Homes Sales and Inventory Decline a Bit in Flagler as Interest Rates Continue to Rise
After July’s buoyant home-sale figures in Flagler County, which hit a post-recession high of 243 closed sales for the month, August’s numbers are somewhat less bubbly, but the trend remains solidly positive even as interest rates creep up.
Home Sales in Flagler Hit Post-Recession High as Time On Market Declines and Prices Rise
Homes for sale in Flagler County have spent on average just 55 days on the market, also a post-recession low, while the median sale price of $155,000 in July in Flagler improved an impressive 7 percent on June’s median of $144,500, and 19.7 percent on the median price a year ago,
Dismissing Affordable Housing Prejudices, Palm Coast Approves Brookhaven Apartments
The Palm Coast City Council Tuesday approved 4-1 the 45-acre, 117-unit Brookhaven apartments development in Town Center, which will provide housing to lower income residents and walkability to nearby areas.
In Flagler and Across Florida, More Perky Housing Sales Point to Encouraging Trends
Sales of single family homes in Flagler were up 9.5 percent in August over a year ago, 10.8 percent across Florida, while pending sales have skyrocketed in further signs of health for the battered housing sector, even as prices still stagnate.
Foreclosure Tale: When Renters, Despite Protections, Are Intimidated Into Leaving
Palm Coast’s Genis family–mother, father, six children–was duly paying rent on its Smith Trail home when it was sold by the court and the family was given 10 days to clear out, even though it never saw an eviction notice.
20% Down Mortgage Requirement Would End Middle Class Home-Ownership As We Know It
If a proposed Qualified Residential Mortgage Rule (QRM) of 20% down and spending less than 28% of monthly gross income on the mortgage takes effect, Marc Morial of the National Urban League argues, middle class home ownership will be a thing of the past.
As Palm Coast Talks Development, Housing Prices Hit New Low, Falling 4.2% in 1Q
Housing prices fell to levels not seen since 2002 as double-dipping prices hit new recession lows. Meanwhile, the Palm Coast City Council discussed approval of a plan that would add 12,000 housing units to the local hosing stock.
Foreclosures Down 59 Percent in April, But Don’t Celebrate Yet, Florida
Longer processing times and the backlash against banks’ speed-dialed foreclosures have more to do with the brighter number than an actual recovery in the housing market.
New Home Sales Rebound From Record Low, But Sales Still 22% Lower Than Last Year
March new home sales post an 11 percent increase over February, but February had posted a record low, and March’s 300,000 sales volume is still 22 percent below sales in March 2010.
Palm Coast’s Population Drops to 69,000 in Latest Census Estimate, Flagler’s to 85,600
While those aren’t yet the final 2010 Census figures, the 5-year community survey numbers are the next-most precise set of data, with startling results for Flagler County, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and Bunnell.
Wrongful Foreclosure: What You Need To Know
Banks and foreclosure defense attorneys disagree on whether errors in the process have caused wrongful foreclosures — but their definitions of what constitutes a “wrongful foreclosure” differ.
Social Profile for for Flagler County and Palm Coast, 2009 Census Bureau’s Community Survey
Detailed, charted table of the Census Bureau’s social profile (marriages, divorces, origins) data for Flagler County and Palm Coast, 2009 American Community Survey.
Housing and Real Estate Data for Flagler County and Palm Coast, 2009 Census Bureau’s Community Survey
Detailed, charted table of the Census Bureau’s housing, development and real estate data for Flagler County and Palm Coast, 2009 American Community Survey.
Existing Home Sales Edge Up 5.2% in South, But Still at 15-Year Low
Existing home sales rebounded as expected from a severe plunge in July, but not by much, and the large housing supply will keep prices falling.
$75 Billion Mortgage Modification Program Is $74.76 Billion Behind
The Obama administration committed to spend up to $75 billion on its foreclosure-prevention program. More than a year later, only about $242 million had actually been paid out.