Jocelyn Castillo He lived happily in his 700-square-foot one-bedroom apartment with a small office in a middle-class area of Midtown Miami. “It was 15 minutes from the beach and I was paying $ 1,800 a month, with a gym, a swimming pool, nothing very luxurious, but it was fine,” he says. Clarione.
Jocelyn, 30, was able to pay the rent with her work in marketing for healthcare companies and as an influencer.
In October last year his contract had expired and he wanted to buy the apartment from the owners, who had doubts. Meanwhile, they increased their rent from month to month: 2,200, 2,400, 2,600 dollars up to 2,800 and in February of this year they told him that they would rent it for that amount and that if he could not pay he was missing a month.
“There was no way to shell out that amount. I would have continued to rent the same thing for an extra $ 1,000! So I said: start“.
Jocelyn shared her story on TikTok, where she received hundreds of comments from followers who had experienced it. the same situation.
“There are too many like-minded people in Miami. He’s become a difficult place to live in“. He says rising house prices have made it very difficult to pay rent, especially if you live alone.
“We have to win over $ 100,000 per year. Many of my friends who have the same thing happened to are moving to cheaper cities like Orlando or Tampa”, He assures.
“But it’s not just rent. Increased food, hairdressing, manicure. Everything is a chain ”, says Jocelyn that she finally managed to buy an apartment after a few months with a loan. “Now I also charge 20% more for my work than a year ago, because everything has become more expensive,” she says.
An unprecedented level of inflation
Jocelyn’s story is one that many Americans are experiencing, struggling with an unprecedented level of inflation for this country in 40 years, close to 8.2%, according to the latest index.
President Joe Biden says it is leftovers from the pandemic and stimulus packages, supply chain difficulties and, most importantly, the war in Ukraine that has skyrocketed food and energy prices.
Biden released oil and barrel reserves The Federal Reserve has raised rates. But although inflation has been falling slightly in recent months, it is not enough to calm things down: the price index is the biggest concern of voters ahead of next Tuesday’s elections, where legislators and governors are elected.
The real estate boom in Florida
In Florida they influenced much more than in the rest of the country because after the pandemic a real estate boom which has caused house prices to skyrocket. In the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach corridor, inflation reached 10.7% per annum, 2.5 points more than the national average.
Ned Murray, associate director of Florida International University Metropolitan Center, said Clarione that “this year we have seen a rise in prices nationwide and a real estate crisis, different from the crisis of 2006”.
“Miami Dade, South Florida, Palm Beach, all of these areas have been hit. We’ve seen an increase 45 percent on the property value only in the last two years, ”he explains.
This South Florida economic and real estate expert added that “it’s a trend that’s happening in real estate investing in general, but it has accelerated over the past couple of years.”
“During the pandemic,” he says, “with interest rates practically zero, the investments went to the real estate sector and especially in this area of the United States. For example, people who lived in New York came to invest here, even to live because they wanted another quality of life ”.
Although in recent months the real estate market seems to have calmed down a bit, the price of houses and the rise in rents prices further increased in Florida than in the rest of the country.
At the exit of a Walmart supermarket in Hollywood, north of Miami, Lori McPherson carries a cart with a gallon of whole milk, vegetables, fruit, eggs and laundry soap. She protests that the bill has gone over $ 100.
“You don’t come to the supermarket with 20 bills anymore,” he says Clarione. “Anything comes out more than that, and not to mention if I have meat“.
Whose fault is inflation?
-I don’t know whose fault it is, if it’s because of the war or what, but Biden couldn’t turn it down.
Lori responds angrily, saying that even though she always voted Democratic this time around Think about vote for Republican candidates like Governor Ron DeSantis.
Laura Martínez agrees: “Daily life here is very expensive. In a basic purchase every day before I spent 70 or 80 dollars e now it does not drop below 150. Inflation in food and cleaning products is very evident. “
Going out to eat is a luxury
Going out to eat is already a luxury for many. A burger in a restaurant can go 25 dollars and a plate of pasta with seafood 30 or more, depending on the category of the place.
In Raw Pasta, a place where Argentines living in Miami usually go, told this correspondent that protein is the thing that has grown the most since last year. An offal, for example, cost $ 28 a few years ago and now, with taxes, Over 40.
Since inflation is the main concern, it is obvious that the Americans will vote with theirs on Tuesday wallets in mind. That is why Republicans and Democrats have accused each other of price counterfeiting in this last stretch of the campaign.
crossing of charges
Republicans criticize Democrats for failing to stop the stampede. The Democrats argue that their opponents didn’t want to pass laws to curb inflation and things like that things will get worse if they win the legislature November 8 because they will extend the tax cut to the rich and repeal the law on price cuts.
“The current government it couldn’t be more disastrous, in contrast to (Donald Trump’s) precedent, when the economy was booming, when we had significantly lower unemployment rates, when inflation was 1.4%. Today we have 8.3%, ”said Jaime Florez, Director of Hispanic Communications of the National Committee of the Republican Party.
“During the Trump administration we had energy self-sufficiency, we even became an oil exporter. We are now importing in the midst of a daunting international and geopolitical crisis involving a nation like Russia, which has been an energy supplier to much of Europe. Those disastrous decisions by the Biden administration make voters want change. “
The numbers of the latest polls upset the Democrats. 51% of the likely voters said so economics is the key which will determine your vote. Abortion, the other big campaign problem that Democrats bid on, just brings together 15%.
Jocelyn embodies these numbers very well. After having lived her experience with her department, she answered “100%” to the question about inflation or the progress of the economy. will determine your vote Next Tuesday. “The truth is, I feel it more than ever.”
Miami, special correspondent
Source: Clarin
