I work in Florida, one of the hottest & most talked about real estate markets in the United States today. And it looks as though it will be staying that way for a long time. "Researchers estimate that the massive build-out (of real estate in the US) will constitute a $25 trillion development market by 2030, more than twice the size of the entire US economy today." (Business 2.00, Robert Lang, Virginia Tech Urban Planning Professor) More than the commitment to development, the South Florida Real Estate Market follows the three basic principles of real estate 1) location, 2) location, and 3) location.
Tourism plays a primary role in the state's economy and in 1996 visitors to Florida spent over $48 billion dollars. Attractions include Walt Disney World, the massive cluster of theme parks near Orlando (one of the world's leading tourist attractions), Universal Studios, a combination theme park and film and television production facility, also near Orlando and other attractions draw millions of vacationers yearly. Famous beaches such as these white sandy beaches of Miami Beach, Daytona Beach, and Fort Lauderdale, attract the multitude of vacationers each and every year. With more than 4,200 sq mi (10,360 sq km) of inland waterway and the Atlantic Ocean readily accessible from almost anywhere in the state, makes Florida the fishing paradise. Other attractions include the EvergladesNational Park with its unusual plant and animal life, Palm Beach with its palatial estates and Sanibel Island's picturesque resorts. Famous for its citrus fruits, Florida leads the nation in the production of oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, and market ready corn and tomatoes. Other important crops include sugarcane and many varieties of winter vegetables. Cattle and dairy products are also very important as is commercial fishing with the catch including crabs, lobsters, tuna and shrimp.
Florida's Population Growth Source U.S. Census Bureau
Florida has the 4th largest population in the U.S. (17 million).
Florida adds about 750 people, net, every day of the year.
17% of Florida's residents are of Hispanic or Latino origin, vs. 12.5% in the rest of the U.S.
The Miami and Ft. Lauderdale metropolitan areas rank 2nd and 3rd nationally behind New York City in the number of residential units located in buildings with 5 or more units.
Since 1990, Florida has added over 3.7 million residents
This represents an increase of 29% vs. an increase of 16% in the U.S. over the same period of time.
Close to 700,000 students are enrolling in Florida's Universities. Florida has a record number of new graduates each year, as enrollment keeps rising and graduates stay in-state.
Currently Florida's population is growing at an annual rate of 2.6%. This means the state's population doubles every 27.7 years
By 2020, Florida will be the 3rd most populated state in the U.S. trailing only California and Texas
By the year 2030, Florida will have a population of over 33 million people.
DEMOGRAPHICS
UF research finds that Florida´s population grows by about 900 people per day; slightly less than the 1,100 per day a few years ago. Top counties by rate of growth, in order: Flagler, Sumter and Osceola. Top growing counties by number of new people, in order: Orange, Miami-Dade and Hillsborough.
Florida's Economy Source Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research
Florida's total job creation ranks 1st amongst the 10 most popular states in the U.S
Florida has the 2nd lowest unemployment rate of the 10 most populous states in the U.S.
Source RAND Florida Statistics
Florida's arts and cultural industry's annual statewide economic impact has grown from $1.7 billion in 1997 to over $2.9 billion today and now supports over 28,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
The Miami Performing Arts Center will serve as the cultural crossroads of the Americas with $412 million capital budget
Florida: We are No. 1 in job creation. Employment stats released yesterday show that Florida added 27,000 jobs in January, and state unemployment (4.3 percent) is at its lowest level in four years back to the level enjoyed before September 11 impacted the economy. The four hurricanes appear to have had a negligible effect.. in the past year, Florida led the nation in the number of jobs created with 261,000 new jobs added. Professional and business service jobs formed the largest new sector with 88,100 added; construction and the trades added 41,700. The national unemployment rate in January was 5.2 percent.
BUSINESS
Florida is one of the best places to do business, ranking seventh in the 2007 listing of business-friendly states by Forbes.com. Criteria considered included job and income growth, living costs, and educational achievement, as well as projections of job, income, and gross state product growth.
Florida Adds About 1,100 New People A Day, Census Says SARASOTA, Fla. April 18, 2005 The population of the Sunshine State increased an average of nearly 1,100 people per day last year, according to estimates released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau. From 2003 to 2004, Florida gained 397,980 people, pushing the total population to almost 17.4 million.
If it keeps up this pace, Florida should overtake New York to become the third-most-populous state in the nation, behind only California and Texas, before 2020, according to the data. The state is currently growing faster than it did during either the 1980s or 1990s.
