Florida
Florida’s Affordable Housing Crisis: The Troubled Path part 1 of 4
Inside Florida’s affordable housing crisis
FOX 13’s Chief Political Investigator Craig Patrick reports on Florida’s ongoing affordable housing problems, and how the state plans to combat the growing crisis in the near future.
TAMPA, Fla. – Brad Butler works long hours as a carpenter and home remodeler. He and his work partner spent three weeks and $6,000 of their own money updating a house in Dade City. But instead of getting paid for their work, they accepted a deal to rent the house at a discounted price of $1,400 per month for a year—because they could not find other options they could afford. After a year when the rent increases, they’ll look for other options.
“I’m a very honest hard-working person, but it just doesn’t seem that the economy has it in it to make hard-working people successful right now,” said Butler. “Prices have skyrocketed three times, I think. And just in this area.”
People who recently moved to the Tampa Bay area may not believe what houses used to cost. For example, in 1998, a three-bedroom waterfront home in St. Peterburg sold for $133,000. That was near the start of the tech boom, which helped ignite the housing crisis.
Two years later, the tech boom crashed. Investors moved what was left of their fortunes into real estate, snatching up houses everywhere—but especially Central Florida. Real estate in our area had flown under the radar until the age of the internet revealed comparatively cheap homes (on or near the water) for the whole world to see.
At the same time, banks lowered their standards—approving high-risk adjustable mortgages to high-risk buyers with lower credit scores— while investors flipped one home after another. Many starter homes got demolished and replaced by larger, more expensive homes—further reducing the supply of homes working class families could afford.
Then, by 2008, those high-risk buyers stopped paying the soaring costs of the high-risk mortgages. Banks failed, the economy tanked and real estate dipped—but in the Tampa Bay area, houses still cost much more than they did ten years before. For example, the same house that sold for $133,000 in 1998, sold for $275k in 2009 at the end of the downturn.
The Great Recession and glut of foreclosures crushed home builders, reducing the supply of new homes as the economy recovered.
“We did have a, a shortage of building for a while, especially in Florida after the market crash. You know, we were ground zero for the market crash. It took a long time for builders to get back online. A lot of builders went bust as well when that happened,” said St. Petersburg City Councilman Richie Floyd.
Builders who kept going started building larger, more expensive homes for larger profits—increasing the shortage of starter homes.
As millennials moved out on their own, they preferred urban living, which drove a movement from the suburbs to the spiraling costs of living in cities like Tampa, St. Pete, Clearwater, and Sarasota.
Meanwhile, the government offered new tax credits for home buyers, and interest rates dropped. Warren Buffett advised his fellow mega investors to snatch up homes—saying he’d buy a couple hundred thousand himself if he could. They followed his lead by purchasing more houses, condos, and apartments across the nation—and Florida in particular. Large investors and corporations replaced small landlords and homeowners, and they charged soaring rents (especially in urban areas).
Then President Trump signed new tax cuts on investment profits- fueling the real estate frenzy.
Then the pandemic hit. Florida stood out for lifting lockdowns and restrictions before other states. That drove a flood of relatively wealthy newcomers eager to buy.
“Post pandemic and during the pandemic, we saw this shift from high tax states to states like Florida, where people can work here and get the benefits of living here and that has only accelerated that challenge,” said Florida Policy Project and former Florida State Senator Jeff Brandes.
A wave of hurricanes, a property insurance crisis, and a trend of millennials migrating south combined to burn working-class people who can’t find an affordable place to live- unless they really scrimp and live a long way from work.
We don’t yet know the long-term impact of the Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton. But studies like this one in Science Direct show hurricanes tend to drive Florida home prices up in the short term.
“750 people are moving to Florida every single day. And there just isn’t enough housing being built to support that,” said Brandes. “And that’s kind of created the supply and demand challenge.”
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Plans for a new Wawa to open in Port St. Lucie were approved.
A new Wawa fuel station and convenience store will open in Port St. Lucie now that the plans have been approved.
The Wawa will be at the corner of Village Parkway and Becker Road in front of the Lowe’s which is expected to open in the summer of 2026, according to the city’s website.
The plans for a Wawa convenience store and eight fuel pumps were submitted to the city Dec. 3, 2025.
What will go in Port St. Lucie’s Southern Grove?
The plans for the Shoppes at Southern Grove show there will be a new Lowe’s store and six additional outparcels.
The six additional outparcels include the following:
- Gas station: 5,915 square feet
- Outparcel A: 1.2 acres
- Outparcel B: 1.14 acres
- Outparcel C: 1.83 acres
- Outparcel D: 1.04 acres
- Outparcel E: 1.02 acres
Olivia Franklin is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com, 317-627-8048 or follow her on X @Livvvvv_5.
SUNRISE, Fla. – Five Florida Panthers players and five staff members will represent their home countries at the upcoming 2026 IIHF World Championship, taking place May 15 through May 31 in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland. Games will be broadcast on NHL Network in the United States.
