BOCA RATON, Fla. — According to data released by Florida Atlantic University this week, supply and demand issues are still fueling this ongoing housing crisis.
“I feel like I’m forced into basically living in my car,” April Wade, a Palm Beach County renter, told WPTV back in May.
“It’s just been very difficult to find something. I’ve been searching since we got the lease renewal in April,” Nicole Mary, also a renter, said.
Earlier this year, WPTV brought you our Priced Out of Paradise series. We talked with home buyers and renters all over South Florida who were struggling to find affordable housing.
“This market currently is unprecedented,” Greg Downs, a mortgage loan consultant with New American Funding, told WPTV on May 10.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t changed according to new data released by Florida Atlantic University this week.
“We really expected to see prices turn down before now,” said Dr. Ken Johnson, the associate dean of graduate programs at FAU.
According to FAU’s data, 19 housing markets across the nation are overvalued by at least 50%.
Here in South Florida, Miami-Dade and Fort Lauderdale are currently overvalued by 32%, with the average price of a home in our area still hovering around $445,000.
In the top 10 markets where rent is overvalued, Port St. Lucie is at #7, overvalued by 15.89%.
“I think in particular in the Miami metro area here — and that is Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties — the reason we haven’t seen a downturn in prices is simply because we have such a huge influx in population,” Johnson said.
Johnson told WPTV that according to population data, Palm Beach County will need to find housing for around 150,000 more people over the next 10 years. He said the problem is that we’re not building fast enough.
“When are we going to improve? I don’t really know. It’s still up in the air. I can tell you when it’s going to happen, that will be when we bring the supply of housing more in line with the demand for housing,” Johnson said.