Continued business expansion and employee relocation are just two of several factors that again put the Tampa home market in the NAHB Improving Markets List for September 2012. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), in partnership with First American, analyzes improvements in housing permits, home prices and employment rates in metro markets across the U.S. for at least six consecutive months. A total of 99 metro areas made it to the list, 19 areas more than that in the previous list.
Tampa posted an increase rate of 1.9% in building permits over the period from February 28, 2009, an increase rate of 8.3% in home prices over the period from March 31,2011, and an increase rate of 4.3% in employment over the period from January 31, 2010.
Eleven metro areas in Florida made it to the list and here is how the areas ranked based on growth in building permits:
| 1. Cape Coral | 4.9% |
| 2. North Port | 4.8% |
| 3. Miami | 4.2% |
| 4. Orlando | 3.8% |
| 5. Crestview | 2.7% |
| 6. Pensacola | 2.5% |
| 6. Sebastian | 2.5% |
| 7. Palm Bay | 2.1% |
| 8. Tampa | 1.9% |
| 9. Punta Gorda | 1.5% |
| 10. Deltona | 1.3% |
Here’s how the eleven Florida metro areas ranked based on growth in home prices:
| 1. Sebastian | 17.5% |
| 2. Cape Coral | 14.0% |
| 3. Deltona | 10.2% |
| 4. Tampa | 8.3% |
| 5. Palm Bay | 8.2% |
| 6. Miami | 7.4% |
| 7. Punta Gorda | 7.0% |
| 8. Crestview | 3.8% |
| 9. Pensacola | 3.6% |
| 10. North Port | 2.3% |
| 11. Orlando | 1.0% |
Based on employment growth, the eleven metro areas ranked as shown below:
| 1. Tampa | 4.3% |
| 2. Orlando | 3.9% |
| 3. Crestview | 3.2% |
| 4. Cape Coral | 3.1% |
| 5. Sebastian | 3.0% |
| 6. Miami | 2.4% |
| 7. Punta Gorda | 2.3% |
| 8. North Port | 1.9% |
| 9. Pensacola | 1.3% |
| 10. Palm Bay | 0.8% |
| 11. Deltona | 0.7% |
It is to the credit of business enterprises and government and nonprofit leaders in the Tampa Bay region that Tampa posted the biggest rate of improvement in employment among the 11 cities. More and more Tampa Bay companies, big and small, have been expanding their operations and hiring more employees, as more and more out-of-area companies have also been relocating to the Tampa Bay area.
Among recent businesses that expanded their operations or have relocated to the Tampa area are the following:
Heat Pipe Technology (HPT), division of Berkshire Hathaway’s MiTek — relocation
Novation Cos. — expansion
Xcelience LLC — expansion
Air Culinaire — relocation
Epicurean Hotel — developed by owners of Bern’s Steak House and Mainsail Lodging in partnership with Marriott
Florida has the second biggest number of metro areas included in the NAHB September 2012 list. It lost two cities, Jacksonville and Lakeland, which made it to the previous list. Texas populated the list with 15 improving metro markets, including its more popular cities, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, College Station, Amarillo and Abilene.
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