The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped to 3.66% this week, down from 3.7% last week, and new-construction home buyers lapped up the savings. Mortgage applications rose 17% in March from February, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association Builder Application Survey. “Overall, applications for new-home purchases during the first quarter of 2015 increased 20% relative to the first quarter of last year,” Lynn Fisher, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, said in a statement. “Continued strength in builder applications raises the likelihood that housing starts will be strong over the next few months.” Continued strength in builder applications raises the likelihood that housing starts will be strong over the next few months.  So strong, in fact, that buyer demand is driving prices higher across the board, said Fisher. “Housing starts” is industry lingo for when a builder actually breaks ground on a new home. It’s a good measure of where the new-homes market is headed, since it takes months to go from groundbreaking to completion. Grant & Co. is the only Mid-South builder that is consistently building new homes for sale in neighborhoods in Olive Branch, MS, and Bartlett, Lakeland,  Memphis and Arlington, TN. Grant currently has over 50 homes in various stages of construction - many ready for move-in within 30 days or less.   "It is wonderful to be able to choose a new home and not have to wait months for construction," said Martha Fondren, Director of Sales and Marketing for Grant & Co.  "Of course, we have many, many homesites and home designs available if a buyer chooses to have Grant build their new home, but not everyone has the option of waiting for construction.  We are fortunate to be able to offer both ways to buy a new home to our home buyers." For a complete list of all homes under construction in all of the Grant neighborhoods, click here.