The Wilmington area is moving toward expansion, according to a PNC economist.

Although the Wilmington market is not specifically included in PNC's 3rd Quarter 2015 Market Outlook reports, economist Mekael Teshome extrapolated from the larger regional data to give a summary status report and look ahead for the remainder of 2015.

“The story is that the Wilmington area is transitioning from recovery to expansion," he said Wednesday afternoon. "In terms of total payroll and employment we are about even with our pre-recession peaks. We’ve just about climbed out of the hole in terms of jobs. The primary drivers are no surprise: tourism, consumer spending and people moving into the area."

Teshome said that national trends are being reflected in the Wilmington market.

"Households across the nation have been able to rebuild their wealth in the stock market and in the value of their homes," he said. "People have been able to sell their homes and retire. This fuels the migration into Wilmington. With those people coming in, health care gets a boost.

"In the case of tourism and consumer spending, nationally, more people are working and are seeing some income growth. Then we also have cheaper gasoline, which frees up cash. Consumers are now more confident and they are able and willing to spend. You need those two pieces. That helps us in Wilmington."

The economist thinks these trends will continue into 2016.

"I’m expecting moderate growth for the region and think we will slowly transition into the expansion phase," he said.

Teshome also addressed what trends he sees in the area's housing market, which he said "seems to be getting a fairly decent boost," largely because of people moving to the Wilmington area.

"Other factors helping include low mortgage rates and easier access to credit," he continued. "Mind you, credit is still a bit tight: we’re not going back to 2006, but there’s less risk overall economically. Banks are more willing to lend. Housing is more affordable by historic standards, more affordable than it was in 2006, 2007, 2008. We do have the makings for fairly healthy growth in the housing market."