Florida 2nd in home cost

Home prices may be falling, but many Americans are spending a bigger portion of their incomes on housing, especially in Florida.

The Sunshine State ranked second among all states for its share of severely cost-burdened working families, according to the Washington-based Center for Housing Policy.

Thirty percent of the state's working families of low to moderate income spend more than half of it on housing.

"Households have seen their expenses rise in proportion to their incomes," said Keith Wardrip, senior research associate for the center.

The only state with a higher burden was California, where 32 percent of working families spend more than half of their income on housing. Nationwide, 21 percent of working families spend about half of their income on housing, according to the report.

The report tracked affordability of housing - for homeowners and renters - from 2005 to 2008. Working families are considered those who make at or below 120 percent of an area's median income.

In the Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater area, 26 percent of working families were severely burdened by housing costs in 2008, up from 22 percent in 2005, according to the report. The data was based on a median income of $57,000 for a family of four in Tampa Bay.

The declining rate of affordability threatens "to push more of America's families into financial instability," said Jeffrey Lubell, executive director of the Center for Housing Policy, research arm of the industry-sponsored advocacy group the National Housing Conference.

"Despite the fiscal crisis, there is a pressing need to prioritize policies and programs that reduce housing costs, such as financial incentives for energy-efficient home improvements, mortgage modification programs and federal housing vouchers," Lubell said.

The findings are surprising, considering the volatile housing market. Home prices have fallen in Florida and settled at 2003 levels, making home ownership more affordable for many.

The median sales price in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area fell 17 percent in the third quarter to $140,400, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. Compare that with June 2006, when home prices peaked locally at $239,600.

So, why then is affordability on the decline?

Home prices are more affordable now than when the study began in 2005, but the majority of homeowners have not moved since prices declined, Wardrip said. They have not lowered their housing costs by finding a cheaper place to live, he said, and most have seen other costs of homeownership increase.

The report points to other conditions that have worsened, such as utility costs, inflation, unemployment and rising mortgage payments.

In Florida, two metro areas ranked in the top five in the nation for most burdened, Miami in first and Orlando in fifth. In Miami, 39 percent of working families spent more than half of their income on housing, and in Orlando, 33 percent were severely burdened by housing costs.