ORLANDO, Fla. – Jan. 29, 2007 – Teachers, firefighters, police and other essential-services personnel who are being priced out of Central Florida’s housing market in Orange and Osceola counties got a boost Friday from a state program that awarded $10 million to build affordable dwellings for them.
The Florida Housing Finance Corporation (http://www.floridahousing.org) board agreed in Tampa to distribute a total of $50 million among 11 projects statewide. Two of them, in Orange and Osceola, are expected to receive $5 million each.
In Orlando, developer GDC Properties Inc. plans to build two 35-story towers at the corner of North Orange Avenue and Marks Street at a cost of about $146 million. Known as Verde, the project is expected to break ground as early as July.
It was unclear Friday how many of the 476 units in the mixed-use towers would be designated for the “essential-services personnel” targeted by the program. The housing-finance corporation’s Web site gave the number as 97, but calls to the project’s portfolio manager were not returned.
W.D. Morris, executive director of the Orange County Housing Finance Authority, described the project as “unique” and said the county would issue $115 million worth of bonds to help finance it.
“We see this as an opportunity to get work-force-housing development in downtown Orlando, where people can be close to jobs and downtown transportation,” he said. “This is what the community has been asking for: an adequate supply of affordable housing.”
In Osceola, the Education Foundation-Osceola County, a nonprofit that works closely with the district, has joined with Wendover Group to build 120 apartments in St. Cloud at a cost of about $15 million. The county also has pledged $1 million to the project.
Tom Tompkins, the foundation’s chairman emeritus, said the school district hopes to benefit, although the project will be open to more than teachers.
“What this means is the district can now use this as a recruitment tool to hire more teachers because they come here and can’t afford the rent,” Tompkins said. “Sometimes, even if you have the money, you can’t even find a property.”
The Osceola project, which could break ground in about six months and is known as The Preserve, will be designed with teachers in mind and may include a clubhouse with rooms where educators could conduct in-service training sessions.
The Community Workforce Housing Innovation Pilot Program was approved by the Florida Legislature in 2006 to deal with shortages of affordable housing in the state, where home prices have skyrocketed in recent years.
The program gave priority to essential-services personnel – a group that could include, among others, teachers, firefighters, police and health-care workers. Individual localities could determine the groups to be served and income guidelines for the residents. Applicants for the money also were allowed to decide how many affordable-housing units to build and whether to set them aside for rent or ownership.
Stephen Auger, executive director of the housing-finance corporation, said the idea of the program was to “bring people to the table … and create innovative ways to bring housing costs down.”
“I think this is a step towards our trying to figure out what local governments and the private sector can do with some incentives from the state. … Right now it’s a pilot, but this could be something we repeat.”
Applicants in Martin, Walton, Sarasota, St. Johns, Highlands, Hillsborough and Palm Beach counties also received awards.
For teacher Nicole Hawkins, the announcement was welcome news.
Hawkins, who teaches in Osceola’s Poinciana High, has been living with her parents in an effort to save money to buy a property.
“I think the idea is great,” said Hawkins, a first-year teacher. “Housing costs are definitely an issue.”
 

Copyright © 2007 The Orlando Sentinel, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

WASHINGTON – Jan. 11, 2007 – After bottoming in the fourth quarter of 2006, existing-home sales should gradually rise through 2007 and into 2008, while new-home sales should turnaround by summer, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).
David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, says annual totals for existing-home sales will be fairly comparable between 2006 and 2007. “We have to keep in mind that we were still in boom conditions during the first quarter of 2006 with a high sales volume and double-digit price appreciation,” he says. “We are starting 2007 from a relatively low point, so even with a gradual improvement in sales it’ll be pretty much of a wash in terms of annual totals. The good news is that the steady improvement in sales will support price appreciation moving forward.”
Existing-home sales for 2006 are expected to come in at 6.50 million, the third highest on record, with a total of 6.42 million seen in 2007. New-home sales in 2006 should tally 1.06 million, the fourth highest on record, with 957,000 projected this year.
Total housing starts for 2006 are likely to be 1.81 million units, with 1.51 million forecast in 2007, which would be the lowest level in a decade. Builders are pulling back on new construction to support prices of remaining inventory.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage will probably rise to 6.7 percent by the fourth quarter of 2007. Last week, Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed rate at 6.18 percent – far below earlier consensus forecasts. “The current interest rate environment and housing inventory levels present a window of opportunity for potential buyers,” Lereah says.
The national median existing-home price for all of 2006 is expected to rise 1.1 percent to $222,100, and then gain 1.5 percent this year to $225,300. The median new-home price, after rising only 0.3 percent to $241,600 in 2006, is projected to grow 3.0 percent in 2007 to $248,900.
“With all the wild projections by academics, Wall Street analysts and others in the media, it appears that much of the housing sector is experiencing a soft landing,” Lereah says. “Despite the doomsayers, household wealth will not evaporate and the economy will not go into a recession. If you’re in it for the long haul, housing is a sound investment.”
The unemployment rate is likely to average 4.8 percent this year, following a rate of 4.6 percent in 2006. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, is expected to be 2.2 percent in 2007, down from 3.2 percent last year, while growth in the U.S. gross domestic product is seen at 2.5 percent in 2007, compared with 3.3 percent last year. Inflation-adjusted disposable personal income should grow 3.4 percent this year, following a rise of 2.7 percent in 2006.
 

© 2007 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®