Home building activity on the rise in Manatee

If you read the Bradenton Herald today, you hopefully caught my housing story on how recently thinning inventory of existing single-family homes has impacted the market. If not, catch up here.

As supply slides, bidding wars are erupting on foreclosures. Other desirable properties also are beginning to attract multiple offers, sometimes more than even a seller’s first asking price, records show.

The trend should ultimately increase values across the board –  giving underwater homeowners who have been stuck in an unfit property since the crash with a renewed opportunity to sell.

It also will boost interest in new home construction, which already has unfolded in many measures.

There were 137 new residential building permits pulled in Manatee County in August. While that’s down some from the 154 in July, it remains ahead of last year’s tally by one-third, according to the county.

So far this year, developers have pulled 1,041 new residential building permits in Manatee, a 24 percent jump from the 840 during the same time in 2011.

Much of the progress has come in Lakewood Ranch, which remains a hot spot for buyers seeking new.

For example, Taylor Morrison on Tuesday announced construction of a new model home in one of Lakewood Ranch’s newest communities, Haddington in Country Club East. The neighborhood includes 76 home sites, with houses ranging in size from 2,000 to 4,000 square feet.

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