Page 16 - Magazine 1-winter 2017

Steve Guggenmos, vice president of research at Freddie Mac Multifamily, said the Orlando area was stretched thin even before recent hurricanes upset supply and demand.
"The way the market is right now, without any other additional factors, there is more demand than supply of affordable units and that is making it so rents are going up a lot faster than income and so affordability is going down quickly," he said.
In central Florida, particularly Orange and Osceola counties, rental demand is expected to rise with an influx of many as 100,000 evacuees from Puerto Rico in coming years, according to Brian Alford, who studies Florida economics for the CoStar Group.
Osceola's housing crush is one of the most marked. The number of Osceola complexes affordable to low-income residents dropped from 176 to about 18 during the six years that ended in 2016, according to recent Freddie Mac research. The financial institution looked at complexes that went through the financing process twice between 2010 and again in 2016.
Housing options identified by local governments are laudable, said Owen Beitsch, senior director for GAI Consultants. But they are not necessarily realistic, he said. Builders are constructing larger homes to appeal to buyers and banks are less inclined to back riskier housing types at a time when consumers are seeking more space. Allowing more rental units per acre generates additional revenue for landlords but the cost of construction is more expensive, he added. "It's not just a matter of physical environment and appearance," Beitsch said. "It's a matter of weighing all costs.” Business on 11/02/2017
3-Will the city of Miami go mini? Commission to vote on smaller micro units
Ordinance would establish 275 sf minimum for micro units By Katherine Kallergis | November 13, 2017 04:15PM

(Credit: Getty Images)
The city of Miami will vote on a new standard of micro units at a commission meeting this week.
The ordinance would bring the minimum size of micro units to 275 square feet, smaller than the 400-square-foot minimum currently in place. It was recommended for approval by the city’s planning, zoning and appeals board on Nov. 1 and will go before the commission on Thursday. Micro units allow developers to build more units using a smaller footprint and also tend to have stronger occupancy rates than larger apartments, according to Urban Land Institute studies cited in the city’s resolution. South Florida developers like Moishe Mana and even Jeff
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