New home building numbers for 2012 in Butler and Warren counties are giving local officials and others a glimmer of hope the economy may be rebounding from its free fall.

Single family home permits were up 4.4 percent in 2012, and Warren County was tops in southwest Ohio with 534 permits, according to an annual report by the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati released Wednesday. Butler County came in second with 394 permits, followed Clermont County with 348 and Hamilton County with 326 single family home permits issued last year, according to the report.

The four counties reported a combined total of 2,471 new housing permits — including condos and apartments — which represents a 9.3 percent increase over 2011 and is the highest number since the bottom fell out of the economy five years ago.

The local numbers are slightly below the national building permit tally. Building permits nationwide in December were up 28.8 percent over December 2011, according to The U.S. Department of Commerce.

Butler County home builder Todd Hall said he took a leap of faith this year when he built and decorated model homes — something builders have shied away from in this sketchy economy — in two communities: Falling Water in Liberty Twp. and Hamilton West Estates in Hamilton. This past week has given him confidence he made the right decision, he said.

“From a sales standpoint, I got four prospects just today alone and three yesterday, that’s seven in two days and I’m a pretty small guy. When the market was really bad, I might get one every two or three weeks.”

Dan Dressman, executive director of the HBA, said the numbers have been inching up over the past three years and he sees that as a positive sign.

“I would say we’re seeing improvement, if you look at the last several years we have seen a gradual improvement in single family construction,” he said. “We’re not seeing some great gigantic leaps but we’re out of the valley at this point. It’s a good start.”

When the county numbers are broken down into communities it is clear there isn’t a universal home building boom. In Butler County, Liberty Twp. had 141 new permits last year, compared to only one in Milford Twp. Middletown was also on the low end with four permits on the Butler County side and eight on the Warren County side. The HBA reported Hamilton had 79 permits, but city officials only reported 23 new home permits. Dressman said they include both single family homes and condos and apartments, he said he is not sure how the city classifies their permits.

On the Warren County side, Clearcreek Twp. was the clear front-runner with 129 new home permits. Hamilton Twp. was second with 98, and Springboro came in third with 68 new home permits.

While Liberty Twp. leads the county in permits, last year’s number pales in comparison to 2003, when the township had 724 new home permits, according to Jonathan West, director of planning and zoning for Liberty Twp.

David Oakes, with CESO Engineers in Dayton, developed the Villages of Winding Creek subdivision in Clearcreek Twp. He said his company has been doing very well for the past couple years and he expects that trend to continue.

“We are cautiously optimistic that things are getting better,” he said. “So because of that, each year we get a little more aggressive.”

The housing fits and starts have also financially impacted governments. Warren County collected $1.5 million in building fees in 2005, collections dropped to $857,825 by 2009 after the economy took a tumble but jumped back up to almost $1.3 million in 2011 and $1.1 million last year.

Ken Rivera, Hamilton’s construction administrator, said his city had healthy new construction numbers before the housing market crash, with 70 new home permits in 2007 and 50 in 2008. The numbers plummeted to 18 the following year and have hovered at around 20 since, he said.

It’s unfortunate, he said, because Hamilton has numerous vacant lots in subdivisions that weren’t completed.

A by-product of unfinished subdivisions is the roads are usually not finished off because the city doesn’t want to accept roads that are rutted and worn by construction trucks and the streets aren’t plowed either as a result.

“It’s turning around very slowly, if at all, in my opinion,” he said. “Construction is really unpredictable, it’s a roller coaster ride. I’ve already, at the beginning of this year, had three houses turned in and that was pretty unusual, usually they are more spread out, so maybe it is a sign.”

Middletown City Manager Judy Gilleland said the city expects new construction to bump up this year.

“We have several opportunities for new residential structures in Middletown. In fact, Fischer Homes is really doing great things in Middletown in the residential area,” she said. “While the economy has slowed progress, we believe that our market in Middletown is still strong and will show great improvement in 2013.”

Hamilton Twp., which imposed impact fees — those fees have been deemed unlawful by the Ohio Supreme Court — to handle its rapid growth, has seen its new home count sink a little, but Administrator Gary Boeres said commercial development seems to be stepping up.

“With the commercial activity, we’ve certainly seen a lot more activity and inquiries,” he said. “We get pretty excited when someone knocks on our door about a commercial project.”