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| Jan (1) | Feb (1) | Mar (1) | Apr (1) | May (2) | Jun (2) | Jul (3) | Aug (5) | Sep (2) | Oct (2) | Nov (6) | Dec (5) |
January
What’s in store for Miami-Dade homebuyers and renters in 2023? Experts reveal outlook
“Unfortunately, we’re not going to see on the rental side price decreases which would help workers. On the buyer’s side, we should see prices holding steady,” said Ned Murray, associate director of the Jorge M. Pérez Metropolitan Center at Florida International University.
February
Should Florida outlaw rent control? Why some cities oppose the proposal amid housing crisis
In 2018, the average rent in Broward for a two-bedroom apartment was $1,902; these days it’s about $2,911. Including Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County, the average in the tricounty area is about $3,100, according to the Jorge M. Perez Metropolitan Center at Florida International University, a research institute.
March
Florida’s Affordable Housing Bill Is a Start But Won’t be Enough: Experts
“In doing so, you help sustain this policy effort because one year of relief is positive, but it’s not going to be enough to really move the needle over the coming years,” said Edward Murray, associate director of Florida International University’s Jorge M. Perez Metropolitan Center, which studies housing policies.
April
Miami-Dade County population falls 1%, U.S. Census says
There has been a years long trend of Miami-Dade moving northward, said Maria Ilcheva, assistant director of planing and operations at FIU's Metropolitan Center. But this trend has been exasperated as the cost of living rises in an area that primarily offers lower wages compared to other labor markets, she added.
May
New state law will help solve South Florida rent price crisis, real estate expert says
Edward "Ned" Murray, associate director of Florida International University's Jorge M. Pérez Metropolitan Center, is not as optimistic as Johnson. He said there might not be enough incentives for a developer to keep 40% of a building's units as workforce housing for the next 30 years.
Impact of affordable workforce housing law still being assessed by developers, experts
Edward "Ned" Murray, associate director of the Jorge M. Pérez Metropolitan Center at Florida International University, said the legislation is certainly a "big deal." But with rises in land costs, insurance costs and insurance rates, it isn't clear if the incentives will be enough for builders to construct more affordable housing.
June
‘A huge crisis’: How spending millions will add affordable housing in South Florida
“This is a huge crisis,” said Dr. Edward Murray, associate director with the Jorge M. Perez Metropolitan Center at Florida International University of the study’s results. “It’s a catastrophe.”
Live Local Act enables developers to build bigger and taller
Edward “Ned” Murray, associate director of the Jorge M. Pérez Metropolitan Center at Florida International University, said the state Legislature should have offered some financial assistance for cities to accommodate large projects with affordable and workforce housing, instead of just running roughshod over their zoning codes.
July
Miami Sees Its First Population Drop in Decades
“It’s the middle class, it’s our talent base, it’s our college graduates moving out for better opportunities elsewhere,” said Maria Ilcheva, census information center lead at Florida International University’s Jorge M. Perez Metropolitan Center.
'Beyond a crisis': As Hialeah gets more popular, residents feel pushed out by rents
Ned Murray, associate director of the Jorge M. Perez Metropolitan Center at Florida International University, says rent prices in Hialeah and similar working-class areas of Miami-Dade County are on a steady rise while other cities are cooling off.
DeSantis Says He Can Make the US Richer Like Florida. The Reality Is More Complicated
“If you’re a worker, it’s hard to have quality of life right now,” Murray said. “There is a lot of job growth and low unemployment, but most of the employment is in the low-wage service sector.”
August
Mixed Signals: Amid Economic Boom, South Florida Population Shrinks
“Everyone is expecting significant growth as a result of people moving to Florida and anecdotal evidence about traffic increasing,” Maria Ilcheva, census information center lead at Florida International University’s Jorge M. Pérez Metropolitan Center, told Commercial Observer. “But the numbers don’t tell the same story.”
Why Miami-Dade's population is declining
"Miami-Dade has always had population movement," Dr. Maria Ilcheva, Assistant Director of Planning and Operations of the Jorge M. Pérez Metropolitan Center at FIU, says, "it's seeing an influx of residents from the North and West with much higher incomes who're able to buy properties and create businesses, making it unaffordable for many of the locals to live here at the wage levels they're currently being paid at their jobs."
Miami’s status as the favorite American city for the ultrawealthy is pushing out its middle class
“It’s the middle class, it’s our talent base, it’s our college graduates moving out for better opportunities elsewhere,” Maria Ilcheva, the lead of census information center at Florida International University, told the Journal of the current population decrease.
So long, paradise. Longtimers and natives depart for homes outside Miami-Dade County
“Broward and Palm Beach seem to be holding on. Miami-Dade right now is just viewed as this costly county and difficult place to get around,” said noted South Florida housing expert Ned Murray.
