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CAPE BURNS HOTTEST IN HOUSING MARKET City
on pace to obliterate record for new home permits Cape Coral could be the reason Lee County is the hottest home-building market in the nation. U.S. Housing Markets magazine recently ranked the county the top housing market. It compares the number of homes being built in a region to its population. The publication then ranks areas based on that index. Lee County led the nation with 30.5 permits per 1,000 residents, but the Cape's index is even higher; 34.1 permits per 1,000. That wasn't a surprise to the city's builders, who see a bright future. "The indication from the builders is that it's going to continue," said Patti Schnell, executive director of the Cape Coral Construction Industry Association. "We still haven't developed half of the Cape." For the first six months of the year - the Cape uses a fiscal calendar that begins on Oct. 1 - builders pulled 2,539 single-family home permits. That puts the Cape on pace to smash last year's record 3,819 permits by more than 30 percent. October 2003 was a record month with 531 home permits issued. From January through March this year, builders pulled 1,221 permits, nearly double last year's 634 permits. In March, Lee County issued 570 single-family home permits compared to 400 in the Cape. "What's amazing is that we're increasing with a constant rise in land prices," Schnell said. Prices for off-water homesites even in the barren north Cape have jumped radically in the past year. Waterfront property is rising even faster, real estate agents said. The recent rash of permit activity is likely to push the Cape over 5,000 housing units for a single year. City officials said they're keeping up with the onslaught of builders seeking permits. "We're doing fine," said city spokeswoman Connie Barron. "We put into place some process changes that let us move these permits through quickly." It takes about two weeks to get a single-family home permit, she added. CAPE HOME PERMITS 2004 - 5,078 (projected) 2003 - 3,819 2002 - 2,783 2001 - 2,019 2000 - 1,734 SOURCE: CITY
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