Government Shutdown Hurts Florida Real Estate Market
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
By: Amy Kiley

October 15, 2013 | WMFE -- Florida's housing market could be one of the hardest hit amid the federal government shutdown since Florida relies on real estate more than almost any other state.

[Florida Realtors logo, floridarealtors.org]

Analysis from the business information website WalletHub indicates only in Hawaii is real estate a larger percentage of the gross state product.

The partial shutdown of the federal government is creating staffing shortages at the Federal Housing Administration and other agencies.  Florida Realtors Senior Vice President of Public Policy John Sebree says slow paperwork processing means slow home sales.  “If you’re a first-time homebuyer, you might need the Federal Housing Administration to get your first loan,” he says.  “You’ve been planning for this forever and ever.  You didn’t know the government was going to shut down, and then now your closing is put off.”

Sebree points out that the Florida housing market is only slowly recovering after the 2007 crash.  He, like other analysts, worries the government shutdown could threaten that already tenuous growth.