Marek Alscher, 22, will represent Czechia at the IIHF World Championship for the first time. He previously played for his home country at the 2024 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship, skating in seven games to help the Czechs capture the bronze medal over Finland. Alscher made his NHL debut with the Panthers in 2025-26, notching three assists over four games played. He also skated in 52 American Hockey League (AHL) games with Florida’s affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, recording 11 points (3-8-11).
Aleksander Barkov, 30, missed the 2026 Winter Olympic Games due to injury but had been named to Finland’s preliminary roster in June of 2025. He previously earned a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games alongside current Panthers assistant coach Tuomo Ruutu, and earned a silver medal representing his home country at the 2016 IIHF Men’s World Championship. At the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, Barkov served as captain of Finland.
Anton Lundell, 24, will be participating in his second IIHF World Championship after earning a silver medal with Finland in 2021, where he posted seven points (4-3-7) in 10 games as a 19-year-old. He helped Finland capture the bronze medal at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games this season and previously earned gold at the 2019 IIHF U20 WJC and 2018 IIHF U18 WJC, as well as a bronze medal at the 2021 U20 WJC.
Sandis Vilmanis, 22, will represent Latvia at the IIHF World Championship for the first time in his career. He played for Latvia at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in February as well as at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships, serving as an alternate captain in 2024 where he produced four points (2-2-4) over five games. Vilmanis made his NHL debut with the Panthers in 2025-26, logging five points (3-2-5) in 19 games with Florida while compiling 38 points (17-21-38) in 48 American Hockey League (AHL) contests with the Panthers affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.
Matthew Tkachuk, 28, will attempt to become the first American to join the Triple Gold Club (Stanley Cup, World Championship Gold Medal and Olympic Gold Medal), as well as the first player in NHL history to win all three parts of the Triple Gold Club within a 12-month span. This will be Tkachuk’s first time participating in the IIHF World Championship.
In addition to his 2026 Olympic gold medal, Tkachuk also earned gold representing the United States at the 2015 IIHF U18 World Junior Championship and the 2014 U17 World Hockey Challenge, as well as a bronze medal at the 2016 IIHF U20 WJC. He served as alternate captain for the U.S. at the 2026 Olympics and 2025 4 Nations Face-Off.
Florida will have four staff members representing the United States. Panthers Assistant General Manager Brett Peterson is serving as General Manager for the second time after holding the position in 2024. Panthers Head Equipment Manager Teddy Richards will serve as equipment manager and Florida’s Head Athletic Trainer Dave DiNapoli will work as athletic trainer. Panthers President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Bill Zito will serve on the Advisory Group.
Panthers Assistant General Manager Gregory Campbell will assist with evaluating and selecting players for Canada.
Panthers fans can stay up to date on all the Cats’ representatives at the 2026 IIHF World Championships at FloridaPanthers.com/WorldChampionship.
2026-27 Florida Panthers Territory Memberships are available now! Click here to learn more. For all the latest in Panthers news, concerts and events at Amerant Bank Arena & FTL War Memorial, sign up for ’93 Society newsletter and receive information straight to your inbox. Visit FloridaPanthers.com or SeatGeek.com for all ticketing needs.
A Martin County slaughterhouse near Lake Okeechobee could increase toxic algal blooms in the C-44 Canal, St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon.
There have been 81 algal blooms in the past two years within 2 miles of a proposed slaughterhouse in western Martin County, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Algal Bloom Dashboard.
The slaughterhouse will increase pollution and bring more potentially toxic algal blooms to Lake Okeechobee, whose waters sometimes are released into the C-44 Canal and flow into the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon in Stuart, opponents say.
Chancey Bay Ranch owner Tuny Mizrachi has proposed building a 56,784-square-foot slaughterhouse on 26 acres of his 2,046-acre-property at 8401 SW Connors Highway, abutting Lake O.
5 ways a slaughterhouse can increase Lake Okeechobee pollution
The Guardians of Martin County have raised at least five concerns with the Martin County Commission:
- Meat processing facilities, though necessary, have the potential to be noisy nuisances and significant sources of disease and pollution for air and water.
- The facility would be a new source of pollution in a watershed that’s designated as “impaired” because of elevated concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus.
- The facility would be a potential new source of pollutants near one of Martin County’s lowest income and most ethnically diverse communities.
- There’s no evidence the facility has a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, or plans to follow effluent limitation guidelines or conduct water-quality monitoring.
- The South Florida Water Management District has permitted the facility to withdraw 6.7 million gallons of water per year for 20 years from Florida’s surficial aquifer, despite it being subject to varying levels of saltwater intrusion, especially in Martin County. The SFWMD has designated all of Martin County a Water Resource Caution Area.
Blood, feces, oil, grease, ammonia and antibiotic residue from the proposed slaughterhouse would contribute to harmful algal blooms, including toxic cyanobacteria, Martin County Administrator Don Donaldson wrote to the DEP and SFWMD.
Tim O’Hara is TCPalm’s environment reporter. Contact him at tim.ohara@tcpalm.com.
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