The new construction home market has been in decline for some time now, but it is starting to pickup in a few areas. One of those areas is the Salt Lake Metro area which was named the 6th most active metro area for new construction home permits (source Trulia).

In the third quarter there were 2.64 new home permits per 1,000 existing homes in the Salt Lake Metro area. The two best areas were both in Texas, Houston 3.68 permits and Dallas 3.41 permits.

Those areas are that are now recovering are ones that experienced a combination of a milder recession, and a growing population (both things found in Salt Lake).

Even with this recent recovery, home building levels are still only a fraction of those seen in the mid 2000’s.

Just a quick note to let you know that the Utah Governor recently announced they will use $8 million in federal stimulus funds to reintroduce the Home Run Grant.

The official statement said that the state will offer $4,000 grants to the first 2,000 new home buyers.

The program comes on the heels of one started by former Gov. Jon Huntsman, who used $10 million in stimulus funds offer $6,000 grants. These grants were used in less than 12 weeks, so if you are interested in taking advantage of this offer you had better hurry.

There is one major difference between the original grant and this one (apart from the amount). The original grant could only be issued for homes that were ready for occupancy, while the new one can issued for homes which have been contracted for construction, or partially finished and contracted for completion. This changes the focus of the grant from getting rid of new home inventory to building new homes.