Housing Market Slows in Hernando County

Florida’s housing market fell - and subseqently, its unemployment rate rose - slightly last month, but the pattern in Hernando County was much more pronounced.

The Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI) announced in a media release Friday the state’s unemployment rate for June was 3.5 percent, up 0.1 percent from May.

By comparison, the rate jumped from 4.6 to 5.4 during the same span in Hernando County, according to the same agency.

“We tend to trend higher than the state,” said Hernando County Business Management Director Mike McHugh.

“Something like this is exacerbated in a county where there’s more construction, particularly residential construction.”

The Florida housing market has suffered in the last year.

Because most homes take 12-16 months to build, changes in the unemployment rate usually become noticeable a year after the market begins its decline, because of the impact on the area home builders.

“The fewer the houses, the less activity there is in the housing market,” he continued. “Now we’re starting to see the effects in our workforce.”

McHugh also said the numbers are an indication of what the local job market is going to look like in the future, as Florida mortgage demand has stayed tepid.

Hernando County is not the only one being affected by the slumping housing industry. Pasco County unemployment rose from 3.9 percent to 4.5 percent. In Citrus County, it jumped from 3.7 percent to 4.6 percent in that span.

McHugh said the trend is affecting everyone in the housing workforce, from laborers to Florida mortgage brokers to appraisers and engineers.

On the plus side, Florida added more than 38,000 jobs in that time period, mostly due to gains in education and health services.

It also has the lowest unemployment rate of the 10 most populous states in the country and continues to remain a full percent below the national average (4.5).

SOURCE: Hernando Today