New home building unexpectedly rebounded across the country last month as builders increased their housing starts to a 583,000 annual pace from a record low of 477,000 set in January.
The Commerce Department reported March 17 that starts of new homes in the South jumped 30 percent last month compared to the month before, but they were still 44 percent below home starts in the South one year ago.
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More Orlando companies expect to add to their workforce than cut jobs in the second quarter of 2009, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. That’s a reversal of the outlook for the first quarter, reported in December.
Seventeen percent of companies interviewed plan to add workers from April to June, while 12 percent expect to reduce payrolls. Another 68 percent expect to maintain current levels, and 3 percent aren’t sure.
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Orlando area home sales grew 28 percent in February, but values fell 34.8 percent, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.
Association members sold 1,219 existing homes last month, which compares to 951 sold in the same month a year prior. Orlando Realtors also reported a total of 4,348 homes under contract — considered an indicator of future sales activity — in February, nearly double the 2,175 pending sales in February 2008.
Full story:Four retailers signed lease deals totaling more than 8,000 square feet at Uptown Altamonte over the past two months, bringing the center to 99 percent occupancy.
Two new franchised restaurants replaced similar but separate franchises that left the 25-acre Altamonte Springs mixed-use center. Shane’s Rib Shack in February signed a 10-year deal for 3,080-square-foot space left vacant by another Shane’s. Cold Stone Creamery also signed a five-year deal in January for 1,533 square feet left vacant by another Cold Stone Creamery.
Full story: http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2009/03/02/daily48.html?ana=e_du_pubA Denver firm has been on a buying spree in the Orlando area — even though it announced last month it’s selling 33 million square feet of its industrial sites nationwide.
Between December and February, real estate investment trust ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) bought four parcels totaling 67 acres in southeast Orlando’s Beltway Commerce Center for nearly $46.6 million, said Orange County records.
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Allegiant Air LLC has announced that its February passenger count increased 10.9 percent over the same period in 2008.
The Las Vegas-based carrier, a major player at Orlando Sanford International Airport, reported that its scheduled service registered 361,778 passengers last month, up from 326,159 passengers in February last year.
The low-cost carrier also reported that its load factor increased substantially in February to 90.2 percent, up from 86.4 percent the year before.
