Lee County bucks downward Florida homeownership trend

Author: Associated Press
Published: Updated:

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) Homeownership dipped slightly statewide last year, but there were gains in Southwest Florida.

New Census figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau showed that the homeownership rate in Florida dropped from 64.8 percent in 2015 to 64.3 percent last year.

But the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area had the nation’s third-biggest gain in the homeownership rate of major metro areas, going from 62.9 percent to 66.5 percent.

At the same time, the Sarasota-Bradenton area had the nation’s second-biggest drop in the homeownership vacancy rate. It went from 3.3 percent to 1.2 percent.

Miami had Florida’s lowest home ownership rate at 58 percent. Sarasota had the highest at 73 percent.

Florida has been shaking off the housing crisis of a decade ago, when foreclosures hit the state hard.

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