Where does your local market rank on our list of top 75 local housing markets, ranked from healthiest to weakest?
The answer will depend on several variables. To rank these markets, Builder magazine worked with Hanley Wood Market Intelligence to examine population trends and job growth,the perennial drivers of housing demand. We also considered how home prices have fared during the downturn. And finally, we considered the ratio of building permits to population, which may be the single best ongoing indicator of builder confidence in a market.
The results of these metrics were combined to produce a score for each market.
Last week, we previewed the 15 weakest markets. These markets were decimated by an unprecedented combination of job losses, falling home prices, and rising foreclosures. They will probably be among the last to recover from the downturn.
The week before, we highlighted the 15 “healthiest” markets. While only a handful are growing, these markets nonetheless exhibit positive attributes,and in some cases, even home price appreciation. They are likely to be among the first to recover from the downturn.
This week we add the list of the markets in the middle, the ones that comprise the center of the bell curve. At the top of this list, in markets 16 to 30, you’ll find metro areas that have benefited from strength in energy and agriculture, along with markets that didn’t go wild and crazy during the boom. Toward the end of the list, in positions 45 to 60, you’ll find more markets reeling from falling home prices and foreclosures, many of them located in California and Florida.
16. Columbus, Ohio
2008 Total Building Permits: 4407
Columbus is another one of those Midwestern markets where home prices never got out of hand. As a result, the median price of an existing home declined only 5.5 percent last year to $139,300. Population has been growing steadily, at a one percent annual clip for the last five years. Job growth has been slow but steady, too, though employment levels last year were just a little better than flat from 2007, even with gains in health care and education. Permit levels, unfortunately, declined 31.6 percent. Fischer Homes bought Centex’s land position last year to enter the Columbus market, and NVR re-entered the market with a bang, buying up lots from Beazer.
Busiest builders: M/I Homes/Showcase Homes, Dominion Homes, Lifestyle Communities, Village Communities, Centex Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Columbus, Ohio Local Market page.
17. Oklahoma City, Ok.
2008 Total Building Permits: 4036
Strength in the energy sector of the economy led to an increase in jobs (7,300 jobs or 1.3 percent of the workforce) in OK City last year, continuing a four-year trend. That, in turn, helped prop up median home prices, which fell only 5 percent last year to $128,100. Population growth has been steady here, too, growing 1.3 percent over the last five years. The local home builders association last year launched an advertising program to tout Oklahoma City’s strength relative to the national market.
Busiest builders: Home Creations, Ideal Homes of Norman, Rausch Coleman Homes, D.R. Horton, Bridgeport Development. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Oklahoma CIty, Ok. Local Market page.
18. New Orleans, La.
2008 Total Building Permits: 4769
New Orleans is steadily recovering from Hurricane Katrina, which devastated its population and housing, with a strong assist from the energy and tourism industries. The metro areas recorded the 7th fastest job growth on the list last year, adding 10,500 jobs, a 2 percent growth rate. That helped prop up the median price of an existing home, which held steady last year at $160,500. Even so, permit levels dropped 32 percent.
Busiest builders: Landcraft Homes, Willow, Inc., JBL Homes, Southern Homes, Conbeth. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's New Orleans, La. Local Market page.
19. Minneapolis, Minn.
2008 Total Building Permits: 5674
Minneapolis has been steadily adding population, about 1 percent a year. Existing home prices dropped 10.3 percent in the last year to $202,000, close to the national median. The metro area had been slowly adding jobs since 2005, but the situation took a decided turn for the worse in the fourth quarter of last year. By December, there were 42,000 fewer jobs than in the 4th quarter of 2007. A big local builder, M.W. Johnson, filed for bankruptcy protection last year.
Busiest builders: Lennar Homes, Centex Homes, D.R. Horton, Hovnanian Enterprises, Pulte Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Minneapolis, Minn. Local Market page.
20. Portland, Ore.
2008 Total Building Permits: 7698
Median home prices dropped only 9.0 percent in the fourth quarter of last year to $264,500, not bad for a land-constrained western market. Portland continues to attract people from higher-cost West Coast cities; its population has grown 9 percent in the last five years. A pattern of very strong job growth ended last year, though, when it shed 18,000 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Two major builders, Renaissance Homes and Legend Homes, went out last year.
