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23 over 300 jobs. Due to cost, logistics, and tax advantages, Georgia is very competitive with other states when it comes to landing economic development projects. Many companies move to Georgia to cut costs. These advantages bore fruit in 2012- 20. That is partially because Georgia made several strategic shifts in its economic development strategy, including the elimination of sales and use taxes on energy used in manufacturing, and a greater emphasis on workforce training as an economic development policy. Job training programs and new highly specialized workforce training centers will increase the supply of highly skilled workers thereby attracting businesses with high-paying jobs. Overtime a workforce centric approach towards economic development should raise both productivity and per capita incomes. Legislation has made Georgia more competitive, but Georgia will have to be very aggressive in closing the right deals. Georgia should target industries that expand the economic base and have good potential for long-term growth. Georgia must invest strategically and grow clusters in areas ranging from biotechnology to advanced manufacturing. The focus should be on innovation-based companies. Of course, Georgia must also make sure that its statutory incentives remain competitive – the statutory incentives help to get Georgia short-listed by site selection professionals. Then, only after Georgia is short-listed, do those critical deal-closing incentives come into play. A review of economic development announcements issued by the Office of the Governor and the Georgia Department of Economic Development indicates that economic developers are closing many deals in industries in which the state has the ability to produce at a low opportunity and marginal costs – comparative advantage. Specialization in activities where Georgia has comparative advantage bodes well for sustained success of the companies that received incentives thereby enhancing the prospect for long-term economic growth. Logistics, transportation, distribution, warehousing, information technology, cyber security, transactions processing, headquarters operations, floor coverings, automotive parts, food processing, and professional and business services are good examples of industries where Georgia competes effectively. Housing Market Conditions Despite COVID-19, Georgia's home building industry did well in 2020 and is likely to rise higher in 2021. Sales of new and existing homes, permits to build new single-family homes, permits to build new multi-family homes, and home repair and renovation activity will increase. Home price appreciation will continue, but it will slow. Increases in demand for housing will stem from low mortgage rates, job growth, and population growth. In addition, investors will be active. Persistent low inventories of homes for sale ensure that the increased demand for housing will boost new single-family and new multi-family home building. The Terry College's 2021 forecast for the US and Georgia calls for continuing recovery from the COVID-19 recession. New jobs and slightly bigger inflation-adjusted paychecks will give households the wherewithal to buy homes. Mortgage rates will be very low in 2021. The outlook for the homebuilding industry therefore is good. Housing and real estate development will be a driver of Georgia's economy. The number of single-family home starts for new construction will increase by 19% and new multi-unit homebuilding will increase by 6 percent. Georgia gets a five for one from the housing recovery because (1) home builders and realtors benefit directly and (2) demand increases nationally for goods produced by Georgia's large floor covering, building materials, and forestry industries. Plus, (3) our large transportation and logistics industry benefits from higher levels of activity in construction – a very transportation intensive activity. In addition, (4) recent and continuing increases in US home prices will make it even easier for companies and people to relocate to Georgia. Finally, (5) the home equity generated via home price appreciation will boost small business formation and expansion as well as consumer spending. Georgia's housing market is responding to a more favorable balance of supply and demand. Increased demand for housing will come mostly from economic recovery and low mortgage rates. Those new jobs, and slightly bigger paychecks – plus appreciating home values – will give people the wherewithal, and the confidence, to buy homes. As of mid-2020, Georgia's existing home prices were 23 percent higher than prior to the Great Recession peak. The year- over-year – 2020 Q2 compared to 2019 Q2 – increase was 4.5 percent. The degree of home price recovery varied widely within the state, however. For example, on average, existing home prices in the Atlanta MSA were 29 percent higher than their pre-Great Recession peak level. In contrast, the price of an existing home in rural Georgia was only 8 percent above its pre-Great-Recession peak value. Home price appreciation will continue through 2021, but home prices will rise more slowly than in 2012-20. Home prices appreciation is critical to the outlook for homebuilding