The recent Florida Realtors Real Estate Trends summit had great speakers including Dr. Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Forecasting. Dr. Snaith said, “We’re in the 11th year of the U.S. economic recovery – the longest economic recovery in U.S. history – and there are no indications that’s going to end any time soon.”

“Florida’s economy is doing even better than the national economy as a whole and it has been since 2012. Our unemployment rate is down to 3.3%. Florida’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) continues to grow faster than the U.S.’s GDP, and our job growth rate is almost twice the national rate. Florida’s population growth is solid – the birth rates are better than the death rates, so we’re making new residents faster than we’re losing them.”

Another great speaker was Florida Realtors Chief Economist, Dr. Brad O’Connor. He agreed with Dr. Snaith and said he anticipates a robust outlook for the state’s housing market. He said, “Overall, I think we can expect to see a similar amount of price appreciation over the coming year, at about 4%, and I think we’ll see a similar amount of growth in closed sales for 2020 at about 4%.”

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