2025 Shimberg Study Published: South Florida Remains Ground Zero for Affordability Crisis; Orlando Affordability Worsens

The Shimberg Center for Housing Studies today released its annual report for 2025. Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade Counties continue to have the largest need for affordable housing in the State.  The Orlando area, including Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties, shows an increasing lack of affordability resulting in a 1,945 unit deficit in the workforce housing band (up to 120% of Area Median Income), whereas previously, as recently as last year’s Shimberg Study, it had a reported 5,000+ unit surplus.  In total, the study shows a state-wide deficit of 73,307 affordable units up to 120% of Area Median Income, down from approximately 98,000 units in 2024.

Importantly, the Shimberg Study determines whether a taxing authority is eligible to opt-out of the Live Local Act’s “middle market” tax exemption. As a reminder, the Live Local Act created the “middle market” tax exemption which permits qualifying housing developments with 71 or more qualifying workforce housing units to receive a 75% ad valorem tax exemption for those units and the proportionate share of the land and common areas. If the most recent Shimberg Study determines there is a surplus of affordable housing units in a particular county, taxing authorities within that county are eligible to opt-out of the “middle market” tax exemption. Based upon the 2025 Shimberg Study, the Orlando area taxing authorities can no longer opt-out of the “middle market” tax exemption.

The results of the 2025 Shimberg Study demonstrate that the Live Local Tax Exemption is helping, but there remains a significant deficit in needed affordable housing supply, specifically in South Florida where the need for affordable housing units continues to grow. Last year, taxing authorities within 34 counties were eligible to opt-out of the “middle market” tax exemption program. This year, that number is 18 counties which in part must demonstrate the impact of the Live Local tax exemption programing bringing more housing into the affordable housing bands. 

The full study can be seen here at this link: http://www.shimberg.ufl.edu/publications/Shimberg_Center_Annual_Report_2025.pdf.