Soaring home prices challenge S. Florida employers

BY MARTHA BRANNIGAN

Recruiting workers and keeping them has become increasingly challenging for South Florida employers, as home prices have soared out of reach even for many two-income households.

So employers are getting increasingly creative -- throwing in bonuses, allowing flexible schedules and, in the case of the University of Miami, even kicking in up to 50 percent of a home's purchase price.

The numbers tell the now-familiar story of how we feel priced out:
Income gains have not kept up with soaring home costs. In fact, the rise in income per person here between 2000 and 2006 -- 28 percent to an estimated $39,900, says the University of Florida's Institute for Economic Competitiveness -- has been all but gobbled up by the rise in property taxes and insurance alone.

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