- April 16, 2024
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From January to April 2011, there were 43 single-family permits pulled in Flagler. This year: 67.
Several years ago, new homes were being built at a dizzying rate as Palm Coast was the fastest growing city in the country, but when the economic downturn struck Palm Coast, new construction abruptly stopped. What once was the norm became a rarity.
However, according to recent data, the worst could be over. More and more new construction permits are being pulled, City Councilman Jason DeLorenzo said Monday.
From January to April 2011, there were 43 new construction permits in Flagler County. Over the same four-month period this year, there were 67 permits pulled — a 56% increase.
Most of the permits are being pulled by Seagate/Bellagio, DeLorenzo said.
He said builders are seeing more customers from the Northeast, such as New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
“I don’t know if that has something to do with the confidence in the market,” he said. “A lot of these are cash buyers, so maybe their retirement savings have recovered to a point where they are comfortable.”
Another possible explanation, DeLorenzo speculates, is that the cost to buy a foreclosed home and pay for the rehab process might end up being more expensive than new construction — especially since prices remain at an all-time low.
“The existing homes available are the bottom of the heap, and to get those homes livable, it takes a lot of money,” DeLorenzo said. “It makes new construction viable again.”
Mortgage prices are below 3%, compared to 6% and 7% during the boom.
“Maybe it’s just time for us to get going,” he said. “We’re a desirable place to live, so there’s going to be natural growth.”
DeLorenzo, who lives in the P-section, said he drives home on Pine Grove every day. Over the last nine months, DeLorenzo said, he has seen five homes go from sitting vacant, to being rehabbed, then out on the market, to people living in them — either renters or homeowners.
“It was great to see each house get a facelift and now have people living in them,” he said. “I thought it showed a trend that we were moving in the right direction.”
Palm Coast No. 3 in foreclosures in U.S.
Palm Coast is ranked No. 3 in the United States in foreclosure rate, according to numbers released last week by Foreclosure-Response.org.
Palm Coast’s foreclosure rate of 16.6% is the third-highest among metropolitan areas. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach is the state’s leader, at 18.9%. Port St. Lucie came in second at 16.7%.
