For the second consecutive year, Flagler County, Fla., registered the strongest growth of any county in the nation, according to the latest Census Bureau estimates.

Located between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach on the Atlantic Ocean, Flagler's housing stock increased by 14.8 percent, or more than 5,000 units between July 1, 2004 and July 1, 2005. During the prior 12-month period, Flagler gained more than 4,000 units, for a two-year total of almost 10,000.

Three other Florida counties -- Sumter, Osceola and St. Lucie -- also were among the ten fastest growing. And as a result, the Sunshine State was the union's fastest growing, gaining more than 247,000 housing units over the July-to-July period.

California was a distant second with a gain of 182,000 units, followed by other warm-weather states Texas with 179,000, Georgia with 98,000 and Arizona with 87,000. over the period.

The Census Bureau counts a housing unit as a detached house, apartment, mobile home or trailer, a group of rooms, and a single room occupied as a separate living quarters, or if vacant, intended for occupancy as separate living quarters. Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live separately from any other individuals in the building and which have direct access from outside the building or through a common hall.

Sumter in Central Florida was the country's second fastest growing county, with an increase of 4,071 units, or 12.8 percent. Osceola near Orlando was fourth with a 9.5 percent increase, or 8,835 units, and St. Lucie on the Atlantic between West Palm Beach and Fort Pierce was ninth, adding 8,890 units, an 8.2 percent gain.

The remainder of the ten fastest growing counties were spread throughout the country.

Pinal, Ariz., between Phoenix and Tucson, was third, adding 10,111 units, for a 10.2 percent gain. Fifth was Franklin, Wash., adding just 1,752 units. But that amounted to a 9.4 percent increase in housing units for the county near the Oregon border near Richland.

Culpeper, Va., a distant Washington, D.C., suburb, was sixth. Similarly, it added a small number of units -- 1,379 -- but it still amounted to a 9.4 percent gain.

Washington, Utah, in the far southwestern corner of the state, was seventh, adding 3,869 units for an 8.6 percent gain. Incidentally, St. George in Washington County was the nation's fastest metro area between April 2000 and July 2005, the Census Bureau said in another report.

Kendall, Ill., in the far western Chicago 'burbs, was the eighth fastest growing county during the 12-month period, adding 2,217 units, for an 8.5 percent gain. And Rockwall, Tex., east of Dallas, was tenth with a 7.7 increase, or 1,575 units.

For the country as a whole, the number of housing units increased by 1.8 million, or 1.5 percent, to a total of 124.5 million during the July-to-July period.

Numerically, the biggest gainers were Mariopa County (Phoenix), Ariz., which added 52,203 units, an increase of 3.6 percent..

Clark County (Las Vegas), Nev., was second with 35,114 new units, a 5.1 percent gain, followed by Harris County (Houston), Tex., which added 33,698 units, an increase of 2.3 percent.

At the state level, four of the five recording the most rapid housing growth were in the West. The Top Five, in descending order, were Nevada, up 4.4 percent; Arizona, up 3.5 percent; Florida, up 3.1 percent; Idaho, up 2.9 percent, and Utah, up 2.9 percent.

Finally, the Census Bureau says that it's worth noting that Nevada's growth was almost three times faster than the country's as a whole.

Published: August 30, 2006

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.