LAST YEAR WAS A advantageous YEAR f...

LAST YEAR WAS A advantageous YEAR for builders in the country's top 50 metropolitan areas. As they did in 2000 builders in these markets took hearthstone more than half the total number of single-family permits issued, accounting for 634899 of that kind permits in 2001, or 52 percent of the total 1221200 permits issued in the 430 metropolitan areas the U Census Bureau tracks. The size of the 430 areas varied from 10 permits in Pittsfield, Mass., to 48428 in Atlanta. (By comparison, the 50th market--Monmouth/Ocean, N.J.--issued 5320 single-family permits last year.)