By Sheree R. Curry
From The Wall Street Journal Online

The South led the nation with an 11% jump in single-family-housing building permits granted October to October. The West was up 6%, the Midwest 2%. The Northeast saw no change. Here are three newly built homes.

• Las Cruces, N.M.
• Westlake Village, Calif.
• Vero Beach, Fla.

PLACE/PRICE: Las Cruces, N.M./ $819,000

PROPERTY TAX*: $5,000 per year

THE PROPERTY: 3 bedrooms, 3 full baths, 2 half baths

DESCRIPTION: This 3,700-square-footer has a media room with a 108-inch-screen TV and eight reclining theater chairs. The master suite has a two-sided fireplace and wet bar. There is a hot tub and pool with waterfall.

NOTABLE: With a population just shy of 80,000, Las Cruces saw building permits for single-family homes increase 59% to 1,840 from October to October, while multifamily permits dipped at the same rate to 120 granted.

Note: *Current owner's payment. **Property tax will be about 1.1% of purchase price. ***Reflects tax for land only.

Sources: NAHB.org, housingeconomics.com, steinborn.com, sigiandpam.com, norris-realestate.com

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