Demographers aren't sure what's fueling the growth, although they cite workers seeking jobs, retirees including baby boomers taking early retirement and a combination of several population groups as factors. A steady stream of people moving to Florida from other states also has sparked growth over the past few years, researchers say, noting that the state's thriving economy, strong job market, favorable climate and natural environment add to the attraction.
Since the 2000 census, the population of Florida has grown by about 1.4 million. With the state's population currently at almost 17.4 million, it's almost doubled since 1980, when the total count was 9.7 million.
The five best performing central business districts (CBDs) over the next two years will be Tampa, Miami, Orlando, Oakland, Calif., and Orange County, Calif., according to projections by Cushman Wakefield. The New York-based firm's study measured such factors as rent movement, job creation, construction and absorption in 27 CBDs nationwide. Florida also is projected to turn in a good showing among suburban business markets in such regions as Pinellas and Palm Beach, thanks mainly to white collar job growth.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. Nov. 1, 2005 Despite threats from people in storm ravaged areas to move away, new University of Florida (UF) research shows that the devastating 2004 hurricane season had little or no effect on Florida's 2004 to 2005 population growth.
"Florida's population grew by more than 400,000 last year," says Stanley Smith, director of UF's Bureau of Economic and Business Research. "This is one of the largest increases in Florida's history."
The Bureau bases its population estimates on building permit and electric customer data, combined with data from the 2000 Census. This year it supplemented its data by conducting 11,560 telephone interviews with residents in the 13 counties most heavily affected by the hurricanes.
"If the 2004 hurricanes had any significant effects on Florida's population growth, it would be in the area covered by these 13 counties," says Chris McCarty, director of the Bureau's survey program.
The hurricanes damaged 32 percent of the housing units for the state as a whole but 74 percent of the units in the 13-county area. Many residents were forced from their homes by structural damage and the loss of utilities.
"About 21 percent of the residents of these counties were forced to move out of their homes, at least temporarily," Smith says. "Most were away for only a few days or weeks, but others were away for several months and some still have not returned."
By the time the surveys were conducted in March through June 2005, 82 percent of those having to leave had returned.
Although the hurricanes had little effect on overall population growth for the state, they had a significant impact in several counties. The 2005 population estimates show one year declines of 3,603 for Escambia; 2,955 for Charlotte; 1,499 for DeSoto; 454 for Hardee; and 239 for Okeechobee.
"The surveys found these counties to have experienced heavy hurricane damage," Smith says. "Since they had been growing in previous years and the state as a whole grew rapidly last year, these declines were clearly caused by the hurricanes."
Smith and McCarty do not believe the 2004 hurricanes will have a long term impact on population growth in Florida. "Despite anecdotes of people tiring of hurricanes and wanting to leave, our prediction is that last year's hurricanes won´t have any effect on long term growth," Smith says. "Most people just accept hurricanes as part of the price of living in Florida, along with heat, humidity, mosquitoes and alligators. Some people will certainly move away, but they will be replaced by others moving in."
Hurricanes have had little effect on the rapid pace of U.S. coastal development during the past 50 years, Smith says. A previous Bureau survey showed that while population growth in Miami Dade County slowed the first year after Hurricane Andrew, it later rebounded to even higher levels. "It may take several years for the most heavily damaged areas to recover, but we believe they will continue to grow," Smith says.
However, hurricane hits for multiple years could take a toll on population growth, Smith says. "An occasional bad hurricane year won't override all Florida's advantages," he said. "If we had a number of bad years in a row, however, it could start to have an impact."
Smith and McCarty believe the effects of Hurricane Katrina will be quite different than the effects of hurricanes in Florida.
"Katrina was much more destructive, destroying more homes and forcing more people to move away than last year´s hurricanes in Florida," Smith says. "Many people lost their jobs as well as their homes and moved hundreds or even thousands of miles away."
New Orleans is a special case, given its unique physical characteristics and the nature of its damages, McCarty says. "We expect most of the Gulf Coast to follow the Florida model, with substantial short term population declines but long term population growth," he adds. "But New Orleans will recover much more slowly and may never again reach its pre hurricane population size."
Study Overall, Florida's Tax Burden One of Nation's Lowest
WASHINGTON
April 11, 2005 Most states nickel and dime you with taxes, and the only fair comparison state to state includes a running total of all taxes income, sales, property, etc. In that analysis, Florida stacks up pretty well. Only six states take a smaller piece of their residents' income.