Busiest builders: West Hills Development, JLS Custom Homes, Polygon Northwest Company, Matrix Development, D.R. Horton. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Portland, Ore. Local Market page.
21. Charleston, S.C.
2008 Total Building Permits: 4947
Permits were only down 25 percent last year in this great place to live, which has been growing its population at a 2 percent rate over the last five years. Though it lost jobs last year, it had been steadily producing them for the previous three at well above the national average. The median price of an existing home here is $206,700, just about the national average, and it has held fairly steady in the last year, falling just four percent.
Busiest builders: Centex Homes, Beazer Homes, The Ryland Group, KB Home. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Charleston, S.C. Local Market page.
22. McAllen, Texas
2008 Total Building Permits: 3628
McAllen may have the least expensive housing of any top 75 market. The median price of a home there, a paltry $78,100, fell only 1.6 percent last year. The market has been adding population at 3 percent a year, well above the national average, and it continues to add jobs—6,500 in the last year, or 3.1 percent of its employment base, tops on the list of 75 markets. Most of the new jobs were in health care and education. Single-family permits account for 85 percent of the action here.
Busiest builders: Casa Linda Homes, Obra Homes, Landmark Valley Homes, KB Home, D.R. Horton. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's McAllen, Texas Local Market page.
23. Philadelphia, Pa.
2008 Total Building Permits: 10,527
Permit activity hasn’t fallen in Philadelphia like it has in other markets; it was down 22 percent last year, and it’s down only 50 percent from its peak in 2003. Median home prices declined just 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter, much better than national averages. It helps that the city has one of the lowest foreclosure rates, according to RealtyTrac. Philly added 28,000 jobs between 2006 and 2007, then gave them all back in the fourth quarter of last year, when employment was running 36,000 behind the same period a year before.
Busiest builders: Ryan Homes, T.H. Properties, Orleans Homebuilders, Pulte Homes, Toll Brothers. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Philadelphia, Pa. Local Market page.
24. Kansas City, Mo.
2008 Total Building Permits: 5431
On an annual basis, Kansas City managed to eke out some small job growth last year. Its population has been growing 1 percent annually over the last five years. The median price of an existing home is an affordable $144,200, and it’s only fallen 5.9 percent in the last year. Permits are evenly split between single-family and multifamily.
Busiest builders: McBride & Son Enterprises, Rodrock Homes, Kansas City Homes, Rob Washam Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Kansas City, Mo. Local Market page.
25. Atlanta, Ga.
2008 Total Building Permits: 19,034
Atlanta has fallen a long way from its peak of 74,000 permits in 2004. Last year’s 57 percent drop in permit activity was particularly steep. Existing home prices fell, too, to a median of $149,500, a 13.1 percent decline. The self-proclaimed capital of the south had been adding a ton of jobs until last year, when it registered a small decline. Even so, Atlanta remains the 4th largest home building market in the country.
Busiest builders: D.R. Horton, Pulte Homes, Atreus Homes & Communities, Bowen Family Homes, KB Home. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Atlanta, Ga. Local Market page.
26. Omaha, Neb.
2008 Total Building Permits: 4524
Strong and steady, Omaha continues to plug along at a decent clip, powered by strength in the agricultural sector of the economy. The market continues to produce jobs, despite the national recession. The market never over-heated—the median price for an existing home is still an affordable $135,200, down only 2 percent in the last year. Permit levels declined only 9 percent last year.
Busiest builders: HearthStone Homes, Celebrity Homes and Townhomes, West Dundee Development, Triton Homes, Hogan Construction. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Omaha, Neb. Local Market page.
27. Chicago, Ill.
2008 Total Building Permits: 16,126
Chicago has fallen a long, long way from the 53,908 permits it generated in 2005, all the way down to 16,126 last year, a 70 percent decline. Job growth, which had been relatively strong from 2004 to 2007, turned sharply negative in the fourth quarter of last year. Hanley Wood Market Intelligence expects the area to shed an additional 54,000 jobs this year. Median home prices plummeted 16.6 percent in the fourth quarter of last year to $217,800, sending them back to pre-2003 levels. Locally based Pasquinelli/Portrait Homes recently announced that it had suspended home building.
