Port St Lucie is one of the largest cities in Florida and one of the fastest growing areas on the east coast and with this brings the Pros and Cons of Living In Port St Lucie FL. With the recent surge of new residents relocating to the area due to COVID-19 lock downs in many other states throughout the US, Port St Lucie offered home buyers a chance to live and work where they had a little more freedom to roam around and not get locked in their own home which reduced mental stress. But with this surge of new transplants brings us to the topic today of the Pros and Cons of Living In Port St Lucie Florida.
Pros Of Living In Port St Lucie Florida
Affordable Home Prices In Port St Lucie Fl
One of the main factors of living in Port St Lucie is you can purchase a nicer semi luxury built home for much less money than other nearby areas on the east coast of Florida like nearby areas of Palm City, Stuart and northern Palm Beach County areas including Jupiter & Palm Beach Gardens Florida. You will find the median home prices in Port St Lucie is lower than many other popular eastern cities in Florida.
You can find plenty of resale homes priced under $375,000 and new construction homes start under $400,000.00 in a handful of the new communities located within Tradition. Some of the newest gated communities include Cadence at Tradition, Kenley at Tradition to just a few with many other gated communities starting just below $500,000.00.
There are many upscale communities that including the newest gated community located in Tradition called Seville at Tradition and just a few minutes away Astor Creek which is being built by Kolter Homes will offer the ultimate in upscale living with a private golf and country club, then you have PGA Verano and PGA Village just to name a few in Port St Lucie, Fl.
High Percentage Of Home Ownership
Another attraction to living in Port St Lucie Florida is the higher percentage of home ownership compared to other real estate markets where renters are a larger portion of neighbors. Once this area was considered a great place for retirees and while is still true it has become a place for the younger generation to be able to afford homes in a great neighborhood that was unobtainable in nearby areas like West Palm Beach. Like many other residents they all started researching the best neighborhoods in Port St Lucie, Fl before making the move to the area.
Cost Of Living In Port St Lucie
The cost of living in Port St Lucie hovers around the national average overall but one key advantage of moving to Port St Lucie Florida is that the cost of living as a whole is 3-4 % lower than the national average. Fast forward to 2021 when the real estate market has surged upwards throughout the United States the housing prices in Port St Lucie are still considered affordable in the Treasure Coast compared to nearby areas like Martin County Florida & Palm Beach County Florida.
Home Owners Insurance Rates
One of the biggest pros of living in Port St Lucie is the cost of home owners insurance which if you are not familiar Florida has some of the highest insurance premiums of all the other states in the US. You will find that when buying a new or newer home that is less than 10 years old your yearly insurance premium will be under $1200.00. If you were compare this to an older home in the West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale area you will pay double if not triple for the same home.
Save Our Homes Exemption
One of the best pros of buying a home in Port St Lucie or anywhere in Florida in general is Florida has a Save Your Home Tax Exemption which allows residents who live in the property as a primary residence your yearly property taxes can not increase more than 3% year over year.
Excellent Medical & Hospitals in Port St Lucie Florida
Especially important for retirees is the access to hospitals and specialists and if you decide to live in Port St Lucie you can feel assured with the city having 7 Hospitals including Cleveland Clinic at Tradition, St Lucie Medical Center, Port St Lucie Hospital and many other medical centers that offer a wide range of medical care of specialties. Check out the complete list of Port St Lucie Florida Hospitals to determine if these locations fit your medical needs and are close enough to where you considering to live when moving to Port St Lucie, Fl.
Cons Of Living In Port St Lucie Florida
Lack Of Downtown Areas
Compared to living in many areas throughout the United States Port St Lucie doesn’t have a traditional downtown area which includes some history or historic places to explore or grab some food or a drink or shop at local antique shops. While this may not be important to everyone many residents who relocate here realize that everything is more commercial style establishments including new strip malls and shopping centers with franchise restaurants and general stores.
Higher Property Taxes In Port St Lucie Fl
One of biggest complaints I hear as a real estate professional is how high the property taxes in Port St Lucie Florida are and I have to agree that taxes are overall higher here than many other cities in the US. I agree that property taxes are on surface higher than other areas in Florida and you also have to look at what the city is offering in return for the hard earned money you pay them year after year. Port St Lucie does a better job of maintaining the curb appeal and infrastructure compared to other nearby cities which is a positive trade off of having a dirty or run down city like many you find throughout the state and US in general.
Traffic In Port St Lucie Florida
If you have lived in Port St Lucie long enough you surely have noticed the increase of traffic and vehicles on the road daily compared to 20 years ago and a bigger surge just in the last 3-4 years throughout the city. Just like any other growing city traffic will get worse but its also not as bad as bigger metropolitan markets like New York, New Jersey or Chicago to name a few and Port St Lucie will never get that bad since the building codes will limit the density of new construction to mostly single family homes on 1/8 acre to 1/4 acre lots where as larger cities like New York you have 1000’s of high rises packed into a smaller footprint.
Lack Of High Paying Jobs In Port St Lucie Fl
Unless you own your own business or work in the medical profession you will not find high paying jobs like nearby areas of West Palm Beach, Boca Raton or Fort Lauderdale areas. Since many of the residents who move to Port St Lucie are retirees and many of the working class travel back and forth to West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale and or are many of the newer residents are able to work remotely from home due to companies having policies in place after the start of Covid-19 in early 2020.
Lack Of Airports In Port St Lucie
If you need to jump on a plane you will need to drive to either West Palm Beach International Airport, Fort Lauderdale or Orlando International Airport for flights out of the area. While this is not a big deal to most it is a deciding factor to many of my clients looking to buy in Port St Lucie and in many cases forced them to rethink where they are going to move to nearby which comes with higher prices of homes.
Questions About Moving To Port St Lucie?
If you have questions about living in Port St Lucie Florida or where the best neighborhoods in Port St Lucie Florida are located you can shoot David Rogers a Text or give him a call @ 561.660.0154 or Contact David by email.
My name is David Rogers, and I’m a licensed realtor who loves to provide high-level service. Please let me know how I can serve you!