The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research group that advocates simpler taxation, conducts a yearly analysis of each state's total tax burden. In addition to direct taxes, the foundation factors in business taxes that residents eventually must pay through higher prices or lower wages to create a percentage of per capita income taken by the government.
In Florida, it's 9.2 percent. That compares favorably to the most expensive state for taxes, Maine, which levies 13 percent. But it's higher than Alaska's 6.4 percent, where the state almost pays residents to live there, making it the state with the lowest tax burden. Nationwide, the average per capita tax is 10.1 percent.
While the Tax Foundation compares states, other variables can affect total tax burden. For example, Tennessee and New Hampshire tax investment income, so those living off their savings could pay a higher percentage than wage earners. And New Hampshire relies heavily on property taxes to pay its bills, so homeowners living off investments might pay less overall by moving to another state.
Other factors could influence your total tax burden, such as age, with many states offering tax breaks to older adults. A state's tax rate for gasoline, cigarettes and liquor could also adjust the total percentage paid by an individual resident.
Each states' tax burden, ranked in order as a percentage of per capita income
1. Maine 13.00%
2. New York 12.00%
3. Hawaii 11.50%
4. Rhode Island 11.40%
5. Wisconsin 11.40%
6. Vermont 11.10%
7. Ohio 11.00%
8. Nebraska 10.90%
9. Utah 10.90%
10. Minnesota 10.70%
11. Arkansas 10.50%
12. Connecticut 10.50%
13. West Virginia 10.50%
14. New Jersey 10.40%
15. Kansas 10.40%
16. Louisiana 10.40%
17. Maryland 10.30%
18. Indiana 10.30%
19. Kentucky 10.30%
20. California 10.30%
21. Arizona 10.20%
22. Michigan 10.10%
23. Wyoming 10.10%
24. Washington 10.00%
25. Iowa 10.00%
26. Mississippi 10.00%
27. Idaho 10.00%
28. North Carolina 10.00%
29. New Mexico 9.90%
30. Illinois 9.80%
31. Georgia 9.80%
32. Massachusetts 9.80%
33. South Carolina 9.70%
34. Virginia 9.70%
35. Pennsylvania 9.70%
36. Oregon 9.60%
37. Colorado 9.50%
38. Nevada 9.50%
39. Montana 9.50%
40. Oklahoma 9.40%
41. Missouri 9.40%
42. North Dakota 9.40%
43. Texas 9.30%
44. Florida 9.20%
45. South Dakota 8.80%
46. Alabama 8.70%
47. Tennessee 8.30%
48. Delaware 8.00%
49. New Hampshire 7.40%
50. Alaska 6.40%
District of Columbia 12.20%
Source CNNMoney, April 11, 2005, Jeanne Sahadi
FL Foreign Buyers Flock to Sunshine State
(July 27, 2005) Foreign buyers are adding fuel to the U.S. housing boom, especially in Florida where they account for a solid 15 percent of all home sales and make up a growing share of real estate practitioners´ business volume.
That´s according to the just-published results of a survey by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, which focuses on sales to foreign buyers in the Sunshine State but also provides general insights on the homebuying preferences of this significant buyer segment.
Of the nearly 1,000 REALTORS® who responded to the May 2005 survey, 87 percent said they completed at least one home sale transaction with a foreign buyer in the previous 12 months. Of those, 66 percent had one to four of such deals; 13 percent had between five and 10; and 10 percent completed 10 or more.
When asked whether home sales to international buyers made up a larger percentage of their business, nearly half of respondents 49 percent said yes. Another 45 percent said their dealings with foreign buyers have remaining about the same, and just 6 percent reported a decline.
While Florida´s international homebuyers came from more than 100 countries in all areas of the world, the majority 58 percent of all home purchases by foreign buyers in Florida were made by Europeans. And more than half of the buyers from Europe are based in the United Kingdom.
Spanish speaking buyers from South and Central America and the Caribbean Islands comprised 29 percent, while buyers from Brazil accounted for 3 percent. There also were buyers from Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, but results for those areas did not yield a large enough sample size to analyze.
For both Latin American and European buyers, the main reason for purchasing a home in Florida was to have rental property for investment. More than a third of Europeans and 23 percent of Latin Americans planned to use the home as a vacation venue. And nearly a third of Latin American homebuyers planned to use the property as a second home for their part-time work in the U.S.
