Report Says Bay Area Builders Are Constructing Fewer Homes

Slow job growth, coupled with the effects of a troubled real estate market, is pushing down demand for new homes in the Tampa Bay area, according to a report released Wednesday. The report seems to contradict what's happening nationwide and may indicate Florida's housing weakness may be affecting the local economy. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the economy grew at a fast 3.9 percent pace despite problems in the nation's housing industry and credit markets. Locally, builders have responded to the relatively slow job growth by constructing fewer houses. Builders started work on 1,732 single-family homes during the third quarter of 2007, down nearly 57 percent from 3,993 in the same quarter last year, according to Metrostudy, a Houston-based housing research firm.

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