Housing crash takes toll on Florida’s poorest residents

Florida has had the third-highest percentage decline in property values nationwide, according to census data from the American Community Survey released yesterday. Median values fell 8.6 percent last year to $218,700, from $239,200 in 2007. At the same time, the state was one of seven to see an increase in poverty rates, with 13.2 percent of Florida’s population living below the poverty line in 2008, up from 12.1 percent in 2007. The estimated number of Florida food stamp recipients also increased to 507,031, or 7.2 percent of the state’s population, from 412,606 or 5.8 percent over the same time period.TRD