Torrid population growth rates in Sun Belt metropolitan areas from Florida to Arizona, Nevada and California have slowed amid a severe downturn in the nation's housing market, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Census Bureau data released today.
"It's really a slowdown in places with superheated housing markets that were almost out of control in terms of their growth," says William Frey, demographer at the Brookings Institution. "It reflects the rapid response to angst of getting financing in those areas. People are becoming much more risk-averse, much more conservative about moving."
The new data, covering July 1, 2006, to July 1, 2007, show that domestic migration in the USA has slowed. Even among the 10 fastest-growing large counties, nine registered slower growth than the previous year.
Stan Smith, director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida, attributes cooling growth to the housing bubble burst, the broader economic slowdown and, to a lesser extent, skyrocketing home insurance rates.
Housing crisis cools migration - USA Today - March 20, 2008
Population surge fuels county’s growth - Village Daily Sun - March 25, 2008
Broward losing population for first time in history - South Florida Sun-Sentinel - March 20, 2008
Lee growth continues - News-Press - March 20, 2008
As Florida's Fastest-Growing Counties Grow, So Grows Polk - The Ledger - March 20, 2008
Southwest Florida still growing, just not as fast - Naples Daily News - March 20, 2008
Growth rate ebbs in Florida, area - Sarasota Herald-Tribune - March 20, 2008
Orlando-area population rises despite slump - Orlando Sentinel - March 20, 2008
Population growth high in suburbs - Florida Times-Union - March 20, 2008