Permits for new home construction in Massachusetts rose 23 percent year-over-year in March, according to numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Cites and town in the Bay State issued 532 permits in March, up from 433 in the same month last year. The pace was still significantly slower than March 2008, when 987 permits were issued.

There were 443 permits issued for single-family homes in the state, compared to 723 in March 2009.

The total number of permits remained flat since last month. There were 534 permits issued in February, according to the recent figures.

Nationwide, there were 62,068 permits issued in March, down from 119,053 during the same period last year.