NAR worked in conjunction with the Florida Association of REALTORS® to conduct the survey. Their goal was to fill a gap in formal research on international homebuyers and to better understand why those buyers purchased homes in the United States, what types of properties they bought, and for what purpose.
The full report can be viewed online in PDF format.
REALTOR® Magazine Online
Florida continues to lead nation in job growth
ORLANDO, Fla. Sept. 26, 2005 Florida ranks first in the nation in job growth, with 251,800 jobs created during the year over year period ended in August. The state's 3.6 percent unemployment rate is considerably less than the national jobless rate.
Most Florida jobs were created in the professional and business services sector, leisure and hospitality sector and construction sector. The robust job market and low mortgage rates are partly responsible for the state's housing boom.
Though home sales in Central Florida appear to have peaked, experts believe ongoing job and population gains provide a safeguard against a market collapse. Sales are slowing down, however. During the 12 months ended in July, new-home sales slipped 22 percent in Orange County, 22 percent in Flagler County, 11 percent in Brevard County, 10 percent in Seminole County, 8 percent in both Osceola and Lake counties, and 5 percent in Volusia County.
Source Charlotte SunHerald (FL) (09.23.05) Fishkind, Hank
Florida popular as a place to live nationally and internationally
NEW YORKOct. 4, 2006 A first time public opinion survey asked the question: Where do you want to live? Americans picked Florida as their third favorite state, with North Carolina first and Virginia second. Internationally, Florida ranked No. 2, surpassed only by California.
The Anholt State Brands Index statebrandsindex .com recently looked at the responses of 9,000 U.S. citizens and more than 12,000 foreigners regarding the appeal of all 50 U.S. States. The poll, created by government advisor Simon Anholt and powered by global market intelligence solutions provider GMI, found that American panelists ranked North Carolina and Virginia as the top two states where they would like to live, while neither state made it into the top five of the global ranking.
Foreign panelists ranked the big name states Florida, California and New York in the top five, while home turf panelists reserved the top five slots for some of the smaller name states, such as Colorado and the aforementioned North Carolina and Virginia. In fact, some of the more obvious big names did not make the overall domestic top five, and Florida was the only state to make the top 5 on both rankings.
For instance, foreign favorites California and New York ranked nine and 39 respectively to Americans, while foreign panelists ranked them four and one. In some cases, the foreign panelists chose American states based on misperceptions. Generally, they judged all of New York State, for example, based on the image they had of New York City. And many mistakenly believe that Washington, D.C., is located in Washington State.
The study looked at each states' "brand," or the perception of that state held by residents within the U.S. and throughout the world. It looked at six perception areas: tourism, exports, people, governance, culture and heritage, and investment and immigration. In tallying the total marks for each state, the study finds "a big gap between the megabrands of California, Florida" and the other states. "Hawaii and New York are in the second league of brand power," the report notes, "and then there is another sizeable gap between them and the remaining 46 states."
"The brand images of U.S. states, as a rule, are more up to date, more detailed, and more likely to be based on fact than fiction amongst domestic audiences than overseas respondents," says study author Simon Anholt. "The most noticeable difference between how Americans rank the importance of their states and the way foreigners do so is the presence of Virginia and North Carolina in the U.S. panel's top 10, and their absence from the non-U.S. panels' list. The high domestic profile of these three states probably has much to do with their relevance to American history, which is not as familiar to foreign audiences as it is to domestic ones."
"Brand image is critically important to the prosperity of all communities, yet it is hard to identify, hard to explain, and remarkably hard to alter," says Anholt. "It is critical for the political, cultural, social, educational and business leaders of each state to understand their brand, and to see how potential visitors, investors and future citizens view them. If the image doesn't match up to the reality, they can decide what to do to close the gap."
Top five ranking
Responses of U.S. residents
1. North Carolina
2. Virginia
3. Florida
4. Colorado
5. Oregon
Responses of foreigners
1. California
2. Florida
3. Hawaii
4. New York
5. Washington
The survey was conducted between May 25 and June 12, 2006. A representative sample based on age, gender, and where applicable, geographic region, race and ethnicity, was collected in the United States (9,000 completes) and the top 15 inbound tourism markets (12,410 completes) for a total of 21,410 completes. For further information about the Anholt State Brands Index methodology, visit statebrandsindex .com.
