While national housing starts climbed back to the highest pace of the year in August, the housing industry on the First Coast continues to outpace last year’s record setting performance.
“Locally builders in the Jacksonville area remain confident about the market and are keeping up with strong demand for single-family homes and condos,” said Roger Day, local builder and president of Orange Park-based Rosewood Homes. “The key is here managing production schedules carefully and having buyer support from our diverse economy, where we are not relying on one sector or industry.”
In the Jacksonville MSA (Duval, Clay, Nassau, St. John Counties) there were1,169 permits issued compared to 1,158 in August 2003. Year to date the Jacksonville market has issued 9,492 single-family permits compared to 8,642 through August 2003, according to the Department of Commerce.
Nationally, single-family building permits are up by 10 percent on a year-to-date basis. In Northeast Florida every county is above the number of permits issued in the first eight months of 2003. (See chart)
There were 11,976 total permits issued last year in the four local counties and 10,473 in 2002. The area is on pace for another record year in residential construction with 9,492 permits being issued through August.
“The market has been buoyed by a healthy combination of strong demographics, improving employment and income growth and a downshift in long-term interest rates,” Day said. “Anyone talking about a local housing bubble should look at the fundamentals that are in place and see that the residential market is extremely sound. The only negative may be the recent bad weather”
Nationally, the 2-million-unit pace in August matched the pace set in March and was 0.6 percent above July’s upwardly revised rate of 1.988 million. Total housing starts were up by 10.4 percent on a year-to-date basis.
For the month, single-family housing starts increased 0.4 percent to a pace of 1.667 million. This was an 11.6 percent increase over the August 2003 pace. Multifamily housing starts increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 333,000 units, 1.5 percent above the July pace, but 2.3 percent below a year earlier.
“Starts are likely to slip a bit in the fourth quarter as interest rates firm up, but it‚s now clear that single-family home production will hit a new annual record in 2004,” according to a National Association of Home Builders release.
Construction of new homes and apartments increased across all regions but the West for the month. The West decreased 4.7 percent in August following a surge in new construction the month before. The Northeast increased 6.5 percent, the Midwest increased 4.8 percent and the South increased 1.0 percent for the month.
Single-family permit issuance decreased by 3.0 percent and multifamily permits were down 13.8 percent from the July pace.
JACKSONVILLE MSA
CLAY COUNTY
August 254
July 288
YTD 2004 1,901
YTD 2003 1,890
2003Total 2,313
2000 Total 2,042
DUVAL COUNTY
August 464
July 553
YTD 2004 4,362
YTD 2003 3,919
2003 Total 5,646
2002 Total 5,147
NASSAU COUNTY
August 82
July 132
YTD 2004 918
YTD 2003 504
2003 Total 1,005
2002 Total 883
ST. JOHNS COUNTY
August 369
July 306
YTD 2004 3,707
YTD 2003 2,308
2003 Total 3,012
2002 Total 2,401
MSA
(Combined Total)
YTD 2004 9,492
2003 Total 11,976
2002 Total 10,473
SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau