by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Though the housing market in Northeast Florida continues to be as sluggish as the overall economy, the winner of the highest-profile race in the recent Jacksonville elections has an eye toward improving both during his tenure as Jacksonville’s next mayor.
Jacksonville Mayor-elect Alvin Brown, a Democrat, defeated Mike Hogan, a Republican, in the May 17 general election after heavily campaigning on his goals of job creation and improving education among others. He’ll begin his four-year term July 1 during a time when news isn’t as encouraging as industry leaders would like.
A recent MSN.com report ranked Jacksonville 6th of 15 in cities where “homes are still plummeting” with prices forecasted to continue dropping. April housing statistics provided by the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors showed a year-over-year 8.8 percent decline in pending sales. In its most recent report, CoreLogic HPI, a provider of information, analytics and business services, showed home prices in Jacksonville, included distressed sales, declined by 12.6 percent in March 2011 compared to March 2010 and 11.6 in February 2011 compared to February 2010.
The figures are not isolated to Northeast Florida, but Brown believes his administration will be able to help curb such trends with its policies.
“Northeast Florida is still struggling with distressed property sales outpacing non-distressed property sales,” said Brown. “The key to reversing this trend is job creation by attracting, maintaining and growing businesses here in Jacksonville, which will be a top priority.
“I also believe improving our public education system is critical, as that will help attract new employers and businesses to Duval County and good schools will keep more residents from shopping for homes in neighboring communities.”
Job creation, he said, is the biggest item his administration can achieve to spur the market. Combined with Northeast Florida’s relatively low cost of doing business, ideal location and other natural and fostered assets will promote job growth, he said, which will lead to financial security and potential new homebuyers.
Brown’s victory was slim – he won by 1,662 votes, less than 1 percent of the almost 193,000 votes cast. Hogan had more support in certain industries, including real estate and homebuilding. Both the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors and Northeast Florida Builders Association supported Hogan during the elections, yet despite the lack of support before the election, Brown said he has reached out to members of both organizations and business leaders “to work together in planning for a stronger city and brighter future.”
“Through our transition process we have made a strong effort to bring the best and brightest of Jacksonville together, regardless of where they were during the campaign,” he said. “Our transition team includes leaders from all the other major campaigns, including members of the building community.”
Another of Brown’s campaign rallying points revolved around one of Northeast Florida’s more dormant housing markets: Downtown Jacksonville. Brown said he wants to increase the number of people who live Downtown from around 2,000 to at least 10,000 in his first few years in office. The key to doing so, he said, lies in overall economic recovery and attracting businesses to relocate there to add to the 51,000 employees who work in the district.
At a time when businesses of all styles are diversifying their assets to remain alive, Brown said he sees Downtown as an opportunity for the housing market.
“I do think that Realtors should look to Downtown as a potential untapped market as more businesses relocate there,” he said. “We need to make Downtown a great place to live, work and visit.”