Analyst: New jobs boost market in Orlando

As the nation enters a new year skirting perilously close to recession, Metropolitan Orlando surpasses other areas of the state in the strength of its real-estate market, one of the state’s top private economists said Monday.

Orange County is probably tops in Florida among the 33 counties studied because of a nice mix of “fast-growing industries, such as tourism, health care, education and defense manufacturing,” Orlando economist Hank Fishkind said in an analysis for the Attorney’s Title Insurance Fund.

“It’s the strongest, in part, because of job creation,” Fishkind said of Orange, the largest county in Metro Orlando, which also includes Seminole, Osceola and Lake.

His report predicts that Lake will see the bulk of the metro area’s home starts, more than doubling from 1,213 in 2007 to 2,905 in 2008. That rebound, he said, is mainly because the market skidded to a halt so fast last year.