Last month, Governor Ron DeSantis unveiled a new tax relief proposal that he claims would create a reduction of $2 billion in taxes.
But a new report from Apartment List showed that Florida’s inflation rate was above the national average and hurt homebuyers and renters.
Eli Beracha is the Director of the School of Real Estate at Florida International University. He said it makes sense why cities in Florida may have inflation higher than the national average.
“There’s a lot of money that is passing through the economy," said Beracha. "A lot of money arrived here from different places, and this amount of money that arrived here in large quantities over a short period of time created inflation.”
According to Apartment List’s March report, rent growth in Tampa went up 2.1 percent in the last year. In Jacksonville, it was 1.4 percent, and in Orlando, it was 1.9 percent. In cities like Miami, rent growth rose by 6.4%, and in Tallahassee, it rose by 6.6%.
Beracha believes this upward trend is not going to change as more people move to and stay in the Sunshine State.
Florida's higher rate of inflation has politicians looking at various options.
Democrats have proposed potential rent caps. Beracha believes that policy is wrong.
“It may be a good slogan for a politician that maybe wants to attract certain voters because it sounds on the service, oh we are going to lower the price of rent because that’s going to be easier for us, and it may provide relief in the short term, but in the long-term, it’s a disaster,” he explained.
Republicans have said no to rent caps. Instead, they have presented a new act called Live Local. It seeks to have the private sector create more affordable housing options in Florida.
Beracha said Floridians are taking on the weight of skyrocketing prices and combatting a housing shortage. According to the professor, in 2007, there was a surplus of 3 million homes in the U.S. Today, the nation is in a housing deficit of 4 million, many of which are in Florida.
It’s caused residents to move into smaller spaces, get roommates, downsize their homes, or even leave the state.
