Anna Lukyanova

This year we are celebrating 50th Daytona 500 race that will take place this Sunday, February, 17th 2008.

When the race week comes to town, everyone gets excited... Well almost everyone, except for those who don't like extra noise and influxof tourists and therefore of traffic. Now truth to be told, you don't have to be at the races to see a real NAS-CAR. Here are some pics I took of a race car that was parked right outside of our local grocery store. How do you like that?

So don't be surprised when you see the NASCAR fans and famous people/ celebrities rolling into town to see the event. Welcome! And Enjoy!

Anyone looking to move to Florida and specifically Daytona Beach area usually has the same questions.

Do people like coming to this area and how fast the population is growing?

What's the level of the income here?

Is it hard to get a job here?

Who are the major employers?

What are the average home prices and their trends?

Well to answer a few, here are a few stats from http://www.eflorida.com

Below are the Current population Growth projections for Florida and Volusia County

Make your own conclusions if it will be easy for you to get a job here by looking at the Major Private Sector Employers in Volusia county:

The following are the annual median sales price for existing houses sold by real estate agents in Volusia and Flagler counties. The price for June was $197,100, down from $219,900 in May 2006.

• 2007: $203,600
• 2006: $219,900
• 2005: $204,400
• 2004: $157,800
• 2003: $131,300
• 2002: $109,768
• 2001: $96,770
• 2000: $88,300
• 1999: $84,500
• 1998: $79,000
• 1997: $75,500
• 1996: $75,200

SOURCE: Daytona Beach News-Journal

I hope these stats will be helpful or at least be entraining when it come to making a decision to move to Daytona Beach area. You can interpret these stats any way you want. Here is my take on it:

Even thought the average income in Volusia county is lower than the average income in the whole state of Florida, it doesn't differ by much. Also, when you take into consideration our average home prices here and other areas like Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami, it's not too shabby living near the ocean in the beautiful Daytona Beach.

What's your take on it?