Long before the debate over a federal bailout of the nation's financial institutions took center stage, sagging property values and soaring mortgage payments triggered in part by adjustable interest rates and increasing property taxes threatened to force thousands of Floridians into foreclosure. According to RealtyTrac, Florida's 44,000 foreclosure filings in August trailed only California's in the number of properties affected. California had 101,724 filings.
Florida experienced a home-building boom earlier this decade. There were lots and lots of people who were buying and selling real estate. The home ownership rate went from 66% to 72% between 2000 and 2006.
All of a sudden, the population growth slowed. The housing sales slowed. And the construction workers left, and so, we've been in a recession since roughly May of 2007. Florida lost nearly 100,000 jobs last year.
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