Busiest builders: D.R. Horton, Shelbourne Development Group, Del Webb, Town & Country Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Chicago, Ill. Local Market page.
28. Columbia, S.C.
2008 Total Building Permits: 4352
Home prices have held steady in Columbia, testament to the high desirability of living here. They fell a scant 1.1 percent in the last year, to a median price of $145,000. Job growth had been really strong until the second half of last year, when the local economy began to contract. Permit activity may be only half of what it was in 2005, but that’s a better performance than many markets.
Busiest builders: Firstar Homes, Essex Homes, The Mungo Companies, NVR Homes, D.R. Horton. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Columbia, S.C. Local Market page.
29. Richmond, Va.
2008 Total Building Permits: 4970
Richmond, the capitol of Virginia and home to several major colleges, has a lot going for it, including modest annual job growth. Median home prices came in at $229,200 last year, a decline of only 1.9 percent, though they weakened in the fourth quarter. Permits fell 29 percent last year to 4970, compared to a high-water mark of 9,832 in 2005. Eighty percent of the permits here are single-family.
Busiest builders: NVR/Ryan Homes, Centex Homes, Prospect Homes, Eagle Construction, Main Street Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Richmond, Va. Local Market page.
30. Orlando, Fla.
2008 Total Building Permits:10,284
Orlando is the top-rated metro market in the otherwise decimated state of Florida. Why? Because it produced a ton of jobs, 120,000, between 2005 and 2007, before giving 19,100 back in the fourth quarter of 2008. Median home prices, $167,800 in the fourth quarter of last year, have retreated to 2003 levels. With 10,284 permits last year, a 46 percent annual decline, Orlando is the 15th largest home building market in the country. Canadian home builder, Mattamy Homes, recently began operations here.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Orlando, Fla. Local Market page.
31. Phoenix, Ariz.
2008 Total Building Permits: 17,558
Phoenix finishes slightly above average on our list, in part because it remains the 5th largest housing market in the country, even after a monumental fall from nearly 70,000 permits pulled in 2005. Existing home prices retreated 25.7 percent for the year to a seemingly affordable $191,300, though they ran much lower in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared to the year before, speaking to future declines. A metro area of 4.4 million, Phoenix has averaged a four percent increase in population over the last five years. After recording huge job gains in the middle part of the decade, the area lost jobs last year. In December, there were 86,000 fewer jobs compared to the same period a year earlier. Sensing bargains to be had, Investors have descended on Phoenix looking for land deals.
Busiest builders: D.R. Horton, Pulte Homes, Taylor Morrison, Lennar, Shea Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Phoenix, Ariz. Local Market page.
32. Pittsburgh, Pa.
2008 Total Building Permits: 3477
Pittsburgh, though never a large market for home building, has held up better than most during the housing downturn. Home to 2.3 million people, the metro area continues to add jobs to a diversified economy. Regularly appearing on lists of the best places to live, Pittsburgh sports a very affordable median home price of $118,400, down a scant 1.9 percent in the last year. Permit levels only reached 6,856 in 2004; they are down 49 percent from that peak.
Busiest builders: NVR/Ryan Homes, Heartland Homes, S&A Homes, AR Building Co., Hovnanian Enterprises. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Pittsburgh, Pa. Local Market page.
33. Las Vegas, Nev.
2008 Total Building Permits: 12538
Las Vegas shows up near the top of consumer-oriented lists of weak housing markets. That’s because a very high foreclosure rate—second highest in the country, according to RealtyTrac--is driving down home prices. Median home prices fell 26 percent for the year, but the decline accelerated rapidly in the fourth quarter, when median prices dropped to $190,000, down $100,000 from the same period in 2007. Even so, Las Vegas remains a huge market for builders—the 9th largest last year—even at one-third the size it was in 2005. The area only lost a couple thousand jobs last year, much better than other major markets, thanks to continued strength in the gaming industry. Astoria Homes, at one time the largest private builder in L.V., announced last month that it was going into hibernation until the market improves.
Busiest builders: D.R. Horton, Lennar, Rhodes Homes, KB Home, Richmond American Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Las Vegas, Nev. Local Market page.
