SOUTHWEST FLORIDA - Alarming building numbers were released on Thursday. According to the Commerce Department, construction of single family homes is at its lowest pace in 17 years.

Analysts are predicting that housing will continue to struggle for the rest of the year.

If construction is down, why are building permits up in Lee County?

The Lee County housing market was bruised from hitting rock bottom, but it's already bouncing back.

"Southwest Florida is really a bell weather for the rest of the nation. We go into these recessions or downturn quicker and we come out of them quicker," said Gary Aubuchon of Miloff Aubuchon Realty.

We found workers busy building several custom Aubuchon homes.

The number of new building permits in Lee County almost doubled from April to May going from about forty permits to eighty.

The numbers don't compare to the same time last year when it was around three hundred, but...

"In the last five or six weeks we've signed five contracts and we haven't seen that," said Jeff Miloff.

So who is building and why? We asked the namesakes at Miloff Aubuchon.

"It's people that have bought property down here in the past and are moving forward and building their dream home," said Miloff.

"Prices are at a historic low, time frames are very quick...and the quality is the highest we've ever seen," said Aubuchon.

Builders don't expect to see any more spikes... just steady progress.

"They will one day look back at this time and say they were very glad they decided to build a house in 2008," said Aubuchon.

Builders have also seen an increase in owners from overseas, because the Euro is worth more than the Dollar.