First-quarter housing starts rise in South Florida

First-quarter housing construction starts rose 28 percent in Miami-Dade County. (Credit: CNBC)
First-quarter housing construction starts rose 28 percent in Miami-Dade County. (Credit: CNBC)

Real estate research firm Metrostudy reported that first-quarter housing construction starts rose from last year’s levels throughout South Florida, though slowly in Broward County.

First-quarter housing construction starts in Miami-Dade County totaled 792 this year, a 28 percent increase from last year.

The Metrostudy data cover single-family homes and townhouses and exclude condominiums.

David Cobb, division president of Metrostudy, told the Sun-Sentinel, “Basically, any builder who has something open is selling well.”

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Housing starts in Palm Beach County increased to 560 during the January-March period, up 17 percent from the same period last year.

The comparable growth rate in Broward County was a much slower 3 percent due to constrained land availability, Metrostudy reported.

The number of first-quarter housing starts in Broward increased to 291 this year from 282 last year. [Sun-Sentinel] — Mike Seemuth