34. Birmingham, Al.
2008 Total Building Permits: 3,455
The housing downturn had been relatively easy on Birmingham until the last quarter of 2008, when permits fell 36 percent and the area lost 10,000 jobs, nearly 2 percent of its workforce. Honda and Mercedes Benz are large employers here. Median home prices had barely budged until the fourth quarter of last year, when they tumbled by 13.3 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. Hanley Wood Market Intelligence forecasts a median home price of $126,300 for 2009, below 2003 levels. Price declines have been driven by weakness in the economy rather than foreclosures, which aren’t a real problem here. Signature Homes recently scored a huge success with “antique reproductions” that looked like they were built in the 1920s.
Busiest builders: D.R. Horton, HPH Homes, Thornton Homes, Signature Homes, The Builders Group of West Alabama. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
35. Central New Jersey
2008 Total Building Permits: 5412
A large number of colleges and universities help stabilize this region, which includes Edison, Trenton, and Princeton. The population is still growing, even as job losses mount—there were 21,000 fewer jobs in December 2008 and than in December 2007. Permits declined only 28 percent last year. Median home prices, $365,100 in 2008, fell only 4.4 percent for the year, better than the national average.
Busiest builders: K. Hovnanian Homes, Lennar, Centex Homes, Hallmark Homes, Toll Brothers. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Central New Jersey Local Market page.
36. Baltimore, Md.
2008 Total Building Permits: 5,577
An affordable alternative to neighboring Washington D.C., Baltimore experienced only a modest 4.2 percent decline in the median price ($274,100) of a home last year. The primary industries here are health care (Johns Hopkins Health and Medstar), government ( Ft. Meade), and education (Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland), sectors that have fared better than others during the downturn. Housing activity in this metro area of 2.67 million is roughly half of what it was in 2005. But permit levels fell only 12 percent last year, much better than most markets.
Busiest builders: Ryan Homes; Ryland Homes; Turner Development; Struever Brothers, Eccles & Rouse; K. Hovnanian Enterprises. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Baltimore, Md. Local Market page.
37. Virginia Beach, Va.
2008 Total Building Permits: 5114
The Virginia Beach MSA, which also includes Norfolk, Newport News, and Chesapeake, produced 5114 building permits last year, a little less than half of 2005 levels. Home to several military installations, including the Norfolk Naval Station, which employs 65,000 people, the area continues to add jobs--10,725 last year, a 1.4 percent growth rate. As a result, median home prices have held their own. They declined only 3.7 percent last year to $236,300.
Busiest builders: The Dragas Companies, Chesapeake Homes, Centex Homes, Lennar, Franciscus Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Virginia Beach, Va. Local Market page.
38. New York— Long Island
2008 Total Building Permits: 43,379
Until late last year, the New York City— Long Island region appeared shielded from the housing recession. The crisis hit in the fourth quarter: Employment in December was running 95,300 jobs below levels of the prior year. Median home prices fell 6.9 percent for the year to $437,500, back to late 2004 levels, though they dropped much more rapidly in the fourth quarter. Hanley Wood Market Intelligence forecasts that only 15,700 permits will be pulled in 2009 in the multifamily sector, which accounts for the vast majority of activity here.
Busiest builders: Hovnanian Enterprises, HRH Construction, WCI Communities, The Beechwood Organization, Pinnacle Communities. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's New York—Long Island Local Market page.
39. Northern New Jersey
2008 Total Building Permits: 4,389
This market, consisting of the Newark-Union area, was holding up extremely well until the second half of last year, when things came unglued. The job market experienced its sharpest downturn in several years—6,000 jobs were lost. Foreclosure activity more than doubled in the Newark area last year. Population growth has been stagnant for several years due to a high cost of living; the median price of a home here declined 14.3 percent in the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier, finishing at $417,000 for the year.
Busiest builders: Brookland Partners, Garden Homes, Toll Brothers, Roseland Property Company, Matzel & Mumford.
Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
40. Boston, Mass.
2008 Total Building Permits: 7,477
Another New England market that had been faring well until lately, Boston nosedived in the latter part of 2008 as permit levels dipped by 26.6 percent for the year. Home to the mutual funds Putnam and Fidelity, the area reported 19,700 fewer jobs in December, compared to the same period a year earlier. Median home prices in Boston, one of the most expensive places to live, dropped 8.9 percent for the year to $360,500, a level that hasn’t been seen since 2003.
