Dive summary:

• John Burns Real Estate Consulting used data on single-family building permits to find the 20 U.S. metro areas with the most activity in the 12 months from September 2011 through last August.
• Fully 25% of the top markets were in Texas, followed by Florida with four markets and North Carolina with two.
• Portland, Ore., and Minneapolis proved that it's not just a southern exposure, however.

From the article:

Six of the top 10 U.S. markets with the most single-family construction activity during the last year are located in Texas and the Southeast, according to research by John Burns Real Estate Consulting. ...