As Housing Crisis Worsens, Florida Realtors Leader Calls Impact Fees a ‘Hidden Tax’

Written by:

Rudi Davis

Date:

24 Nov 2025

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Florida’s housing shortage is far worse than most people realize, and local governments are making it worse through policies they don’t understand are directly inflating home prices, according to Tim Weisheyer, president of Florida Realtors.

“There’s an undersupply of housing,” Weisheyer says, citing National Association of REALTORS research showing America needs 5.5 million more homes to meet current workforce and population demands. “The National Association of REALTORS did a study a few years ago, 5.5 million too few homes available in America to meet the demands and the need of the current workforce and population and home buyer pool.”

But Weisheyer argues that Florida’s problem runs deeper than simple supply and demand. Despite massive population growth and corporate migration to the state, Florida never recovered its pre-recession construction pace, creating a compounding shortage that local policies are making worse.

According to Weisheyer, Florida’s housing crisis stems from a fundamental production gap that began during the Great Recession and never fully recovered. “When you look at the housing starts coming out of 1112 when we started to make that turn back out, we never got back to that rate of production,” he says. “And so we continue to fall behind.”

This production shortfall occurred precisely when Florida was experiencing unprecedented growth. The state has been adding roughly 1,000 new residents per day through net migration, according to Weisheyer, creating a perfect storm of rising demand and constrained supply.

The situation has been exacerbated by what Weisheyer describes as a fundamental misunderstanding among local officials about who actually pays development costs. “You’ll hear about impact fees, and people will say, ‘Oh, well, you charge impact fees the developer pays it,'” Weisheyer explains. “That’s not true. That’s embedded in the cost of the house. Ultimately, it’s a pass through that ultimately ends up hitting the bottom line, or the ultimate price that a consumer is going to pay.”

Weisheyer says Florida Realtors is working across all 67 counties to educate local officials about how their policies directly affect housing affordability. The organization argues that restrictive zoning and excessive fees are pricing out the very families these communities want to attract.

“If they’re too restrictive and too onerous in their taxation policy in a local level, whether it’s ad valorem or impact fees, or if they’re too restrictive in allowing a varied housing product type to be developed and built. It’s a problem,” Weisheyer says.

The issue extends beyond traditional single-family development. Weisheyer points to the need for varied housing products, including accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and mixed-use developments, as critical tools for addressing the shortage. He argues that many local governments don’t understand how these alternative housing types can serve as transitional opportunities for families.

“We really want to start talking about the story about there’s this great opportunity for us to look at the type of housing stock that we’re creating in Florida,” Weisheyer says, advocating for multi-generational housing options and mixed-use developments that can provide more affordable entry points into homeownership.

Florida Realtors is pushing what Weisheyer calls “smart growth” conversations with local officials, emphasizing that restrictive policies ultimately harm the communities they’re meant to protect. The organization argues that allowing varied housing products and reducing regulatory barriers will help address affordability without compromising community character.

“We’re really paying attention to how do we work with land use and zoning and dealing with cities and counties across the state, across all 67 counties, to make sure they understand” the connection between local policies and housing costs, Weisheyer says.

The urgency of this work has increased as Florida continues to attract new residents and businesses. With the state serving as the nation’s third-largest and representing the 15th largest economy globally, housing policy decisions at the local level have far-reaching implications for economic growth and workforce development.

As the largest professional trade association in Florida and the largest state realtor association nationally, Florida Realtors is positioning itself as a key resource for local governments seeking to balance growth with affordability. The organization is conducting broker roundtables across the state to gather input on local market conditions and policy needs.

Weisheyer’s approach focuses on education rather than confrontation, helping local officials understand the economic implications of their zoning and fee structures. The organization is also exploring innovative policy solutions, including regulatory reforms that could streamline development processes while maintaining quality standards.

Whether Florida’s local governments will embrace these smart growth principles may determine how quickly the state can address its housing shortage and maintain its competitive advantage in attracting new residents and businesses.