State of Housing and Economic Study of Escambia County

For the first time in their history, the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, the Home Builders Association of West Florida, Inc. and the Pensacola Association of Realtors hosted a joint meeting for the purpose of providing a forum for a presentation by Dr. Rick Harper. The three business groups jointly commissioned Dr. Harper to perform a study of the Escambia County housing industry.  Dr. Harper was commissioned by the Home Builders Association to do a similar study in 2015 for Santa Rosa County.

With dozens of slides, Dr. Harper showed the vital signs of the national, state and local economies and then keyed into Escambia County housing.  It is his opinion that the housing market is very strong with demand outstripping supply.  He believes the economy is on sound footing for the next few years when the baby boom generation will slow down its migration to coastal counties like Escambia.  A slowdown in the early 2020’s is likely, but a bust like we witnessed in 2008 is not expected because there has not been in a boom like there was pre-2008.  In fact, we are just now getting back to the long-term trends in housing prices.

A copy of Dr. Harper’s presentation is available here.