Starts have been ticking up, sales of newly built homes are higher and, in some areas, new-home prices are rising. But in markets such as Atlanta, for example—where home prices fell 18% in the latest Case-Shiller report—there is land as far as the eye can see, but few good places to build.
The recent rise in home building could be thwarted by an unlikely factor, a shortage of land in desirable locations.