Commercial PropertySouth"s Rising Again with Four of Top Ten Hottest Building Markets
The building trend is definitely hotter in the warmer, southern states. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, four of the 10 counties with the highest growth in the number of housing units are in Georgia, while three are in Florida. Other top ten counties were located in Virginia, Arizona, and Idaho as the only Midwestern state, with one top ten county each.
The estimates cover the July 1, 2003 to July 1, 2004 period and show the four Georgia counties to be Henry (ranking fourth), Newton (fifth), Paulding (ninth) and Fannin (10th). Henry, Newton and Paulding counties are located in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta metropolitan area. Fannin is situated along the border with Tennessee and North Carolina.
First on the list was Flagler, Fla., where the number of housing units increased 13.9 percent. The two other counties in Florida that made the top 10 were St. Lucie, ranked seventh, and Sumter, eighth. Rounding out the top 10 were Madison, Idaho (second); Loudoun, Va. (third); and Pinal, Ariz. (sixth).
The Census Bureau says that the U.S. had an estimated 122.7 million housing units as of July 1, 2004. That represented an increase of 1.7 million, or 1.4 percent, since July 1, 2003. The increase since Census Day (April 1, 2000), was 6.8 million, or 5.8 percent.
But with a national population of 296,677,326, that"s one housing unit for every two people. The U.S. gains population at the rate of one person every 11 seconds, or about 2.5 million people a year. At the current rate of building, new products are about even with population growth, at a little under one housing unit for every person.
The population of the U.S. has nearly doubled since 1950, or less than one percent a year.
Maricopa (Phoenix), Ariz., was the biggest numerical gainer among counties, adding 45,000 homes over the period. It was followed by Harris (Houston), Texas; and Clark (Las Vegas), Nevada, which gained 38,000 and 35,000 units, respectively.
At the state level, four of the five states that had the most rapid housing growth are located in the West: Nevada (first with a growth rate of 4.5 percent), Arizona (second at 3.0 percent), Utah (third at 2.6 percent) and Idaho (fifth at 2.5 percent). Florida, with a 2.5 percent increase, ranked fourth.
Florida topped the list of the states adding the highest number of housing units, gaining nearly 200,000 homes over the period. Following Florida were:
Texas (173,000)
California (169,000)
Georgia (89,000)
Arizona (70,000)