Published: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 at 2:12 p.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 at 2:12 p.m.

New home construction on Southwest Florida's barrier islands hardly took a breath during the Great Recession, but the economic recovery has sparked a new burst of activity.

Unlike larger housing developments on the mainland that were shelved during the downturn, some for years, many builders of custom luxury homes continued to find work though at a much slower pace on the region's keys.

"We definitely went through a slow time, but not nearly as bad as the tract home builders," said Ricky Perrone, vice president of business development at Sarasota's Perrone Construction.

For Perrone, business began to bounce back about a year ago. The company is currently building six custom homes on Siesta, Lido and Bird keys, valued from $1.7 million to $3 million and ranging from from 4,000 square feet to 8,000 square feet.

"Things really picked up last October," Perrone said. "People were getting off the fence and moving on big properties where they planned homes. Properties started to get snatched up, and people decided the time was right to build."

Lakewood Ranch-based John Cannon Homes is in various stages of construction on 12 custom homes on the barrier islands off Sarasota and Manatee counties.

"The barrier island buyer has been shown to be recession proof," said the company's namesake.

Sarasota's Murray Homes has four custom projects under way on the islands, ranging from $850,000 to $2.5 million and measuring from 3,000 square feet to 7,000 square feet.

"That's based on how comfortable individuals feel with the economy and their own personal situation," said Steve Murray, vice president at the family owned company. "They have recouped losses from the recession, reallocated investments and are now feeling comfortable enough to jump in and buy.

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Construction rebounds on barrier islands