Busiest builders: Richmond American, Symes Associates, Northland Residential, Toll Brothers, Gallo Builders. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Boston, Mass. Local Market page.
41. Sarasota, Fla.
2008 Total Building Permits: 1973
Sarasota is a shadow of the home building market it was in 2004, when builders in this metro area of nearly 700,000 people pulled 14,496 permits. Permit levels have fallen 86 percent since then; they were down 26 percent last year alone. The area has been losing jobs since late 2006, after some big gains in the three years before that. Median home prices of $160,000 in the fourth quarter of last year stood 35.2 percent below 4Q 07 levels.
Busiest builders: Lennar, Neal Communities, Gibraltar Homes, Taylor Morrison, Demorgan Communities. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Sarasota, Fla. Local Market page.
42. Boise, Idaho
2008 Total Building Permits: 2872
Formerly high-flying Boise, which produced 11,549 building permits in 2005, could only muster 2872 last year, a 75 percent decline. The metro area also lost jobs last year, 3,600, after gaining 35,000 over the previous three, with many of the cuts coming in the technology sector—Micron Technology and Hewlett-Packard are big employers here. Existing home prices tumbled in the fourth quarter to a median of $168,800, down 14.7 percent year over year, due in part to the 15th highest foreclosure rate in the country.
Busiest builders: CBH Homes, Hubble Homes, Sun Country Homes, Westminster Homes, Stetson Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Boise, Idaho Local Market page.
43. Bakersfield, Calif.
2008 Total Building Permits: 2400
Record-high foreclosures drove down home prices by 38 percent in the fourth quarter last year compared to a year earlier, reaching a median of $155,000. New home prices fell during the period, too, but only to $240,000, leaving builders at a big competitive disadvantage. Permit activity in Bakersfield, with the third highest foreclosure rate in the country, is down 73 percent from 2005 levels. It fell 35 percent last year, even as the metro area, home to Edwards Air Force Base and China Lake Naval Station, managed to add 3,000 jobs. A weak market for new home sales forced Ennis Homes to recently file for bankruptcy protection.
Busiest builders: Lennar, K. Hovnanian Homes, McMillin Homes, Castle & Cooke California, S&S Homes of the Central Coast. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Bakersfield, Calif. Local Market page.
44. Greensboro, N.C.
2008 Total Building Permits: 3296
Greensboro is one of the few major markets that managed to add jobs last year—3400 all told. Its population also continued a steady upward climb, growing by 1.7 percent as people were drawn to the area by a mild climate and an affordable housing stock. Nevertheless, home builders pulled back substantially, taking down only 3296 building permits, a 34 percent reduction from the year before. Declines in existing home prices, which averaged $145,300 for 2008, accelerated in the fourth quarter.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Greensboro, N.C. Local Market page.
45. St. Louis, Mo.
2008 Total Building Permits: 5661
Population and employment in St. Louis, home to 2.84 million people, have barely increased during the last five years. Existing home prices finished the year at an average median price of $133,200, down 8 percent from 2007, but a steep decline in the fourth quarter points to continued weakness this year. Meanwhile, builders are pulling permits at one third of 2004 levels. The lack of activity led Taylor-Morley Homes, a long-time local builder, to close its doors last year.
Busiest builders: McBride & Son Enterprises, Centex Homes, Whittaker Homes, Fischer & Frichtel, T.R. Hughes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's St. Louis, Mo. Local Market page.
46. San Diego, Calif.
2008 Total Building Permits: 5132
The housing recession hit San Diego early, leading several national builders to pull out. Things didn’t get any better last year, when permit activity fell another 31 percent. San Diego, which has never been a big producer of jobs, given its population of 3 million, is now losing them (5,100 last year, or 0.4 percent of its workforce), a decline that accelerated rapidly in the fourth quarter. The median price of an existing home here, $385,600, is high and has declined 34.5 percent in the last year alone.
Busiest builders: William Lyon Homes, Standard Pacific Homes, Pardee Homes, Fieldstone Communities, Shea Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's San Diego, Calif. Local Market page.
47. Salt Lake City, UT
2008 Total Building Permits: 4084
Salt Lake City, a metro area of 1.13 million, is still gaining jobs, 5,600 last year, but at nowhere near the 22,000-to-27,000 level that it did for the previous three years. Housing prices have held firm here as a result, declining only 1 percent to a median of $229,600 last year. Permit levels in Salt Lake City, which produced 9,243 in 2005, fell 35 percent last year. The slowdown in Utah home building is becoming one of the worst in state history, according to a recent report.
