MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) -- The housing market here in the mid-state and across the nation continues to show signs of recovery.
A Commerce Department report shows that applications to build single-family homes rose in June for the third straight month. Home permit applications were up ten percent last month over June 2012.
In addition, the National Association of Home Builders reports that their home builder confidence survey was up for the third straight month. Builder confidence rose six points to a score of 57. That’s the highest level of confidence seen among builders since January 2006.
Steve Jensen, President of the Rutherford County Home Builders Association, says that in spite of concerns over rising construction materials costs, local builders are also expressing renewed confidence.
“There’s a lot of price pressures. Suppliers are…their pricing is slowly creeping up. The market is improving, but price pressure is a consideration. But everybody is a lot more confident than they were this time last year.”
Jensen notes that financing for home construction is still tight, but also shows signs of improvement.
He says one potential problem going forward is that the number of empty home lots available for building is falling quickly.