As I first reported in my story this morning, which also will appear in Friday's Bradenton Herald, home sales across the area continue to move at their fastest pace since the historic boom.
Existing single-family home sales have been on the rise for much of the year, with 1,402 homes in Manatee County closing to date, a 14.4 percent jump over the same time in 2011 -- a year that saw the healthiest real estate market since the recession, records show.
At the same time, foreclosures have faced a lull for some time now. Although new home defaults have increased of late, the recent slowdown from the lender fraud issues have allowed buyers to catch up on the once overwhelming prensence of distressed housing.
The end result has been a housing market with its thinnest inventory in a decade.
Aside from bottom-dweller scratch-and-dent properties, which are causing problems of their own, and multimillion dollar estates, there's simply not much left for the typical middle-class buyer who requires financing.
With just more than four months worth of existing inventory between the two counties, new home construction is picking back up. Developers typically like to see about six months worth of housing supply available before building speculation homes, the crossroads between a buyer's and seller's market.
We passed that benchmark months ago.
There were 174 new single-family building permits issued in Manatee
in June, a 51 percent jump from the 115 and May and 49 percent climb
over the 117 recorded at the same time a year ago, according to country
records.
New home building permits measure when a developer
is cleared to begin work on a new house, but it doesn't necessarily
mean building activity will commence immediately.
Either way, it's a good sign.
When new construction picks up, construction hiring picks up.
And for the 350,000 construction workers in Florida who lost their job since 2006, that's the best news yet.
For the latest business updates, follow me on Twitter @JoshSalman
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