Busiest builders: Ivory Homes, Richmond American Homes, Fieldstone Communities, Woodside Homes, Hamlet Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Salt Lake City, UT Local Market page.
48. Milwaukee, Wis.
2008 Total Building Permits: 2,487
Milwaukee, a city of 1.55 million people, could produce only 2,487 building permits last year, a little less than half of what it mustered in 2005. The metro area has barely added any population in the last five years, and now it’s losing jobs—6,300 last year. Even so, home prices held pretty firm last year, dropping only 5 percent to $212,300, though the decline accelerated in the fourth quarter.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Milwaukee, Wis. Local Market page.
49. Riverside, Calif.
2008 Total Building Permits: 9062
Riverside— San Bernardino is a poster child for the housing downturn. Once one of the top 3 busiest housing markets in the country—it produced 51,000 permits in 2004 and in 2005—activity has fallen more than 80 percent since then due to a sky-high foreclosure rate (third highest in the country last year, with 8 percent of properties receiving notice of a filing, according to RealtyTrac) and deflating home values. Median home prices fell an astounding 38.6 percent last year to $234,200, and fourth quarter results indicate they could be off an additional 17 percent next year, according to Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Busiest builders: Standard Pacific Homes, D.R. Horton, KB Home, Lennar, Shea Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Riverside, Calif. Local Market page.
50. Tampa, Fla.
2008 Total Building Permits: 9528
For a while, the Tampa market was holding up better than most Florida markets because it continued to produce jobs. That has stopped in the last two years. Last year, the metro area lost 20,300 jobs, a 1.6 percent decline, and the 11th largest percentage job loss among the top 75 markets. That has led to a free fall in median home prices, which declined 18.9 percent last year to $169,500.
Busiest builders: Lennar, Beazer Homes, KB Home, Morrison Homes, Florida Home Partnership. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Tampa, Fla. Local Market page.
51. Fort Myers, Fla.
2008 Total Building Permits: 1602
Fort Myers lost more jobs last year on a percentage-basis, 4.7 percent, than any of the 75 largest home building markets. Existing home prices here are in an absolute free fall; they dropped 37.9 percent in the last year to a median of $158,200, and fell at an even faster rate during the fourth quarter, thanks to the highest foreclosure rate in Florida. The Fort Myers-Cape Coral area used to produce 29,330 housing permits. Last year, it recorded a mere 1,602, one of the biggest percentage declines in the nation.
Busiest builders: KB Home, Prime Homebuilders, Lennar, Taylor Morrison, Centex Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Fort Meyers, Fla. Local Market page.
52. Orange County, Calif.
2008 Total Building Permits: 3455
Orange County was holding up pretty well in the housing downturn, until last year, when permit levels fell by 53 percent. Median home prices, which averaged a whopping $533,200 last year, are falling as well; 23.8 percent in the last year. A center for the banking industry, Orange County has lost a ton of jobs, roughly 35,000, in the last two years due to the financial crisis. The 29,300 jobs it lost last year, a decline of 1.9 percent, put it on the top 10 list of job losers. The county last year stopped collecting impact fees until projects are completed.
Busiest builders: Lennar, Windstar Communities, William Lyon Homes, John Laing Homes, Brookfield Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Orange County, Calif. Local Market page.
53. Colorado Springs, Colo.
2008 Total Building Permits: 2,064
With a big military presence—the Air Force Academy, Peterson Air Force Base, and Fort Carson are all located here—Colorado Springs continues to add jobs, even last year, when it gained 900, an increase of 0.3 percent. As a result, existing home prices held pretty steady through most of 2008, then dropped 11 percent on a year-over-year basis in the fourth quarter, still better than many markets. Even so, builders pulled a paltry 2,064 permits here last year, down 36 percent in one year, and the lowest level since 1991. Expansion plans at Fort Carson could help stabilize the market eventually.
Busiest builders: Journey Homes, Pulte Homes, Classic Homes, Richmond American Homes, Today’s Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Colorado Springs, Colo. Local Market page.
