All articles tagged with #sun belt
Breeze Airways will add Birmingham, Alabama, and Tallahassee, Florida, as part of a 17-route expansion, offering two nonstop flights from each city to Fort Lauderdale and Raleigh-Durham in July.
December 2025 saw a record 47% more home sellers than buyers in the U.S., shifting negotiating power to buyers. The Sun Belt led buyer markets while the Northeast and Midwest were dominated by seller markets; Dallas posted one of the largest seller surpluses. National prices rose only 0.1% as mortgage rates eased, potentially attracting more buyers in January.
In 2025, several states experienced higher inbound migration, with Washington, DC, and Hawaii leading, driven by factors like affordability and job opportunities, while the Midwest remained less popular for movers. The Sun Belt continues to attract many, despite overall low migration percentages across the US.
The US housing market is diverging into two distinct regions: the Sun Belt and Mountain West are experiencing falling prices and increased inventory due to reduced migration and demand, while the Midwest and Northeast remain strong with tight inventories and rising prices, reflecting broader shifts in migration, labor market, and affordability trends post-pandemic.
The Sun Belt Conference has voted to invite Louisiana Tech to replace Texas State, which is moving to the Pac-12, maintaining the Sun Belt's 14 football schools and reflecting ongoing conference realignment in college sports.
The article discusses the uneven impact of Trump's tariffs and manufacturing revival efforts, highlighting how Sun Belt towns like Gainesville, Georgia, are benefiting from new factories and job growth, while traditional Rust Belt communities like Weirton, West Virginia, face challenges due to industry decline, automation, and global competition, illustrating that economic recovery is not uniform across regions.
A U.S. Government Accountability Office report reveals that Atlanta has the highest share of investor-owned single-family rental properties among major U.S. cities, with 25% of the market. The report highlights the significant role of institutional investors in the Sun Belt region, particularly following the 2007-08 financial crisis. Critics argue that such investments contribute to rising rents and home prices, though the report's findings on these impacts are inconclusive. The report calls for further analysis to understand the effects on homeownership and tenant conditions.
Gerad Parker, the offensive coordinator for Notre Dame, is set to become the next head coach at Troy University. Parker, who has previous coaching experience at Purdue, Penn State, West Virginia, and Duke, has a similar background to the successful past coaches at Troy. He will replace Jon Sumrall, who recently left for Tulane after winning back-to-back Sun Belt titles. Parker's hiring is seen as a result of his experience as an offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator. This marks the second football hire for Troy's athletic director, Brent Jones. Notre Dame will now need to find its third offensive coordinator in three years.
James Madison quarterback Jordan McCloud is named the Sun Belt Player of the Year, while Troy running back Kimani Vidal and James Madison defensive lineman Jalen Green are named Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively. App State quarterback Joey Aguilar is named Newcomer of the Year, Arkansas State quarterback Jaylen Raynor is named Freshman of the Year, and James Madison head coach Curt Cignetti is named Coach of the Year. James Madison, Troy, and App State lead with double-digit All-Sun Belt honorees. The Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship Game will take place on December 2nd.
Terry Bowden has been fired as the head coach of the Louisiana-Monroe football team after three seasons. The decision comes after a disappointing 2-10 season and a lack of success in conference play. Bowden, who previously coached at Auburn and Akron, had a record of 10-26 overall and 5-19 in Sun Belt play during his tenure at Louisiana-Monroe.
Real estate investors purchased 48.6% fewer homes in Q1 2023 than a year earlier, with major U.S. cities, including some in Florida, seeing investor home purchases plunge over 50%. The report shows declining rents and housing values continue to eat at investors' profits, causing them to pump the brakes as interest rates rise. Investors who are still in the market are gravitating toward more affordable properties such as starter homes with 1,400 or fewer square feet, up 37.2% from last year.
Despite a rise in mortgage rates and an inventory squeeze, many real estate markets in the South are still seeing strong demand from home buyers, with the five hottest housing markets in the US all located in the Sun Belt. The Southeast's comparatively affordable prices are attractive to buyers moving in from more expensive parts of the country, but the still-strong values create challenges for first-time buyers. Conversely, the three "coldest" housing markets and metro areas in the US ranked by Bankrate were Chico, Calif., Shreveport-Bossier City, La., and Medford, Ore.
Coastal Carolina dominates Southern Miss in a 15-7 win, taking the first blow in the Sun Belt showdown. The win could determine who ends up hosting out of the conference. Derek Bender shines again, and Coastal Carolina scores three runs in the third, three in the fourth, and six more in the sixth to take down the Golden Eagles.
Census Bureau data shows that six of the top 10 largest-growing counties in the US in 2022 were in Texas, with Maricopa County, Arizona being the largest gainer. The shift in money, people, and power to the Sun Belt, propelled by COVID, is continuing even as the pandemic eases. Big cities lost fewer residents last year as more immigrants moved in, while the suburbs of big cities and small and medium-size metropolitan areas continued to claim most of the country's growth.