Florida’s Housing Market Remains Strong

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that Florida businesses had the fastest annual private-sector job growth rate of the 10 most populous states in July. For the 52^nd consecutive month, Florida’s annual job growth rate of 3.3 percent is exceeding the nation’s rate of 1.9 percent. Governor Scott also announced that July home prices were higher across the state than a year ago.

Governor Scott said, “We work every day to make Florida a national leader in job growth and I am proud to announce today that our private-sector job growth rate has once again surpassed all other large states in July. Florida’s housing market is also continuing to thrive, which means more families are choosing our state as the best place to live their dreams. We will continue to do all we can to help create new opportunities across Florida to make our state first for jobs.”

Florida created 232,000 jobs from July 2015 to July 2016, continuing to exceed Texas’ 134,000 jobs created in the same period. This is the 15^th consecutive month that Florida has created more private-sector jobs over the year than Texas. In July, Florida had the strongest over-the-year job growth rate in the nation for the manufacturing industry, growing by 3.4 percent. Since December 2010, 1,160,700 private-sector jobs have been created in Florida. The state’s unemployment rate remained at 4.7 percent in July, the lowest rate since November 2007. The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes last month was $223,238, up 11.6 percent from the previous year’s median price of $200,000.

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Cissy Proctor said, “This is great news for our families, and I am proud that Florida once again leads the nation’s largest states in job creation. It’s also no surprise that our housing market continues to grow as more than 1,000 people move to our state every day. We have an incredibly qualified, highly skilled talent pool and by making strategic investments and tax cuts, the Sunshine State continues to create opportunities for Florida’s families to thrive.”

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