By comparison, the top five performing MSAs as a group were down by a lesser 12.5%. Florida was the only state to place four metro areas within the top 20 ranking. Jacksonville, FL placed 10th; Tampa-St. Petersburg came in at 18th; and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood occupied the 20th slot.

Not all leading metro areas suffered year-over-year declines in their index despite a slowing national home construction environment, says Scott. Austin with a 7.4% rise and Atlanta with a 6.5% increase performed strongly.

Las Vegas continued its "phenomenal run" and cemented its first-place ranking by posting 19.71 permits per 1,000 non-farm jobs. Still, the Vegas performance was off by 13.9% from the initial six-month period a year ago.

The University of Central Florida index tracks 60 metropolitan statistical areas having non-farm payroll work forces of at least 500,000 jobs.

The top 20 rankings based on permits pulled per 1,000 non-agriculture jobs in the first half are:Las Vegas, 19.71; Charlotte-Gastonia, NC-Rock Hill, NC, 16.52; Phoenix-Mesa, 15.42; Atlanta, 15.33; Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC, 15.04; Austin, TX-San Marcos, 13.76; Orlando, 13.56; Riverside, CA-San Bernardino, CA, 10.83; Denver, 10.44; Jacksonville, FL, 10.21.

Also: Sacramento, CA, 9.91; Fort Worth, TX-Arlington, TX, 8.97; Nashville, TN, 8.86; Indianapolis, IN, 8.85; Memphis, TN, 8.78; Columbus, OH, 8.33; Dallas, 7.82; Tampa, FL-St. Petersburg, FL, 7.72; San Diego, CA, 7.65; and Fort Lauderdale, FL-Hollywood, FL, 7.52.