New home construction in Florida is up by 12% in the first half of 2018.
FL New Residential Construction Permits through Q2 – 2017 vs. 2018
Since 2014, new home construction has been on the rise in Florida, and this year is no exception. Since January (through June), the Sunshine State has experienced a 12% year-over-year increase in housing starts, resulting in nearly 40,600 new permits on file with HBW. Additionally, Bloomberg News recently ranked Florida second (behind Texas) for population growth, having increased by 410,347 since January 2017. With housing starts increasing to meet the high demand, we reviewed six major Florida regions (Central, West, Southeast, Southwest, Northeast, Northwest) to identify the highest concentration of new residential construction.
The result: West Florida ranks #1 for total new residential construction permits through Q2-2018, having nearly 8,500 housing starts for the six-month period; this reflects a 6% year-over-year increase for the west region of Florida.
Every region in Florida, with the exception of Central Florida (-1%), is significantly ahead of new home construction figures from 2017. Year-over-year increases as high as 24% could be found in the northeastern region where there have been close to 7,000 housing starts since the beginning of the year. Another area experiencing notable growth in new home construction over the last two years is the southeast where there has been a 22% year-over-year increase in housing starts, resulting in approximately 4,800 new residential construction permits on file with HBW.
New residential construction in the southwest region of Florida has been holding a high growth pattern for the past five years, with annual gains as high as 24% (2015). This year, the area is already reflecting a 13% year-over-year increase in new home construction, resulting in approximately 7,470 housing starts; this growth rate is the highest it has been since 2015, and it continues to be an area to watch.
Finally, the northwestern portion of Florida is also off to a strong start in residential construction this year. Having experienced a 17% year-over-year increase in housing starts from January through June, there were nearly 5,550 new permits added to the HBW database for the six-month period.
To gain more information on the builders, homeowners and permits for the construction activity above, check out HBW for your copy of the latest 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.