After hitting a 12-year low for new homes started last year in Lawrence, numbers are up in the first few months of 2003.

The city’s building inspection department reported it had granted permits for 41 single-family homes in January and February of this year, up 32 percent from the 31 granted during the same period in 2002.

In addition, permits for four duplexes and one triplex were granted, although those numbers were lower than those for 2002, when 14 duplexes and one triplex were started in January and February.

So despite modest improvements, there’s still a long way to go if Lawrence wants to top its 1994 record of 486 single-family permits and take advantage of a buyer’s and builder’s market.

“It’s gaining a little bit of momentum — not much,” said Bob Hughes, owner of Hughes Construction Inc., adding that a lot of people still fear losing their jobs.

Other area contractors blamed everything from the poor stock market and an impending war to rising land costs for the still-sluggish market.

“There’s plenty of people who want homes. The problem is finding land at a reasonable cost,” said Bill Barnes, owner of Barnes Homes, adding that Lawrence is not a town that always welcomes development.

His wife and business partner, Jo Barnes, said land outside the city ran $3,000 to $10,000 per acre, and within Lawrence a lot could easily approach $50,000.

Amounts like that make it hard to build a house that doesn’t approach $200,000, Bill Barnes said. Even duplexes, which cut land costs in half, are growing less feasible for working-class families.

“When the market gets tough, homeowners get a better buy, but you’ve got to have money to get that buy,” he said.

In 2002, Lawrence homebuilders started 304 single-family homes, down 1.4 percent from 2001. That decline, which came when national housing data was pointing to a record year, marked the second time in the past three years that housing starts have declined.