Home Prices

On "Florida Matters," hear reporting from WUSF’s "Not So Forever Homes" series. This is a collection of stories documenting the spiraling lot rents at manufactured home communities.

The state's growing population has led to spiking rents as housing demand has increased, and one factor driving up rental costs is the high price to purchase a home.

Homeowners in Florida are being quietly priced out of their communities. People often own their manufactured homes but rent the lot underneath them.

Floridians who live in manufactured home parks are often older, retired people on fixed incomes who bought property with hopes it would be their “forever home.” Now, lot rents are pricing them out.

Todd and Mary Cruikshank moved to Riverview from Wisconsin. The new homeowners soon discovered hidden fees tacked on like water used a decade ago.

Retiree Judy Schofield moved from Connecticut to a home in Haines City. She took on a part-time job to help keep up with her bills due to rising lot rent.

Dara Brown was priced out of the home she owns in Riverview after her lot rent jumped from around $400 to about $1,000 a month. She was evicted in April.

Melissa Preen moved to Florida with her parents in 2015. After her parents moved back to Ohio, she stayed to take care of the house. But the cost kept increasing to the point where she started donating plasma twice a week to get money to survive.

On "The Florida Roundup," journalists across the Sunshine State speak about the slowdown of home and condo sales and whether another housing crash could be on our horizon.

This week on "The Florida Roundup," we looked at the residential housing market across the state with a collection of business journalists, explored the new era of collegiate athletics now that student athletes can get paid directly and more.

Suncoast Searchlight studied property appraisals and tax bills for more than 300 homes across these special districts to create a first-of-its-kind dataset comparing their annual fees to the property taxes they pay for city and county services.

Wholesalers make money by getting owners to sign contracts, agreeing to sell at prices well below market value.