For the last 15 years there has been a sign along I-4 near Auburndale that reads “future site of downtown Orlampa.” Many a driver has probably smirked at the idea that this rural area had any future, let alone tying together two fast-growing Florida cities. Today, the I-4 corridor is the fastest growing region in Florida. Over 8 million people live here, and, in a non-pandemic year, it hosts 60 million visitors annually.
As residential land has become scarce in Orlando and Tampa, Polk County has benefited. By land area, Polk is the fourth largest in Florida, and when ranked by new-home closings, Polk County ascends to second with 6,473 annual closings for the 12 months ended June 30, 2021. This was only behind the 7,516 closings in Hillsborough County (Tampa). Closings grew by 25.9% in Polk County versus falling by 0.5% for Hillsborough when comparing the annual rate as of Q2 2021 versus Q2 2020. When looking at new housing starts, Polk County had 7,716 starts over the last 12 months still second to Hillsborough County with 8,563 starts. However, new-home starts grew by 45.8% over the last year in Polk County versus 20% in Hillsborough.
The allure of Polk County is affordable housing. Take a look at the average new-home price over the last year by county:
- Polk County: $271,000
- Orange County: $453,000
- Osceola County: $339,000
- Lake County: $337,000
- Hillsborough County: $350,000
- Pasco County: $351,000
Compared with any of the neighboring counties, Polk County is the most affordable along the I-4 corridor. The three biggest of the Zonda buyer segments in Polk County are: entry-level suburban (19%), family life with young children (15%), and simple life moderate income with children (13%). The county appeals to every buyer segment, and pre-retirees with no children account for 14% split evenly between two segments: moderate and affluent households. The active-adult segments collectively represent 12% of the buyers.
As the I-4 corridor has grown in importance for distribution centers, job growth has followed. While, on average, Florida has recovered about 75% of the jobs lost from pre-pandemic levels, Polk County has recovered 109% of the jobs lost during the pandemic. More people are working in Polk County today than in March 2020.
With continued above-average job prospects, the best affordability in Central Florida, and available land, Polk County is well positioned to see continued growth in the future.
