I might have a little more to say about the 3rd quarter Economic Monitor prepared by Armstrong Atlantic State University’s Center for Regional Analysis, directed by economist Michael Toma, but things are getting better in the local economy. Given the rebounds in tourism and port traffic and given the visibly significant degree of new developments in the greater downtown area, it’s not surprising that employment data are looking strong.
And then there’s housing.
I’ve been writing for years about the correlation between residential investment and economic improvement. For about 5 years, we’ve faced a quandary: housing is crucial to an economic recovery, but we didn’t need to invest in new housing since we got so overbuilt during the boom.
But take a look at this graph from the latest Economic Monitor:
We would ordinarily expect a slowdown in single-family starts in the 4th quarter, but we might not see that this year.
The current level of new home construction is pretty close to where we should be in light of ordinary historical trends.
Click here for Mary Mayle’s coverage of the newly released Economic Monitor.
Click here to read the entire Economic Monitor on Armstrong’s site.