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South Florida saw housing starts rise in the fourth quarter compared to the same period in 2010, according to MetroStudy.

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Oscar Pedro Musibay

Reporter - South Florida Business Journal

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South Florida saw housing starts rise in the fourth quarter compared to the same period in 2010, a continuation of a national push that occurred in mid-2011, according to Metrostudy MetrostudyLatest from The Business JournalsAlamo City housing market is holding on, recent forum finds Forecast: Positive housing trend to continue in 2012Houston to build more single-family homes in 2012Follow this company .

Northern Atlanta, most of Texas; Washington, D.C.; Nashville; Chicago; and Las Vegas – which, like South Florida, was hard hit by foreclosures – also had increases in housing starts in the last quarter.

Metrostudy examines each house being built in dozens of markets nationwide and counts how many finished homes had signs of occupancy like curtains. Metrostudy’s data shows a modest rebound in new home construction nationally since 2009.

Additionally, builder sentiment has gotten better, which is a good indicator of rising housing starts. As a result, Metrostudy’s Brad Hunter is projecting that December will have 650,000 housing starts, the second highest after November.

Metrostudy’s 2012 forecast for home construction nationwide suggests single-family starts will climb by 13 percent, to 478,000. Multifamily starts are projected to be up 24 percent, to 212,000. And in 2013, both are expected to be up even more, according to Metrostudy.

Rental demand is on the rise as is investment in apartment development.

Related ISG partners Craig Studnicky and Philip Spiegelman said the push for new condominium development will also accelerate in 2012, as both domestic and international buyers gobble up the last of the boom-era inventory. Because the number of units left on the market equals what was sold in 2011 alone, there is an undeniable demand for continued new construction, according to Related ISG.

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Small luxury projects are getting most of the attention from buyers and developers because wealthy, cash buyers are continuing to dominate the market. That trend will continue throughout the year, said Beth Butler, president of One Sotheby’s International Realty.