54. Louisville, Ky.
2008 Total Building Permits: 3671
A metro area of 1.25 million, Louisville has been adding population at a 1 percent annual rate for the last five years. It had been steadily adding jobs, too, until last year, when job growth was flat. As a result, permit levels here haven’t declined as much as they have other places—they are running 58 percent below 2004 levels. The area benefits from very affordable housing; median prices declined only 3.8 percent last year to $132,200.
Busiest builders: Ball Homes, McBride & Son Enterprises, Dogwood Homes, Dominion Homes, Five Star Development. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Louisville, Ky. Local Market page.
55. Memphis, Tenn.
2008 Total Building Permits: 3121
Permit levels in Memphis, which held pretty steady from 2005 through 2007, fell precipitously last year—61 percent—as the area lost 4,600 jobs, after gaining jobs each of the previous three years. Even so, this transportation hub enjoys quite affordable housing; the median price of an existing home stood at $119,300 last year, a 13 percent decline from the previous year.
Busiest builders: Kalian Companies, Faxon Gillis Homes, Chamberlain & McCreery, Lenox Homes, Perennial Building Group. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Memphis, Tenn. Local Market page.
56. Albuquerque, NM
2008 Total Building Permits: 2555
Permit activity fell sharply in Albuquerque last year, 43 percent in one year, as job growth halted. Existing home prices held their own, falling only 3 percent in one year to $192,600. The population has been growing at nearly a 2 percent annual rate over the last five years, a trend that continued through last year. Home to Kirtland Air Force Base and the University of New Mexico, the market is girding for the arrival of several new large high-tech employers, including Hewlett Packard and defense contractor L-3 Communications Applied Technology Division.
Busiest builders: D.R. Horton, Pulte Homes, KB Home, Beazer Homes, Artistic Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Albuquerque, NM Local Market page.
57. Jacksonville, Fla.
2008 Total Building Permits: 6949
Jacksonville lost 5,300 jobs last year, 0.8 percent of its employment base, many of them in the construction industry, as building permit levels declined 36 percent. Median existing home prices fell only 8.1 percent in 2008 to $180,600, a decline that was moderated in the fourth quarter. The housing market has been buoyed by steady population gains, which have averaged 2 percent annually over the last five years. The two biggest employers here are military bases.
Busiest builders: KB Home, D.R. Horton, Pulte Homes, Lennar Homes, Richmond American Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Jacksonville, Fla. Local Market page.
58. Tucson, Ariz.
2008 Total Building Permits: 3370
Permit activity fell 40 percent last year as the Tucson area shed 9,200 jobs, 2.4 percent of its workforce. Median home prices dropped 16.5 percent to $204,300, slightly above the national average. The area has benefited from annual population growth in the 2-percent range over the last five years. But it started losing jobs last year. It had 15,700 fewer in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the same quarter a year earlier, a 4.1 percent rate of decline.
Busiest builders: Meritage Homes, Richmond Homes, D.R. Horton, Lennar, Pulte Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
59. Los Angeles, Calif.
2008 Total Building Permits: 11,593
Only 11,593 permits were pulled in Los Angeles last year, a market area of 4,033 square miles, a 55 percent decline over 2004 levels. Existing home prices fell 32.3 percent last year to a median of $402,100, leaving L.A. high on the list of the least affordable places to live in the country. The population here hasn’t increased in the last five years due to the high cost of living. Los Angeles lost 17,800 jobs last year, after some pretty heady growth the previous three years. The rate of job loss doubled in the fourth quarter.
Busiest builders: Lennar, Intracorp Southern California, Montage Development, KOR Realty Group, Forest City West. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
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60. Cincinnati, Ohio
2008 Total Building Permits: 4145
The good news is that employment in this metro area of 2.15 million held steady, and that and Cincinnati continues to outperform other Ohio cities in population growth. The bad news is that permit levels slid precipitously last year. They are now running at a third of 2005 levels. Median home prices finished the year at $131,800, only a 6.4 percent drop over the previous year, but they accelerated rapidly in the fourth quarter. The metro area is suffering from job losses in housing and auto manufacturing.
Busiest builders: The Fischer Group, NVR/Ryan, The Drees Company, Beazer Homes, M/I Homes. Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
Get local housing data and more on Builder's Cincinnati, Ohio Local Market page.