In the first quarter, Orlando was ranked third nationally in the number of permits pulled for the construction of multifamily and single-family developments. In the same three-month period in 2003, Orlando was in fifth place. Las Vegas continues to lead the nation in building permit activity, followed by the Riverside-San Bernardino area in California.

The index is based on the number of permits pulled per 1,000 non-agriculture jobs in metropolitan statistical areas with at least 500,000 employees. In 2000 and 2001, Orlando placed seventh on first-quarter performance.

"The bounce up to the current third-place position further underscores the broad-based nature of improvement in the metro Orlando economy from the relatively soft years of 2001 and 2002," says Dr. David F. Scott, executive director, Dr. Phillips Institute for the Study of American Business Activity, and Phillips-Schenck Chairholder, University of Central Florida.

For the three-month period ended March 2004, metro Orlando generated 8.37 authorized building permits for single and multifamily dwellings when scaled per 1,000 non-farm jobs within the local metro area. "This outcome for Orlando represents a very healthy 27.59% improvement when measured against the 2003 first quarter," Scott says. By comparison, measured against the 2003 first quarter, the top 20 as a group posted an average (unweighted) gain of 14.54%.

"The pervasive and favorable gain across the top 20 reflects both the broad-based national economic recovery and the impetus to that recovery provided by extraordinarily low interest rates available to construction contractors and home buyers," the professor says.

He adds, "Consider that in the 2001 first quarter, which is when the last official recession began, the top 20 as a group posted an average decline in the intensity index of 1.49% compared to the same quarter in 2000."

Both Florida and Texas placed five metro areas among the top 20. North Carolina placed three. In addition to Orlando's third-place finish, the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton corridor occupied the sixth slot. Jacksonville came in eighth, followed by Tampa-St. Petersburg in 14th and Miami in 18th.

"Construction intensity is strong across Florida, which is further evidenced by 21,000 payroll jobs in the industry having been added over the 12 months ended May 2004," Scott says.