Summer might be just around the corner, but for the area's housing market, the heat is already here.
Builders in Flagler pulled permits to start 326 new homes, including 126 in March, the most in a month since May 2006 and most in a quarter since the second quarter of 2006.
Their counterparts in Volusia pulled permits for 522 new homes, including 169 in March, the most for a first quarter since 2007.
Housing starts so far for the year are up 57.5 percent in Flagler and up 50 percent in Volusia compared to the first three months of 2017, a year that saw the most new homes started in both counties since 2006.
"I am not surprised," said Mori Hosseini, chairman and CEO of Daytona Beach-based ICI Homes, the Volusia-Flagler area's largest homebuilder. "The economy is finally reviving in Volusia County."
Hosseini at the end of last year predicted that the number of new homes started in 2018 would rise to 3,000, up from just over 2,000 last year in Volusia County. On Thursday, he said he stands by that prediction.
"We believe Volusia County is on its way to recovery, but we're not there yet. Even at 3,000 permits, that's less than 50 percent of what it was during the peak of the last building boom (in 2005). ... We're gaining people but it's anemic growth. We're not growing at the pace of the rest of the state."
ICI currently has 150 homes under construction in Volusia and Flagler counties, up from 100 the same time a year ago, Hosseini said. Those housing starts include 60 at in ICI's Plantation Bay community, which straddles both Volusia and Flagler counties west of Interstate 95, and 20 at its new Mosaic "full life" community off of LPGA Boulevard, west of the Florida Tennis Center, which held a grand opening this past weekend for its model homes.
Minto Communities last week sold its 300th home at the new Latitude Margaritaville 55-and-older community now going up on the north side of LPGA Boulevard, just west of the I-95/LPGA interchange, confirmed Bill Bullock, Minto senior vice president.
Minto, which plans to build 6,600 homes, began accepting deposits in November. The first residents moved in last month.
"We're starting nine new homes a week and we're contemplating eventually going up to 12 a week, based on current sales," he said.
Bullock estimated that there are currently 130 to 140 homes under construction at Latitude Margaritaville, which upon full buildout will stretch from LPGA Boulevard north to State Road 40.
"In the last 45 days, it's really ramped up," he said of the construction activity at the Jimmy Buffett-themed community. "There's an army of subcontractors out there."
Here's a look at the latest building permit numbers for new homes, and the year-over-year percentage change, for both counties.
VOLUSIA COUNTY
March 2018: 169 (+28.0%)
March 2017: 132
First quarter 2018: 522 (+50.0%)
First quarter 2017: 348
FLAGLER COUNTY
March 2018: 126 (+88.0%)
March 2017: 67
First quarter 2018: 326 (+57.5%)
First quarter 2017: 207
SOURCES: Volusia Building Industry Association (courtesy HBW Inc.); Flagler Home Builders Association