After being hit early and hard by the Great Recession, Florida rebounded in 2013 to lead the nation in economic growth, fueled by an increased demand for housing. Better housing prices, in turn, have boosted consumer confidence among Floridians to its highest level since the recession began in 2007.
"Looking forward, Florida will extend its lead over the national economy over the next several years," said University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith, in a newly released "Florida & Metro Forecast 2014-2017."
Snaith predicts that housing and construction will continue to propel the state's economy for the next few years.
Consumer confidence among Floridians, meanwhile, rose three points in March to 81, according to a University of Florida survey. That puts the index at the high end of a year-long plateau.
The state's consumer confidence index is now "as high as we have achieved since before the recession began in December 2007," said Chris McCarty, director of the university's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.
[W]hen the national recovery officially began in June 2009, Florida was slow to start and for several years lagged behind the nation as a whole, he added. But now the momentum has swung in the opposite direction.
Low inventories of homes for sale, coupled with rising house prices, have triggered a surge in home construction, [according to Snaith]. The median price for an existing Florida single-family home hit $165,000 in February, a 10% increase from a year ago.
Read more at Herald-Tribune.com . . .
Read more at Herald-Tribune.com . . .
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