More people are building homes in the Rosecrest residential development in Herriman than any other community in Salt Lake County, according to a recent report.

In the year ended Sept. 30, Rosecrest started 373 new homes, according to Metrostudy, a real estate consulting firm with offices in West Jordan. About 80 more homes were started in the fourth quarter.

Rosecrest is a 2,200-acre master-planned community that began in 1999. Roughly 200 to 400 new homes are added to the development each year, according to Don Wallace, president of Sorenson Development Real Estate. At present, Rosecrest encompasses about 1,400 homes.

"The pricing out there is still pretty good," Wallace said. "You can get a wide variety of homes, from a starter home all the way up to $700,000 to $800,000 homes. Just about any buyer can find something in their price range out there."

Wallace said Rosecrest's appeal also stems from its small-community feel and number of neighborhood parks.

In 2006, another 350 new single-family homes are projected to be built in Rosecrest. In addition, a 225-unit apartment project is expected to be completed, and 100 new multifamily units will be finished.

A number of new shopping centers with grocery stores and professional offices are following the building boom.

"We haven't seen any slowdown in the market at all," Wallace said. "Values are going up."

Eric Allen, director of Metrostudy, said Rosecrest offers larger lot sizes, something homebuyers want.

"They've got a lot of builders out there, which is part of the reason they are selling so many homes," Allen said. "Rosecrest has actually been first or second on the top 20 list for the four years that we've been here."

Across the state, 21,347 residential permits were issued from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30, a 13.1 percent increase compared to 18,876 permits during the same nine-month period in 2004, according to the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

Herriman ranked No. 3 of all Utah cities in issuing the most residential building permits in the first nine months of 2005, according to the bureau. Residential permits include single-family homes, apartments, condominiums, mobile homes and cabins.

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