Out of the 5,400 Florida housing starts in August, Orlando was a leading area for new construction.

Over 5,400 housing starts with a total value in excess of $1.5B were added to the HBW database for Florida last month.  While construction activity was not ahead of July’s figures, August had a healthy level of new permits across the state with Orlando leading for total starts (1,408 permits).  While DR Horton and Lennar Homes continued to flex their megabuilder muscle in four out of five regions, Pulte Homes held strong in the southwest region having 150 housing starts in that area for the one-month period.

Here is a closer look at the breakdown by region:

ORLANDO

Central Florida’s “City Beautiful” was up one spot since July to rank #1 in August for total housing starts.  Out of the more than 1,400 starts and approximately $444 million in total construction value, DR Horton was the leading builder having more than 200 new permits in the area for the one-month period; the home builder was most active in Osceola and Brevard counties as 62% of all their new building activity took place there.  The average value of residential construction was on the higher end in Orlando at more than $315k, and the highest concentration of housing starts could be found in Orange (494 permits) and Brevard (270 permits) counties.

TAMPA

The gulf coast Tampa area was second highest for new construction last month.  More than half of the 1,340+ housing starts and approximately $350M in total construction took place in Polk (401 permits) and Hillsborough (385 permits) counties.  Out of the 190 active builders in the area, Lennar Homes took the lead for total housing starts having more than 200 new permits on file with HBW for the month; nearly all of Lennar Home’s new residential construction took place in Pasco and Hillsborough counties.  The average value of new home construction in Tampa runs fairly close to the average for the state at nearly $261k.

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

The southwest region ranked third highest for total housing starts last month.  Just about half of the 1,121 housing starts and nearly $279M in total construction took place in the counties of Lee (343 permits) and Collier (233 permits) counties.  The average value of new home construction in the area was nearly $249k.  Out of the 225 active home builders on file in August, Pulte Homes ranked #1 with 150 housing starts.

JACKSONVILLE

Out of Jacksonville’s 900+ housing starts and $223M in total value last month, DR Horton was a leading home builder having more than 186 new permits on file; the majority of DR Horton’s new construction took place in St. Johns and Duval counties, two counties that are currently experiencing the highest levels of new home construction in the Jacksonville area.  To be more exact, more than 70% of new residential construction activity was concentrated in the counties of St. Johns (381 permits) and Duval (266 permits) last month.  Jacksonville continues to carry a lower average value of construction in comparison to the four other areas reviewed, having an average value just over $245k for the one-month period.

SOUTHEAST FLORIDA

There were nearly 650 housing starts in the southeast region of Florida last month, and more than half of all new residential construction took place in the higher value counties of Miami-Dade (194 permits) and Palm Beach (179 permits).  Out of the 180 active builders on file for the month, Lennar Homes came out on top with 127 new residential construction permits; just about 50% of Lennar’s new home construction in the southeastern region took place in Miami-Dade County during the month of August.

Information utilized for the graphs and above listed figures for Florida residential construction was directly derived from HBW construction data reports. To gain access to the HBW database and receive custom and detailed reports on the latest residential and commercial building activity in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, and Oklahoma, please contact HBW for details.