Resurgence in Construction Permits and Real Estate Fuel Bounce Back in April

Tallahassee, FL – The Tallahassee Economic Index (TEI), a local economic growth indicator, released numbers ending April 2019. Following a 4.42 point slip in March, the Index saw a 5.15 point accretion from 44.96 to 50.10 in April.

“Tallahassee’s economy continues the positive trend that has prevailed for most of this year, pushing the index higher in three out of the last four months. It is now competing for the best start to a year since 2016. Airport Traffic and Lumber/ Building Supplies Sales continue to please, both have been on a tear seeing multiple months of seasonally adjusted growth” said TEI Founder Brett F. Ewing. “Despite having the lowest YoY growth rate since 2016 Median Sales Prices of Existing Homes helped fuel this month’s rebound by growing more than four percent compared to April of last year.”

“The TEI bounced right back in April & continued its momentum in what is turning out to be a very nice year of accelerating growth for the capital city.” Said Lance Mitchell, Director of Research at the TEI. “New construction permits has been trending up all year, but April marked its strongest month, almost doubling from this time last year. Realtor sales surged, increasing over 20% YoY, proving lower mortgage rates can spark demand and stopping a worrying trend of declines in that category. As we head into the Summer months, we feel it’s important to see this trend endure if we expect growth to continue its acceleration into the back half of the year.”

• Airport Traffic dipped 3.30 percent from last month, and continued its ascent moving up 4.19 percent from one year ago
• New Construction Building Permits grew 27.45 percent MoM, and 85.71 percent YoY
• Median Sales Prices of Single Family Homes gained 4.42 percent from March, and compared to April of last year
• Initial Claims for Reemployment Assistance went up 16.74 percent MoM, and slipped 16.47 percent YoY