In the late 2000s, leaders in the Western media became aware of what they termed “ghost cities” all throughout China. Numerous pieces of journalism, clickbait, and documentaries were published about these fascinating, haunting, and mysterious locations – devoid of human life. Much consternation and even criticism was levied against the towns, but it appears the planners in multiple locations may have the last laugh. Chenggong, oft referenced for its 100,000 empty apartments is now an active suburban town.
Utilizing absolutes can be extremely dangerous when making prognostications. After three years of “unprecedented” pandemic-related occurrences, many analysts incorporating definitive verbiage into their forecasts have been proven misguiding. Few practices, outside of maths, physics, or perhaps to some extent symbolic logic, can safely characterize terms in the rigid, settled, irrevocable language.
“Unprecedented.” The pandemic and reactions to it have encouraged writers and news anchors to broadcast this term far and wide and, while perhaps folks have tired of the term, it often is the most apt descriptor across events and industries. After three years of never-before-experienced phenomena, a host of mistakes in response have been made that hamper our future, whether under or over-procuring some goods, lack of training skills across necessary industries, and, especially in the case of this piece: underbuilding of living spaces.
Over a year ago, Farm Credit of Central Florida published a state-level real estate review and, in so doing, echoed lyrics from crooner Tracey Lawrence. Somehow his music continues to ring true, but instead of “Time Marches On” (which it still does), more fitting for this update might be “If the World Had a Front Porch.” Why? Well, because in today’s write-up the central point is that many Americans do not have a porch, more specifically a house at all, and it is not getting much easier to find one.
It might seem the US housing market is turned every which way but loose – overcrowded yet underbuilt, unaffordable but still at “historically low” mortgage rates, perhaps even a “softening" market while at record prices. In prior real estate analyses, Farm Credit of Central Florida has highlighted the market volatility across the country. Read the latest report from our Economist on America’s Real Estate Marketing in Flux.
The following report is intended to be a momentary snapshot of the broad business sectors which comprise the membership of the Florida Nursery, Growers, and Landscape Association (FNGLA), as well as a tool to help others to understand and get a better picture of this overarching industry. Throughout the following pages some terms will be used interchangeably, especially “green industry” and
FLORIDA POPULATION GROWTH EXCEEDS NATIONAL RATE
• Over the last five decades, Florida’s net population increase has provided as much as 14.4% and no
less than 9.3% of the entire country’s growth.
• The Central Florida region has expanded at a faster rate than the state consistently since the 1950s,
and that is forecast to continue through 2040.
