Issuers in the Southeast sold $96.74 billion of municipal bonds in 2024, up $30.47 billion from the preceding year, according to LSEG data.
The region's 46% year-over-year volume gain surpassed the nationwide 33.1% increase, which brought overall muni volume to a
The Southeast increase followed a 4.8%
"The Southeast continues to grow in population albeit at a somewhat slower rate than before the pandemic," said John Hallacy, president of John Hallacy Consulting LLC. "Housing supply is a constraint. There continues to be a pressing need for new infrastructure."
Regional volume peaked in the third quarter, when Southeast issuers sold $27.6 billion of bonds; the first quarter was the slowest at $18.4 billion. Volume was up particularly in the third and fourth quarters compared to the national trends, with the regional 67.8% increase in the third quarter from Q3 2023 comparing to the 44.6% national increase and the 30.4% regional increase in the fourth quarter from Q4 2023 comparing to the 20.7% national increase.
State by state
Florida was the biggest origin of issuance, with $27.49 billion in 2024, more than doubling its 2023 numbers.
Alabama was the second biggest source of bonds, bringing $13.57 billion, an 81.9% increase over 2023. It was followed by Georgia with $10.63 billion, Virginia with $9.96 billion and South Carolina with $7.23 billion.
In Florida the biggest sector increases were for transportation, increasing about $7.1 billion to $9.4 billion; healthcare, increasing about $2 billion; and education, increasing about $1.8 billion.
In Alabama, utilities issuance more than doubled to $6.9 billion, education sector issuance increased by about $1 billion, and electric power increased by about $900 million.
Only Florida and Alabama had percent increases in overall volume greater than 60%.
West Virginia and Mississippi were the two states showing declines, going down by 69.3% and 17.5%, respectively. West Virginia issuers sold $489 million in bonds and Mississippi issuers sold $1.18 billion, the lowest totals in the Southeast.
The number of deals in the Southeast was up 12.2% to 1,318.
Tax-exempt volume increased 45.2% to $81.52 billion. Taxable issuance declined 25.1% to $5.19 billion. Alternate minimum tax eligible issuance more than tripled to $10.02 billion, boosted by a $3.1 billion deal to fund the Brightline private passenger train service in Florida and a few large airport bonds.
The
Regional refunding volume was up 68.1%, a bit more than the 64.9% found in the United States as a whole. The Southeast had $13.87 billion in refunding, $72.15 billion in new money and $10.72 billion in deals LSEG categorized as combined new-money and refunding.
The increases in the Southeast leaned more to revenue than general obligation bonds, with the former going up 55.5% compared to a national increase of 46.9% and the latter increasing 5% compared to a national increase of 11.6%. Hallacy said it was notable that the region had $83.7 billion of revenue bonds but only $13.05 billion of general obligation bonds.
The Southeast's share of 13.4% for GO bonds is well below the 32.6% share found nationwide.
Hallacy said he thought it was interesting that much of the region's issuance was below the state level. Whereas state and state agency issuance accounted for 42.2% of national issuance, they accounted for 32.7% of Southeast issuance.
The region had $72.71 billion in negotiated volume, $16.94 billion in competitive volume, and $3.09 billion in private placements in 2024. Private placement volume was down 52.6% from a year earlier.
Sectors
The sector with the most issuance was utilities, with $22.4 billion, a 52.1% increase. The sector was led by the region's second largest deal, the
Raymond James and Stifel Nicolaus managed the January sale after one of the planned lead managers, Citi,
Transportation issuance was up 144.6% from the previous year to $15.4 billion, compared to 65.8% in the nation as a whole.
"As traffic increases in all modes, expansion needs to take place," Hallacy said. "The automobile remains the primary mode of transportation in the region despite the presence of some mass transit including MARTA [Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority] and Brightline."
Electric power bond volume was up 130.8% to $5.44 billion compared to a 43.9% rise in the United States.
The education sector accounted for $12.87 billion of debt, a 25.9% increase according to LSEG.
"Colleges, universities, and academic medical centers, which may serve as economic lynchpins in some areas, whether as the primary employer or the sole provider of healthcare services in a community, have faced heightened pressures" from a growing population, said Dan Hartman, CEO of PFM Financial Advisors. "In 2024, I have observed that issuers are adapting to the interest rate environment as well as higher inflation assumptions and cost contingencies. As a result, I have noticed issuers confidently reentering the market to deliver critical infrastructure projects to support and connect their communities."
Big deals
After Brightline and Jefferson County, the South Carolina Jobs Economic Development Authority brought the third largest deal, for $1.91 billion, for hospital operator Novant Health, managed by JP Morgan and RBC Capital Markets.
The fourth largest issue was the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority's sale of
The South Carolina Public Service Authority brought taxable and tax-exempt tranches totaling $1.31 billion, both refunding and new money, for the Santee Cooper electric and water system in the fifth largest issue on July 24. JP Morgan, B of A Securities and Barclays co-lead managed the deal.
League tables
The biggest senior manager of the year in the Southeast was BofA Securities, credited by LSEG with $18.02 billion underwritten. Following it was JP Morgan with $10.7 billion, Morgan Stanley with $10.59 billion, Raymond James with $8.84 billion and RBC Capital Markets with $6.73 billion.
The top municipal advisors were PFM Financial Advisors, credited with $23.24 billion, Municipal Capital Markets Group with $8.62 billion, Kaufman Hall & Associates with $6.43 billion, Davenport & Company with $5.29 billion and Public Resources Advisory Group with $4.52 billion.
Greenberg Traurig was the number one bond counsel, credited with $9.48 billion, followed by Kutak Rock with $7.73 billion, Butler Snow with $5.98 billion, Bryant Miller Olive with $5.17 billion, and Hawkins Delafield & Wood with $4.44 billion.
Bond insurance volume was up 64.1% from a year earlier. As a share of issuance covered, it increased to 7.78% from 6.92%.
The biggest issuers of the year were the Florida Development Finance Corp. with $5.87 billion, Main Street Natural Gas with $3.84 billion, Black Belt Energy Gas District with $2.96 billion, South Carolina Jobs Economic Development Authority with $2.37 billion and Jefferson County, Alabama, with $2.24 billion.
