Tom Peebles’ custom home construction company is building five new houses to start the year. He’s among Dayton’s local homebuilders reporting better sales and more optimism.

The Home Builders Association of Dayton said builders pulled more new housing construction permits in 2012 than in 2011.

Homebuilders typically pull permits when they’re close to construction.

The increased homebuilding activity gives the Dayton area — Darke, Greene, Montgomery and Preble counties, northern Warren and Butler counties and part of Miami County — a two-year run on improving permit numbers. A total 1,715 new residential building permits were issued for 2012, up 3.3 percent from 1,660 permits issued in 2011, the association said.

The number of building permits issued last year was up 13.1 percent from the 1,517 permits issued in 2010, which was the worst year the past decade for Dayton homebuilding activity.

The figures include permits for new single family homes, condominiums and apartments to be built.

Single-family homes gave builders their best numbers: Dayton region builders pulled 1,444 single family home building permits in 2012, up 234 units or 19.3 percent over 2011.

“It is improving and that’s the important part,” said Peebles, whose company builds homes in Washington Twp., Springboro and Beavercreek. His firm sold about 12 homes last year, up from 2011.

Homebuilders and realtors attribute 2012’s improving housing market to a combination of pent-up demand, a slowly improving economy, dropping foreclosure inventory and record low interest rates.

“We saw a real uptick in sales in the last quarter of 2012,” Peebles said.

The Dayton market’s busiest subdivision is Carriage Trails in the Miami County part of Huber Heights.

Also boosting residential construction were permits pulled in Greene County in December for a 64-unit rental property in Beavercreek, according to permit data supplied to the builders group by NPG DataQuest, a Cincinnati real estate firm.