Survey Reveals Affect of Florida Housing Market Crunch

Readers are feeling it. The crisis in housing and bad credit Florida mortgage lending is impacting other businesses in Tampa Bay, according to the latest Business Pulse Survey.
More than two-thirds - 163 of the 232 people that responded, or 70 percent - said yes, they are feeling the impact of a housing recession. Just a fifth (53 votes, or 22 percent) said no, they are insulated; and just 6 percent, or 16 people, said they are undecided.

“Our customer growth rate was substantially impacted for the past year and a half, both due to the housing development slowdown as well as new customer closings on houses throughout our service area,” said one reader in the newspaper’s nonscientific poll designed to be a snapshot of what readers are thinking.

For another, the impact is being felt at home.

“The home prices in our neighborhood (just three years old) have plummeted, and those trying to sell are suffering,” the reader said.