Report: Miami-Dade losing more residents than gaining
"All this discussion about new Yorkers, or Californians moving to Miami-Dade County although correct does not offset the number of people moving out of our area," said Maria Ilcheva, a research professor for the census information center at F.I.U. She said starting from the pandemic year the exodus started.
September
Domestic violence data, based on gender, will lead to more effective policies, safer homes | Opinion
The newly launched Gender Equity Index (GEI), a WFMD research initiative, measures progress toward gender equity in Miami-Dade County. Based on an international model and applied locally for the first time, the GEI reflects the intersectional challenges women and girls face in each of the WFMD’s four pillars: economic mobility, health and well-being, leadership and freedom from violence.
Idalia hit one of Florida's poorest areas. How could that impact an economic recovery?
“The population characteristics in the impacted areas might impede their ability to recover,” said Maria D. Ilcheva with FIU’s Jorge Perez Metropolitan Center.
October
Desperate seniors search for shelter as church shuts their Little Havana apartment building
“It really infuriates me, because we all saw it coming,” said Dr. Edward Murray, associate director of the Metropolitan Center at Florida International University in Miami, speaking in general about the shortage of affordable housing. He was involved in authoring an affordable housing plan in 2018 for Miami-Dade County that was never fully adopted.
What you need to know about Florida's minimum wage increase
Dr. Maria Ilcheva, the assistant director of the Metropolitan Center at Florida International University, said the increase is isn't enough for households to survive, especially in South Florida.
November
Miami’s Inflation Ranks Highest in the US
Ned Murray, the associate director of the Metropolitan Center at Florida International University, said shelter costs – which account for more than a third of the overall consumer price index – have stabilized in most metro areas but continued to increase in Miami and Tampa.
Veterans make more than civilians in these South Florida cities
The top 50 cities listed in the SmartAsset report – including Miami, Hialeah, and Pompano Beach – are places with large populations of working poor, said Edward "Ned" Murray, associate director of Florida International University's Jorge M. Perez Metropolitan Center.
South Florida's battle to fill jobs persists
“The people who are moving here, for the most part … are not employed in South Florida’s key industries. And that’s a problem,” said Edward “Ned” Murray, associate director of Florida International University’s Jorge M. Pérez Metropolitan Center.
Racial inequities in housing persist in Palm Beach. New study seeks to address it
When it comes to homeownership, there are wide disparities rooted in a history of discrimination and segregation, according to the FIU researchers. Only 52% of Black residents in the region own their home, compared to 59% of Hispanics and 77% of whites.
$200 million, 20,000 affordable housing units: New study helps ID areas in need
Affordable housing programs on both local and federal levels often use a measure called area median income, or AMI, to determine where critical demand is, said Ned Murray, one of the study’s primary researchers and the associate director of FIU’s Metropolitan Center. AMI is the midpoint income distribution in a certain region; half of the households in that specific region make less than the median, and the other half of the households make more than the median income.
$200 million, 20,000 affordable housing units: New study helps ID areas in need
Affordable housing programs on both local and federal levels often use a measure called area median income, or AMI, to determine where critical demand is, said Ned Murray, one of the study’s primary researchers and the associate director of FIU’s Metropolitan Center. AMI is the midpoint income distribution in a certain region; half of the households in that specific region make less than the median, and the other half of the households make more than the median income.
December
Florida’s Wealth Boom Yields a Windfall for the State’s Charities
“While there is a lot of optimism that the community is coalescing around the need to solve affordable housing and climate change issues, the solutions haven’t emerged,” said Maria Ilcheva of the Jorge M. Perez Metropolitan Center at Florida International University in Miramar, Florida, who’s studied nonprofits for over a decade.
Miami-based artists and arts organisations grapple with gentrification
A 2018 study found that Miami had lost an average of 1,286 affordable-housing units every year since 2013 due to rising prices, developer-friendly policies, and a lack of rent control. That same year, a team of housing and research specialists and Ned Murray, associate director of the Jorge M. Pérez Metropolitan Center at Florida International University, presented a comprehensive affordable-housing master plan.
Broward cities will soon be asked to help pay for county’s affordable housing effort
The county didn’t fully realize until 2018 there was a crisis, Edward “Ned” Murray, associate director with the Jorge M. Perez Metropolitan Center at Florida International University, told county commissioners. The solution “has to be a countywide effort,” he said.
Broward leads the state in investment in affordable housing, and it’s paying off
According to the 2022 Broward County Affordable Housing Needs Assessment recently conducted by Dr. Ned Murray of the Jorge Perez Metropolitan Center at FIU, since 2020, unprecedented changes have occurred in the housing market that have impacted both owner and rental housing supply and demand.
Housing in Miami keeps rising and wages can’t keep up. Now, more people feel the squeeze
It’s only a matter of time before more people like Curry face the tough decision to stay or go, Murray said. “You’re saying 50% of all households are cost burdened. It’s much much higher than that. It’s only getting worse.”
