By any standard, population growth in Southwest Florida has slowed from the torrid pace of 2000-2006. However, it still ranks near the top when compared to the rest of the country.

The Cape Coral-Bonita Springs-Ft. Myers metropolitan area (Lee County) dropped one spot to the fourth fastest growing metro area while the Naples-Marco Island metropolitan area (Collier County) fell to the 16th fastest growing metro area for the time period 2000-2007.

The rankings are based on the percentage of growth, not the actual number of people. Lee County’s population grew by 33.9% (150,000) and Collier County’s by 25.6% (65,000) from April 2000 to July 2007.

The numbers are not surprising when you look at the overall trend for the entire state, which averaged 350,000 new residents per year from 2000 to 2007. While the state’s forecast for 2008 are for an increase of only 325,000, the Census Bureau data reveals that Florida will rank third in terms of population by 2010 and boast 28.6 million residents by 2030.

Based on these continuing trends in the growth numbers it’s easy to see why Florida real estate will remain in high demand. Buyer’s need to ask themselves if now is a good time to consider getting their dream retirement or vacation home in the Sunshine state. We’d say you have to be crazy not to answer “Yes,” and that you’ll be sorry if you sit around and wait for the bottom to drop out of the market.

Tags: growth, markets