ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Housing affordability is something that’s on everyone’s mind.
New research shows that home prices have increased two times faster than inflation since 2013. It’s a big reason why many Americans can’t afford a home in 2024.
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Marlee Tompkins, a single mother of two, was one of those Americans. She was finally able to buy her first home, but it took the help of a local nonprofit to make it happen.
In a few short weeks, Tompkins will be moving into her new home.
It hasn’t been an easy process.
Growing up in St. Augustine, she quickly realized that home prices were more than she could afford.
“$1,600 would be the max,” Tompkins said standing in her new home. “That is extremely hard, extremely hard. Even rentals are over $2,000. And they’re smaller than this.”
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New research from Clever, a real estate data company, found that Jacksonville’s home prices are increasing at a rate that’s almost 2.5 times that of inflation. That means millennials are paying nearly twice as much as baby boomers did for homes in 1985.
If home prices had merely kept pace with inflation, the median home would cost only $177,500 compared to the $431,000 it costs today.
“Affordability is going down by a factor of about 10% over the last year,” said Andrew “Fletch” Fletcher, a real estate agent with Remax Blue Coast.
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He said the high home prices we’re seeing in Northeast Florida aren’t shocking.
“Great schools, low taxes, create high demand. And then affordability, the more the interest rates go up, the harder it is to borrow that money. And it’s exponential for a lot of people that might be right on the cusp. So you may have to back off a little bit in your expectations right now,” Fletcher said.
Tompkins said she was only able to find a home in her budget with the help of the St. Johns Housing Partnership and a down payment assistance program.
“It’s amazing. It’s huge. And like I said, there’s really no words to describe it. It’s just this inner joy and peace. And just, I’m excited. I’m excited,” she said.
The St. Johns Housing Partnership is a nonprofit working to increase the stock of affordable housing in our area. They can help connect you with resources like down payment assistance if you need it.