Condos Sweep Across Jacksonville; Bad News for Certain Home Owners
With dozens of apartment-to-condo conversions either complete or underway - and new units being built from scratch across the area - it’s safe to say that Jacksonville has gone condo crazy.
The Real Estate Strategy Center of North Florida says it has documented 36 condo conversions on the First Coast in the last seven years, with five to 10 more expected this year. That sector of the state is known for its investor interest, as a large amount of Floria home loans issued in North Florida are reserved for investors. It now appears as though they are expanding into the world of condominiums.
It’s all evidence of a booming real estate market in Jacksonville, but it’s bad news for some low-income residents.
“I’ve lived at the beaches for 24 years and I don’t want to move,” says Carolyn Cavender, who is packing up and leaving the Lakeside Mobile Homes in Atlantic Beach.
Her community was recently sold to condo developers and Cavender’s $400 a month rent will soon be tough to find anywhere near the ocean. This is another example of the lower and middle classes being squeezed out of the Florida home loan market.
While housing plans for are being made for those seeking an affordable Florida home loan, expect condo living to increase in Jacksonville, similar to the recent numbers from Bonita Springs.
February 8th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
What is rotten is the fact that owner Debbie Ruelard never told tenants what was going on. I had to hear it from another tenant and confirmed it with the City Manager of Florida. Mrs. Ruelard won’t even answer her phone to verify our rent being paid ontime to prospective rental property owners within the Atlantic Beach area. How are we supposed to get into another apartment? Common courtesy would have been nice!
May 21st, 2007 at 6:02 pm
[…] to find an affordable Florida home loan in Jacksonville have had difficulty doing so due to recent condominum construction. It now appears as though sales of those existing condos in the area fell flat in February, as the […]
May 31st, 2007 at 4:13 pm
[…] the recent trend of converting apartment complexes to condominums, The Preserve at Tampa Palms apartment community will soon have a new name. The 378-unit complex is […]