Pasco County builders won 7,252 permits for single-family homes in 2005, up 15 percent from the 6,300 issued in 2004. Multifamily construction, ranging from duplexes to apartment buildings, declined from last year's peak of 1,925 to just under 1,300, reflecting continuing pressure to find land to build on, apartment developers said.

Permits for mobile homes, long a stable of Pasco's housing stock, continued to slide. Last year, 722 mobile-home permits were issued, compared with 1999, the most recent peak year, when 1,215 were issued.