In the years 1950 through 2008 Florida grew by more than 125,000 residents every year. But, for the year April 2008 through 2009, Florida lost residents for the first time in over 61 years. Last year's population decline, a result of the economic slump, was the first since 1946, when military personnel left the state at the end of World War II. It seems as if that slump has come to an end after just one year.
In the latest report from April 2009 to 2010, Stan Smith, director of The University Of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, estimates that Florida added a modest 21,000 residents between 2009 and 2010. "At the state level, foreign immigration continues to be relatively strong, and the state also continues to have substantially more births than deaths, which are really the drivers of Florida's growth in the last year," Smith says.
While population growth isn't the only factor that can affect housing prices, it is certainly a positive sign that the Florida market is stabilizing. The largest population gains were in some of the biggest counties. Miami-Dade led by adding an estimated 8,253 residents, followed by Hillsborough, 6,353, and Broward, 5,834.
Steve Eckhardt, Broker, Luxury Real Estate Professional
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