Vero Beach
Vero Beach, FL · Business
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Miami Herald
Food and gas prices remain high. What does that mean for Miami homebuyers?
Inflation was stubbornly high in October, Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Tuesday shows, a sign that the costs squeezing South Florida wallets hardest — particularly energy and housing –– remain elevated. Nationwide, prices rose 0.4% last month, down from a 0.6% jump in September but still more than twice the Federal Reserve’s target. “Everyone’s getting squeezed by prices going higher, and that’s true in South Florida and it’s true around the country,” said Bryan Cutsinger, a professor of economics at Florida Atlantic University’s College of Business. That means the Fed is all but assured to raise interest rates at its rate-setting meeting in December, he added. What prices changed? Fuel costs are the real kicker. Gasoline prices, for instance, rose 1% nationally, down from the 9.3% jump they experienced in September but still rising. In South Florida, gas prices are up 38% on the year, the bureau’s data shows. Some costs rose faster in South Florida than they did nationwide. Shelter, for instance, was up 0.4% last month in the Miami metropolitan area, which extends up through West Palm Beach, slightly above the national average. That increase was so significant that it drove roughly a third of October’s price