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Not a surprise: The statistics didn’t surprise Bob Miller, 55, of Lakeland, who lost his home in 2008 during the subprime mortgage crisis.
Or Allison Lund, 43, who nearly lost her Lakeland home in 2021 after her income plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Or hundreds of Polk County residents whose fixed-rate mortgages have jumped by up to $1,000 a month in recent years because of skyrocketing homeowners’ insurance premiums.
Why Polk County?
After losing his home, Miller became a licensed real estate agent specializing in foreclosures. “So I’ve seen both sides of it,” he said.
He said five factors explain why Polk County homeowners are struggling more than most.
Population growth drove up prices — Polk County was the country’s third-fastest growing metropolitan area between 2019 and 2023, with a five-year growth rate of 16.8%.
High demand drove up prices for existing houses. “The market got really hot there for a while in 2022,” Miller said.
Ordinary people — The majority of new residents were ordinary people taking out mortgages. “If you look at Las Vegas or New York City transactions, I’d be willing to bet 50% of them are cash. It’s big money up there. But down here, it’s Polk County. We’re taking out loans.”
Construction boom — Developers responded to the population growth by building new homes, including many new communities. That has made it harder for owners who want to sell.
“The market value is simply lower than what they paid. You could buy a new house for less,” Miller said.
Rising interest rates — Interest rates began rising in 2022, decreasing buyers’ purchasing power.
“People don’t buy price, they buy a payment,” Miller said. “So when that interest rate starts creeping up, people don’t have extra money to pay, so you’ve got to start bringing the price down.”
Insurance costs — Many people assume when they take out a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage that their monthly cost will stay the same. But property taxes and insurance premiums get added on to most people’s mortgage payments.
That has hit seniors on fixed incomes particularly hard, even pushing some into homelessness, according to Bridget Engleman, executive director of the Homeless Coalition of Polk County.
For help
HOPE NOW Alliance: This organization provides a 24-hour hotline (1-888-995-HOPE) for mortgage counseling in multiple languages.
Florida Legal Services: The organization focuses on fair housing, eviction prevention, and helping low-income Floridians. Contact them at www.floridalegal.org or (407) 801-4350.
Florida Senior Legal Helpline: For seniors, this helpline (1-888-895-7873) can provide assistance.
Insight Polk examines community conditions and solutions in six target areas from UCIndicators.org: economic & employment opportunity, education, housing, food security, transportation & infrastructure, and quality of life.
LkldNow’s Insight Polk independent reporting is made possible by the United Community Indicators Project with funding by GiveWell Community Foundation & United Way of Central Florida. All editorial decisions are made by LkldNow.
Cindy's reporting for LkldNow focuses on Lakeland city government. Previously, she was a crime reporter, City Hall reporter and chief political writer for newspapers including the Albuquerque Journal and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. She spent a year as a community engagement coordinator for the City of Lakeland before joining LkldNow in 2023. Reach her at cindy@lkldnow.com or 561-212-3429.
According to the chart we have been close to or double the natl avg for foreclosure since 2019.. yet, Polk county government has decided that bringing more people here and building TONS of housing starting 200k-300k was a great idea. With no additional infrastructure or shopping or places to work.. roads, fire , police, water, sewer nothing has been done in anticipation .. even if people buy these homes what if all the older ones forclosed on they just sit and rot bc the property tax is now so high they increased the value so much that it’s making the insurance cost more when it’s no different than it was but if u get a brand new house for same price as older mobile homes. Most will pick the new house … All these foreclosures and problems in Polk county in MY OPINION is because government here. Is just too damn greedy… And DOESN’T CARE AT ALL about the people they represent
Wendy Kaplan Franks is spot on. It’s a build at any cost mentality without any regard for the infrastructure needed to support the out-of-control growth. There’s been very poor growth planning. For some reason the Lakeland and county commissioners wanted Polk County to be #1 growth. Polk County has become #1 in foreclosures and it’s going to get worse. What I would like to know and I am not alone is with all the growth what have they done with all the taxes and impact fees collected over the past 10 yrs.?? Roads are near gridlock and many need to be repaired. I wonder what an audit would show where the tax dollars went. The city and county commissioners continue to approve major projects. When is enough enough?? Over the years city and county commissioners backgrounds have been tied to real estate and development. Bottom line it’s all about money. Thank you, city and county commissioners, for destroying the quality of life in Polk County.
No judgement: A smart buyer will wait for the current Administration’s tariffs to really dig-in, plus effects from other disastrous moves they have made. The key will be Polk unemployment figures. If they head to 10%, residents will leave. Foreclosures skyrocket. The giant Financials Note holders–whom you never hear about–have a “holding period” on foreclosure sales where there is little bargaining. When they see they can’t recover the Note amount, then prices REALLY drop. Of course huge profits were already made before the troubles. Some chose a disaster course years ago. In the end housing will seek out a true market level. I have a good guess at that level. Employment & average household income will be key.
According to the chart we have been close to or double the natl avg for foreclosure since 2019.. yet, Polk county government has decided that bringing more people here and building TONS of housing starting 200k-300k was a great idea. With no additional infrastructure or shopping or places to work.. roads, fire , police, water, sewer nothing has been done in anticipation .. even if people buy these homes what if all the older ones forclosed on they just sit and rot bc the property tax is now so high they increased the value so much that it’s making the insurance cost more when it’s no different than it was but if u get a brand new house for same price as older mobile homes. Most will pick the new house … All these foreclosures and problems in Polk county in MY OPINION is because government here. Is just too damn greedy… And DOESN’T CARE AT ALL about the people they represent
Wendy Kaplan Franks is spot on. It’s a build at any cost mentality without any regard for the infrastructure needed to support the out-of-control growth. There’s been very poor growth planning. For some reason the Lakeland and county commissioners wanted Polk County to be #1 growth. Polk County has become #1 in foreclosures and it’s going to get worse. What I would like to know and I am not alone is with all the growth what have they done with all the taxes and impact fees collected over the past 10 yrs.?? Roads are near gridlock and many need to be repaired. I wonder what an audit would show where the tax dollars went. The city and county commissioners continue to approve major projects. When is enough enough?? Over the years city and county commissioners backgrounds have been tied to real estate and development. Bottom line it’s all about money. Thank you, city and county commissioners, for destroying the quality of life in Polk County.
No judgement: A smart buyer will wait for the current Administration’s tariffs to really dig-in, plus effects from other disastrous moves they have made. The key will be Polk unemployment figures. If they head to 10%, residents will leave. Foreclosures skyrocket. The giant Financials Note holders–whom you never hear about–have a “holding period” on foreclosure sales where there is little bargaining. When they see they can’t recover the Note amount, then prices REALLY drop. Of course huge profits were already made before the troubles. Some chose a disaster course years ago. In the end housing will seek out a true market level. I have a good guess at that level. Employment & average household income will be key.